SPOTLIGHT: Religious Liberties are Essential in Illinois

Written by David E. Smith

While numerous businesses have been designated as “essential” and allowed to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois’ governor has deemed houses of worship for all faith traditions as non-essential entities, denying people of faith access to these facilities for corporate worship and prayer.

Illinois Family’s Monte Larrick recently spoke with Pro-Life Action League’s Ann Scheidler at a May 1st prayer vigil, held outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, to protest Governor JB Pritzker’s overreach.… Continue Reading

“We Need Our Churches Open and Operating, Not As Mere Monuments” (Illinois Family Spotlight #197)

While numerous businesses have been designated as “essential” and allowed to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois’ governor has deemed houses of worship for all faith traditions as non-essential entities, denying people of faith access to these facilities for corporate worship and prayer. Monte Larrick spoke with Pro-Life Action League’s Ann Scheidler at a May 1st prayer vigil, held outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, to protest Governor Pritzker’s overreach. Mrs. Scheidler emphasized that now is the opportune time to stand up for our civil and religious liberties, as well as step up our pro-life activism.… Continue Reading

The Communists Lied and the People Died

Written by Jerry Newcombe

Worldviews have consequences. The pandemic that grips the whole world is symptomatic of the deadly grip that the ungodly leadership in China holds over a wide populous (including tens of millions of Chinese Christians).

The coronavirus did not just come out of nowhere. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims that it came out of the wet markets of Wuhan, a city of about 11 million people. But there is evidence that it may have originated in a biolab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.… Continue Reading

Cooking Up a Viral Moment

Written by Robert Knight

Two theories are circulating about the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The media are still selling the idea that it probably arose from an infected bat at an outdoor live animal food market in Wuhan.  That’s also the Chinese Communist Party’s line.

The media don’t want people thinking that communist researchers at the Wuhan Virology Institute’s BSL-4 lab might have been directly responsible.

However, a plausible scenario is that the virus was, indeed, cooked up in the lab.… Continue Reading

Why Everyone Who Hates Donald Trump Should Become a Political Conservative

… Or At Least Consider the Prospect and Benefits Thereof

Written by Terrell Clemmons

Earlier this month, David Frum spilled his spleen in a lengthy harangue at The Atlantic titled, This Is Trump’s Fault. Against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, the author of the upcoming Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy, spent more than 5,000 words (that would be about a ten-page, single-spaced Word document, by the way) taking the president to task in hyperbolic, over-the-top, no-holds-barred terms.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: COVID-19, Civil Rights & Public Policy

Written by David E. Smith

The effects of COVID-19 reach far beyond the realm of human health. In Spotlight this week Pastor Calvin Lindstrom and I consider Americans’ right of religious liberty vs. submission to governmental authorities, especially in light of restrictions on “non-essential,” in-person worship services and church gatherings. Should Christians be governed by Hebrews 10:25 or Romans 13 and what is a proper, biblical response to government overreach?

After the break the conversation turns to pending legislation, specifically SB 2762 which would require comprehensive sex ed starting in kindergarten (with NO parental opt-out) and SB 3788 which, among other things, deletes teaching honor and respect for monogamous, heterosexual marriage.… Continue Reading

“The 2020 Question: Is the U.S. Government the Final Authority?” (Illinois Family Spotlight #195)

The effects of COVID-19 reach far beyond the realm of human health. In Spotlight this week Pastor Calvin Lindstrom and I consider Americans’ right of religious liberty vs. submission to governmental authorities, especially in light of restrictions on “non-essential,” in-person worship services and church gatherings. Should Christians be governed by Hebrews 10:25 or Romans 13 and what is a proper, biblical response to government overreach?

After the break the conversation turns to pending legislation, specifically SB 2762 which would require comprehensive sex ed starting in kindergarten (with NO parental opt-out) and SB 3788 which, among other things, deletes teaching honor and respect for monogamous, heterosexual marriage.… Continue Reading

Climate Models and COVID-19 Models

Written by Norman Rogers

Computer models are seductive even though they are very often completely wrong. The more complicated they are the greater chance that they are wrong. Like children, they copy their parents — the model architects. Confirmation bias involves cherry picking facts to obtain a result consistent with preexisting beliefs. A complicated computer model with many degrees of freedom is a perfect environment for confirmation bias to have its way. The investigator usually will believe, or at least claim, that his model is objectively setup without bias entering into the effort.… Continue Reading

Stop Equating Socialized Healthcare With Compassion

Written by Peter Heck

For decades, there has been a mantra embraced and utilized by advocates of the nanny state everywhere: “never let a crisis go to waste.” History demonstrates that the masses are most willing to tolerate, if not welcome, the intrusion of big government into their lives when they are panicked, fearful, or impoverished. It’s one of the reasons why former President Eisenhower always argued that the best weapon against the advance of communism wasn’t a strong military, but a strong economy.… Continue Reading

Climate-Change Opportunists Latch Onto Coronavirus

Written by Dr. E. Calvin Beisner

While she didn’t get it into the $2.2 trillion bill to stimulate the economy and help businesses survive the nearly nationwide shutdown during the Coronavirus pandemic, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tried to insert tax credits for solar and wind and CO2 emissions standards for airlines as part of her effort to get America to fight global warming.

And as Tilak Doshi reports in Forbes, she wasn’t the only climate-change opportunist:

Across the pond, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen doubled down on the EU’s climate commitment with a €1 trillion Green Deal.