| | Who is Vivek Ramaswamy? 5 facts about the presidential hopeful | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon! It's Friday, February 24, and today's headlines include an overview of 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Cedarville University students sharing the Gospel at other schools in the region, five facts about James O'Keefe's departure from Project Veritas, and details about the film "Jesus Revolution," which hits theaters today. | | Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy tossed his hat into the ring for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, declaring that "we're in the middle of a national identity crisis." In his announcement video, Ramaswamy declared, "Faith, patriotism and hard work have disappeared, only to be replaced by new secular religions like COVIDism, climatism and gender ideology." Ramaswamy identified the concepts of merit, accountability, free speech and American exceptionalism as key pillars of his "cultural movement to create a new American dream for the next generation." He lamented that "we have obsessed so much over our diversity and our differences that we've forgot all the ways we're really just the same as Americans bound together by a common set of ideals that brought together a divided, diverse, headstrong group of people 250 years ago." This article from CP highlights five key details about the presidential hopeful, including that he is a Hindu who attended a Catholic school, and he has promised to make political expression a civil right and eliminate civil service protections. Continue reading. | | P.S. CP has launched Freedom Post, a free, twice-weekly newsletter highlighting breaking news and headlines on key issues ranging from freedom to religious liberty. Sign-up today to get Freedom Post delivered to your inbox every Monday and Thursday. Check out these headlines from our latest issue of Freedom Post:Catholic bookstore sues city over trans pronoun requirementPutin says West trying to destroy the family by normalizing same-sex marriageDoctor: Patient with 'high chance of cure' chose assisted suicideNightmare in Calif. jail: Imprisoning women with 6'5'' male murderer |
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| Pregnant woman says unborn baby is being illegally detained | | An incarcerated woman in Florida accused of murder is petitioning for her release on the grounds that her unborn child is being unlawfully detained and being prevented from receiving proper medical care. Natalia Harrell, who was six weeks pregnant at the time of her arrest in July 2022, is currently in jail without bond in Miami-Dade County while she awaits trial. Harrell was charged with second-degree murder for the July 23, 2022, shooting of Gladys Yvette Borcela after the pair got into an argument in an Uber. Attorney William M. Norris filed an emergency petition on Feb. 16 in Florida's 3rd District Court of Appeal, alleging Harrell's incarceration violates her unborn child's right to due process of law. The petition asks for Harrell's release until the conclusion of her criminal case. The Heritage Foundation's Thomas Jipping told CP he believes the attorney's argument is "legally unsupportable," noting that no court has recognized that the unborn are "constitutional persons," but the argument about whether they should be recognized as such is a different issue. "And the argument here, I guess, is that the unborn child has a right to a certain level of medical care," he told CP. "That's not even the kind of rights that are in the Constitution. Our Constitutional rights are rights to be free from certain government actions, so even the legal theory here is really flawed." Read more. | | Cedarville students share the Gospel at other universities | | Inspired by the revival worship at their campus, Cedarville University students in Ohio traveled to other campuses in the region to share the Gospel. In an interview with CP, Cedarville student Gabriel Cherry shared how he helped organize an outreach trip to Michigan State University in East Lansing last Wednesday. Cherry explained that a friend felt especially compelled to share the Gospel at that campus, which has been grieving in the aftermath of a mass shooting earlier this month that left three students dead. He described how they secured a 15-passenger van, a place to stay, an MSU contact on campus, and 14 people willing to make the trip within 14 hours, adding, "It was clear that this was what we had to do." Meanwhile, another group of students visited Ohio State University in Columbus, where they partnered with Rock City Church for worship. Student Christianna Galkin described how she had several opportunities to pray for students, listen to their stories, and share the Gospel. Galkin said she "left encouraged that some were willing to listen about who Jesus is and engage in conversations about their own faith traditions." Read more. | | O'Keefe leaves Project Veritas: What we know | | Project Veritas founder and President James O'Keefe recently announced his resignation following a prolonged conflict with the conservative activist organization's board of directors. O'Keefe, 38, founded the organization in 2011. Billing itself as an entity that "investigates and exposes corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society," Project Veritas is known for producing undercover videos. O'Keefe's departure comes on the heels of a video from late January purporting to show Pfizer executive Jordon Trishton Walker saying the company was considering whether to "mutate" the coronavirus to "preemptively" develop new vaccines for potential variants. The coronavirus has killed millions of people worldwide and has had devastating implications for the global economy since late 2019. When O'Keefe confronted Walker about his remarks in the undercover video, a confrontation ensued. The organization has also reported on Google's "blacklisting" of conservative and Christian media sources, including The Christian Post, by disfavoring such organizations in their algorithms. This article from CP highlights five things to know about O'Keefe's departure from Project Veritas, including a breakdown of O'Keefe's version of events. Read more. | | Reporter fatally shot at crime scene in Florida | | Journalists around the country are mourning the loss of a Spectrum News 13 reporter who was fatally shot Wednesday while covering a murder scene in Pine Hills, Fla. Dylan Lyons, 24, was with a news crew at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday to cover the murder of 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin, who was found shot earlier that morning, when 19-year-old suspect Keith Melvin Moses returned to the scene and opened fire on the crew. Police have since detained him. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee's family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time," Spectrum News said. They also expressed hope that photojournalist Jesse Walden, who was critically injured in the attack, will make a full recovery. Read more. |
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| Why a Canadian chose to pay $25K for a US surgery over 'free' | | In this editorial, Dr. Mark Hendrickson discusses why his Canadian friend elected to go to the U.S. for a $25,000 knee-replacement surgery instead of utilizing Canada's tax-funded, government-run "free healthcare" system. His friend, who unsuccessfully waited a year to schedule surgery, discovered there would be a three-year wait even when he did receive a date, which is often the case in government-run healthcare systems. His scheduling issues came in the midst of The Wall Street Journal reporting that the U.K.'s government-run healthcare system is "falling apart." Delays in treatment are causing the premature deaths of 300 to 500 people each week, per the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The failure of socialized healthcare should make Americans grateful they are not currently subjected to similar systems, writes Hendrickson, who notes that government involvement via Medicare and Medicaid has been similarly problematic. "The siren song of 'free' and 'let the government take care of you' may prove irresistible to a majority of American voters. All I can say is that we ignore the lessons of Canadian and UK healthcare at our own peril," Hendrickson cautions. Read more. | | The recent book that screams ‘I’m a classic!’: How the Protestant-Catholic alliance was formed (pt 2) | | In the second part of his review of Social Conservatism for the Common Good (Wheaton: Crossway, 2023), Christian Post Executive Editor Dr. Richard Land shares why he believes the work is a "classic" that is destined to be a go-to material for years to come. "The culture wars of the last half of the 20th century and the first third of the 21st century in America have produced some previously unimaginable alliances," writes Land. "Thus, it makes sense that in a culture war in a country as religious as America historically has been, religion would play a crucial role. Social Conservatism for the Common Good explains that the development of the Roman Catholic-Evangelical Protestant Alliance, to the astonishment of all concerned (friend and foe alike), developed into a powerful cultural and political force from the late 1960s up to the present day." Read more. |
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| Tribunal examining role of CofE bishop in blacklisting chaplain | | An employment tribunal is scrutinizing the role of a bishop in blacklisting a chaplain from officiating in the Church of England after he was wrongly reported as a potential "terrorist" for preaching traditional Christian views on sexual ethics during a chapel service. The Rev. Bernard Randall, 50, was denied permission by the Bishop of Derby, the Rt. Rev. Libby Lane, to work as a minister following his dismissal by Trent College in Nottingham in August 2019 and was labeled a "moderate risk to children" and vulnerable adults over his beliefs on sexual ethics. East Midlands Employment Tribunal will decide whether the actions of Bishop Lane fall within the remit of an employment tribunal, with Randall's lawyers arguing that he was never employed by the diocese and, therefore, this is not an employment matter, the U.K.-based group Christian Concern, whose legal arm, the Christian Legal Centre, is supporting the chaplain's case, said in a statement Thursday. Randall's lawyers say that he has remained unemployable as a priest due to the bishop's actions and, therefore, the entire claim must be heard in that forum, the group said. They also argue that Randall would not have been treated this way by the bishop if he had expressed pro-same-sex marriage and transgender beliefs. Read more. |
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| 'Jesus Revolution' cast talk reaching a 'lost' generation | | During a red carpet event at the Chinese Theater last Wednesday to celebrate the release of "Jesus Revolution," the filmmakers, cast and real-life people behind the flick discussed its timely release. Based on a true tory, the film follows a young Greg Laurie as he searches for purpose and meaning in all the wrong places. After meeting Lonnie Frisbee, a winsome hippie street preacher, he embraces the Gospel, and alongside Pastor Chuck Smith, helps launch a revival that leads to what TIME magazine later called the "Jesus Revolution." Laurie, who now pastors Harvest Christian Fellowship, told CP that the film will provide hope to today's lost and searching generation—not unlike the climate he grew up in. "This generation needs hope, just like our generation needed it," he explained. Laurie's love story with his now-life Cathe Laurie is prominently featured in the film. The two, who met as rebellious teenagers, eventually embrace the Gospel and see their lives radically changed. Today, they have been married for more than 50 years. "[Y]oung people are lost. They're looking at social media, they're looking at their friends and looking in all the wrong places like I did,. And what they're really searching for is a truth to stand on, and I know that the Bible is alive, and Jesus wants relationships with anyone who is willing to ask Him into their lives," said Cathe. "Jesus Revolution" is currently playing in theaters nationwide. Learn more. | | | | | | | | Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We look forward to seeing you again on Monday! -- CP Editors |
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