A BREAKTHROUGH research has discovered the truth behind ruins in ancient Jerusalem which verifies the Bible’s accounts.

A stretch of wall in the original heart of the city was revealed to had been built by King Uzziah, as hinted at in the Bible.

Contrary to popular belief, Hezekiah, who ruled Judah during the 7th and 8th century BC, did not fortify the city to protect it against the invaders.

For years, experts believed that Hezekiah erected the walls after witnessing his neighbours, the Kingdom of Israel, get destroyed by the Assyrian Empire.

But now a decade-long study has found that it was actually his great-grandfather, King Uzziah, who built the walls after a huge earthquake.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27715402/ancient-ruin-proof-bible-story/

The post BIBLE BOMBSHELL Ancient ruin is proof bible story is REAL, say experts after evidence shows wall was built as recounted in Old Testament first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“There are references in the bible which are simply no longer appropriate in modern society and which would be deemed offensive if stated in public,” lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the court.

The statement occurred in the course of CPS’ prosecution of street preacher John Dunn for the alleged crime of offending two lesbians by quoting Scripture to them.

Despite having lost his voice box to throat cancer, Dunn, 55, preaches regularly on the streets of Swindon, a town in southwestern England.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://thenewamerican.com/u-k-prosecutors-some-bible-verses-no-longer-appropriate-to-be-quoted-in-public/

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The post U.K. Prosecutors: Some Bible Verses “No Longer Appropriate” to Be Quoted in Public first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

It was one of the biggest bangs this side of Nagasaki.  The explosion at the Beirut port was so powerful that it killed at least 135 instantly, wounded thousands and rendered some 300,000 suddenly homeless.  We heard conflicting reports, whether fireworks factory, storage for missiles imported by Hezbollah from Iran, or a warehouse full of ammonium nitrate.  Whichever is the culprit, the result has been the complete destruction of the Beirut port facility, along with the thousands of injuries and a mounting death toll.  All three may have gone up in the mushroom cloud, but ammonium nitrate looks to be the culprit for the massively destructive explosion.  Apparently officials knew of the danger, and now there is a frantic search for someone responsible for letting this happen.

You could logically be forgiven for limiting your intake of “official information.”  Nearly every newscast begins with a triumphant recitation of the latest COVID cases and deaths.  Isn’t it glorious?  The often renewed panic is gnawing away at any chance of economic recovery, and it’s all the fault of you know who.  But who knows what’s going on with these 99.9% accurate tests?  We don’t give medical advice, but possibly the worst thing one could do, from the standpoint of retaining any modicum of personal freedom, is to go get tested.

We know from numerous anecdotal stories and reports that a lot of people test “positive” who aren’t sick, haven’t been sick and don’t plan on being sick.  Once somebody tests positive, they’re liable to lose whatever freedoms they thought they still had.  You’ll likely be told (not asked) that you must take yourself out of circulation for ten days to two weeks.  Official state agencies may try to contact you, demanding to know every place you’ve been and everyone with whom you’ve had contact.    They’re called “contact tracers,” by media.  We have other terms.  Surely the information being gathered isn’t going into some politically-oriented database?

Mainstream outlets speculate endlessly about the President’s impulse to behave as a dictator, while angrily blaming him for having not instituted “national mandates” to “flatten the curve,” or whatever.  Questioning the vain babbling of Dr. Fauci is tantamount to heresy.  The social media giants will silence anyone who offers any logic that differs from the pint-size oracle of all things COVID.

Trouble is, Fauci has been all over the map with his arrogance showing.  He gave interviews prior to his rise to international fame that largely dispute most of what he’s saying now.  The diametrically opposed public statements were all delivered with the same cocksure attitude, along with the nervous chuckle the little doctor always displays.  It’s not just about his contradictory statements about masks either.  In January, before we commoners knew his name, he plainly said there couldn’t possibly be the kind of dictated “shutdowns” in America that he now calls for routinely.  It just couldn’t happen here.  But now it must.  The “people” have nothing to say about any of it.  “Doctor’s orders” claptrap.

Experts appear on all the news outlets to say that we simply “cannot consider” opening schools, businesses or entertainment venues while still logging the infection and death toll rates that are being reported.  Every time there is some encouraging news as to job growth or upward economic movement, more spikes, hot-spots and hideous illness and death reports are soon to follow, accompanied by more stringent lock-down orders from any of several local dictators, rather governors, mayors, or “medical experts.”

Why do hospitals benefit financially when they label patients “COVID positive?”  If you look, you’ll see a raft of articles from various publications and government agencies, most of which try to complicate the equation until you don’t know what to think.  But a common thread is that there is an admission of increased Federal payments to hospitals for COVIS cases, particularly those over the age of 65 through Medicare.  Then there is usually an expression of outrage that anyone would dare suspect that “medical professionals” would tinker with the diagnoses for financial gain.  How dare such a possibility even be raised!

It is a little interesting that nearly every other cause of death has fallen off the statistical chart.  Cancer, diabetes, heart-attack, stroke or the annual flu;  None of those seem to rate much concern in the age of COVID.  Everybody that expires dies of COVID now.  And none of those qualify for additional government money.  Go figure.  Did I mention that the country is going broke to the tune of 3 or 4 trillion in deficit spending so far this year?  There were tears of anger over Obama running a $2 trillion deficit in a single year.  We’re on track to see three times that amount before this year is over.

It took Rudy Giuliani years to clean up New York City to be a relatively clean and safe place.  It took the woke mob a matter of hours to return it to the filthy cesspool we knew in the ’70’s.  Graffiti mars every view.  Murders, as in other metropolises around the nation, are up dramatically without the manpower to solve them.  A few “peaceful” riots, and it’s back worse than before.

Things are anything but black and white.  Mainstream outlets are stoking fear and loathing around the clock.  The most successful early treatment has been all but outlawed because President Trump made the mistake of mentioning it out loud.  Therefore it must be dangerous!  It’ll cause heart palpitations, maybe brain damage! You must agree with the destructive COVID fear; you must hate President Trump with the anger of the mob or you’re probably a white-supremacist, even if you’re not white!

It came as a shock that we even survived the Obama years.  Despite a couple of years of faint hope that something might be salvaged by people who love freedom and a president who respects them, it may be too late.  We understand the propensity for optimism, and believe in it.  But this great nation may have passed the point of no return.

We used to wonder, how on earth could a whole population be so hopelessly deceived as to act upon false propaganda.  We don’t have to wonder anymore.  It looks like we may be living in the early stages of the book of Revelation.  Our cities are ruined.  Graffiti is everywhere.  Police have been vilified to an astonishing degree, and are being attacked, abolished and defunded.  They’re quitting in droves, and who wouldn’t?  Stick your head up on social media and that will be the end of your voice.  Should have known better than to buck the conventional wisdom.

Get used to it.  Your beliefs are not acceptable.  We have two choices.  Hide, or help inform as many as possible as to the brainwashing in progress. Actually, we have no choice.  But you do.  We need the Sabbath now as never before.

Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 7 August 2020 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Protesters burned an American flag and a Bible in Portland, Oregon, sparking outrage just as weeks of violent demonstrations seemed to be coming to a close.

For more than 60 days, Black Lives Matters demonstrators, including a “Wall of Moms” and a “Wall of Vets,” have clashed with federal agents in the city, drawing national attention as authorities blasted marchers with tear gas and the civilians at times responded with weapons of their own — such as feces, bleach, bricks or batteries.

Friday night’s demonstrations were largely peaceful, appearing to mark a break from the chaos as federal agents made a recent deal to allow local authorities to handle the protests.

But just after midnight, marchers were caught on video using the flag and holy book as kindling for bonfires lit outside the federal courthouse, which has been a focal point of rioting after the death of George Floyd in police custody in May, according to a news report.

“Left-wing activists bring a stack of Bibles to burn in front of the federal courthouse in Portland,” claimed Ian Miles Cheong on Twitter Saturday.

The post featured a video which showed protestors with “Black Lives Matter” signs tossing bibles into a raging bonfire. The video, which has gone viral, had more than 1.8 million views and thousands of retweets.

“Now we move to the book-burning phase,” said Donald Trump Jr. in a tweet Saturday. “I’m pretty sure ANTIFA doesn’t actually stand for what they say it stands for. Maybe just remove the anti part of [their] name and it’s perfect,” he wrote.

The fire was later put out by members of Moms United for Black Lives Matter, who doused the flames with bottles of water and stomped on the embers, according to KOIN 6, a local CBS affiliate television station in Portland.

Source: https://nypost.com/2020/08/01/protestors-burn-bible-american-flag-as-tensions-rise-in-portland/

The post Protesters burn Bible, American flag as tensions rise in Portland first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Birgitte Stoklund Larsen, a journalist for the Danish Bible Society, claims the decision was not an “ideological choice.”

A recently published Danish translation of the New Testament that omits the word “Israel” and “Jews” has sparked outrage in the Jewish world.

“We are stunned that the new Danish Bible Society publication of the Bible erases references to Israel out of stated worry over ‘confusion’ with the modern Jewish state,” B’nai B’rith International tweeted on Monday.

“Yet this surreal revision causes confusion and worse: the whitewashing of history, identity, and sacred scripture!” the tweet added.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, a director at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, compared it to a “cheesecake with zero calories,” reported Algemeiner. 

“Wow will Jesus be surprised,” he said. “Jew-haters and Israel-bashers rejoice!”

Even a Muslim cleric condemned the omissions, saying it was done to present the Jewish people as stateless.

“‘Israel’ has been replaced with ‘Jews’ or erased altogether. The agenda is to present Jews as stateless. It’s false and against God,” Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, an Iranian-born Shiite cleric, tweeted on Monday.

The backlash is in reference to Bible 2020, a Danish translation of the Biblical Greek New Testament by the Danish Bible Society, in which 59 of the 60 references to Israel were removed from the original text.

Other than that one time, references to the “Land of Israel” in Bible 2020 read “Land of the Jews,” and when the people of Israel are mentioned in the original text, it is replaced by either “Jews” or nothing at all.

Birgitte Stoklund Larsen, a journalist for the Danish Bible Society, claims the decision was not an “ideological choice,” but rather to avoid identifying ancient Israel with today’s State of Israel.

“It is not an ideological choice, but a communicative choice,” Larsen wrote on the organization’s website, adding “the meaning must emerge, the text must be immediately understandable even to the reader who does not have a thorough knowledge of the Bible and Christianity.”

Larsen also quoted Rabbi Bent Melchior, a former chief rabbi of Denmark, who defended the translation.

“When we are called Jews today, it is because we come from Judea and not from Israel,” Melchior told Christian Daily on Sunday. “I would say that it can be a good correction because there is no geographical indication when Israel is mentioned in the Bible.”

Source: https://worldisraelnews.com/surreal-danish-bible-translations-nixing-of-israel-sparks-outrage/

The post Danish Bible translation omitting ‘Jews’ and ‘Israel’ sparks outrage first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took actress and activist Alyssa Milano to task over remarks she made questioning Second Amendment rights.

On Sunday, Milano questioned the validity of the Second Amendment in a tweet following the news of a mass killing that took place Saturday in Texas.

A 36-year-old suspect shot and killed at least seven people on the streets of Odessa, Texas, in what appeared to be random attacks. The incident resulted in the injuries of nearly two dozen other people. The Midland Police Department announced that the suspect was killed in a police exchange of gunfire shortly after the suspect carried out the heinous attack.

What happened during the exchange between Cruz and Milano?

In a pointed tweet, Milano wrote, “Can someone cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun? This guy is unbelievable and is clearly owned by the gun lobby.”

She was responding to a tweet from Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Texas), who promised that he would not allow the mass killer’s acts put a damper on the Second Amendment rights of Texans.

Schaefer wrote, “I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period. None of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent.”

Cruz noticed Milano’s complaints and responded in kind.

He wrote, “An excellent Q, worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter. It is of course not the right to a modern-day firearm that is God-give [sic] but rather the right to Life & the right to Liberty. Essential to that right to life is the right to DEFEND your life & your family.”

The Texas lawmaker continued, “The right to self-defense is recognized repeatedly in the Bible, eg Exodus 22:2: ‘If a thief is caught breaking in at night & is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.’ (Note, though, verse 3 says it IS murder if during daylight (ie, not self-defense).”

Cruz backs up his point

He went on to cite a passage from the Declaration of Independence to bolster his explanation.

“The Declaration of Independence acknowledges our rights thusly: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,'” he quoted. “And, for that reason, the Second Amendment provides ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT be infringed.’ It wasn’t to protect people’s ability to hunt, or to shoot target practice, but to defend their lives, their homes & their families.”

Cruz invoked the name of Texas resident Stephen Willeford, who risked his own life in an attempt to stop the Sutherland Springs, Texas, mass murderer.

“Stephen Willeford exercised that fundamental right when he risked his own life to stop the Sutherland Springs murderer, saving countless others as a result,” he added.

Cruz continued by pointing out the ideas of St. George Tucker as further reading for Milano.

“St. George Tucker, one of the most important scholars in early America, explained the reasons behind the Second Amendment as follows: ‘This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty. . . . The right of self-defense is the first law of nature … in most govts it has been the study of rulers to confine this right w/in the narrowest limits possible. Wherever…the right…to keep & bear arms is, under any…pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.'”

“That’s also why, post Civil War, disarming Black Americans was a critical objective of the KKK and was memorialized in countless Jim Crow laws — to strip African-Americans of their God-given right to self-defense from violence,” he reasoned. “I’m a Texan. What happened in Midland-Odessa — and El Paso, Santa Fe & Sutherland Springs — was sick, deranged & horrifying. We need to do MUCH more to stop violent criminals & those w/ dangerous mental illness BEFORE they murder & I’m leading the fight in the Senate to do so.”

He concluded that “playing politics” with such heinous crimes is not the way to carry out lasting change.

“Playing politics w/ these deranged crimes — and trying to use them as an excuse to violate the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens — won’t make anybody safer. Forcible gun confiscation (as some 2020 Dems urge) won’t prevent mass-murders. But it would weaken our self-defense.”

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

An excellent Q, worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter. It is of course not the right to a modern-day firearm that is God-give but rather the right to Life & the right to Liberty. Essential to that right to life is the right to DEFEND your life & your family. 1/x https://twitter.com/alyssa_milano/status/1168293913825693697 …

Alyssa Milano@Alyssa_Milano

Can someone cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun? This guy is unbelievable and is clearly owned by the gun lobby. #NoRA https://twitter.com/repmattschaefer/status/1167989249745899521 …

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

An excellent Q, worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter. It is of course not the right to a modern-day firearm that is God-give but rather the right to Life & the right to Liberty. Essential to that right to life is the right to DEFEND your life & your family. 1/x https://twitter.com/alyssa_milano/status/1168293913825693697 …

Alyssa Milano@Alyssa_Milano

Can someone cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun? This guy is unbelievable and is clearly owned by the gun lobby. #NoRA https://twitter.com/repmattschaefer/status/1167989249745899521 …

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

2/x The right to self-defense is recognized repeatedly in the Bible, eg Exodus 22:2: “If a thief is caught breaking in at night & is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.” (Note, though, verse 3 says it IS murder if during daylight (ie, not self-defense).

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

2/x The right to self-defense is recognized repeatedly in the Bible, eg Exodus 22:2: “If a thief is caught breaking in at night & is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.” (Note, though, verse 3 says it IS murder if during daylight (ie, not self-defense).

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

3/x The Declaration of Independence acknowledges our rights thusly: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

3/x The Declaration of Independence acknowledges our rights thusly: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

4/x And, for that reason, the Second Amendment provides “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT be infringed.” It wasn’t to protect people’s ability to hunt, or to shoot target practice, but to defend their lives, their homes & their families.

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

4/x And, for that reason, the Second Amendment provides “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT be infringed.” It wasn’t to protect people’s ability to hunt, or to shoot target practice, but to defend their lives, their homes & their families.

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

5/x Stephen Willeford exercised that fundamental right when he risked his own life to stop the Sutherland Springs murderer, saving countless others as a result.

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

5/x Stephen Willeford exercised that fundamental right when he risked his own life to stop the Sutherland Springs murderer, saving countless others as a result.

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

6/x St. George Tucker, one of the most important scholars in early America, explained the reasons behind the Second Amendment as follows: “This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty. . . . The right of self defence is the first law of nature….”

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

6/x St. George Tucker, one of the most important scholars in early America, explained the reasons behind the Second Amendment as follows: “This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty. . . . The right of self defence is the first law of nature….”

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

7/x “…in most govts it has been the study of rulers to confine this right w/in the narrowest limits possible. Wherever…the right…to keep & bear arms is, under any…pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

Replying to @tedcruz

7/x “…in most govts it has been the study of rulers to confine this right w/in the narrowest limits possible. Wherever…the right…to keep & bear arms is, under any…pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

8/x That’s also why, post Civil War, disarming Black Americans was a critical objective of the KKK, and was memorialized in countless Jim Crow laws—to strip African-Americans of their God-given right to self-defense from violence.

---

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

8/x That’s also why, post Civil War, disarming Black Americans was a critical objective of the KKK, and was memorialized in countless Jim Crow laws—to strip African-Americans of their God-given right to self-defense from violence.

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

9/x I’m a Texan. What happened in Midland-Odessa—and El Paso, Santa Fe & Sutherland Springs—was sick, deranged & horrifying. We need to do MUCH more to stop violent criminals & those w/ dangerous mental illness BEFORE they murder & I’m leading the fight in the Senate to do so.

---

Ted Cruz

@tedcruz

 · Sep 1, 2019

9/x I’m a Texan. What happened in Midland-Odessa—and El Paso, Santa Fe & Sutherland Springs—was sick, deranged & horrifying. We need to do MUCH more to stop violent criminals & those w/ dangerous mental illness BEFORE they murder & I’m leading the fight in the Senate to do so.

Ted Cruz@tedcruz

10/x Playing politics w/ these deranged crimes—and trying to use them as an excuse to violate the constl rights of law-abiding citizens—won’t make anybody safer. Forcible gun confiscation (as some 2020 Dems urge) won’t prevent mass-murders. But it would weaken our self-defense.

---

Source: click here

[Disclaimer]

The post Alyssa Milano complains about Second Amendment rights: first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The unparalleled presentation by Ambassador Danny Danon delivered to the UN General Assembly just after Passover a few weeks ago has gone viral on social media where it has been translated into numerous languages. In the 18-minute defense of Israel’s right to the Land, Ambassador Danon covered the biblical, historical and international facts proving that the entire Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, belong to the Jewish people.

Quoting from God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis, Danon looked squarely into the eyes of the Palestinian delegate sitting across from him at the assembly, lifted his Bible high for all to see and said, “This is the deed to our land.” Danon then read the Bible in Hebrew, and then in English, from Genesis 17:7-8: “I will give this Land as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you.”

Using the Bible to defend the Jewish ownership of the Land of Israel is an extraordinary move in modern political realities. Until now, Israeli politicians have shied away from turning to Scripture in defense of Israel’s claims.

As expected, mainstream liberal media are reacting with scorn and rage, shaking their heads in disbelief that a government official, Israeli at that, would dare use the Bible in support of Israel’s right to the land. In interviews after the speech, CNN and Al-Jazeera hosts openly mocked the idea that the Bible would have anything to do with the Jewish people’s claim to a homeland in the Land of Israel.

Danon, however, remained unfazed. “The Jewish people’s ownership of Eretz Yizroel (meaning the whole land of Israel) is well documented in the Hebrew Bible and beyond (apparently a cryptic reference to the New Testament). The entire connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel begins right here,” he said, again holding up his Bible.

The ambassador pointed out that it is not only the Hebrew Bible that gives the Land of Israel to the Jewish people, but this is also true in Christianity and Islam. “The Koran itself accepts the divine deed of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel,” Danon told the assembly while pointing his finger directly at the Palestinian delegate. It was clear to all those watching that Danon is referring to the whole Land of Israel including Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank).

In the unprecedented speech, the Israeli ambassador went on to show that the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel is confirmed not only in the Bible and Jewish history, but in the history of the world as well. “The twelve tribes of Israel lived in this land for thousands of years,” he said. The largest tribe of Judah lived in the area now known as Judea.” Again, staring down the Palestinian delegate, Danon declared, “You all know the names Jew and Jewish. Jew and Jewish come from Judea. It was the home of our King David and Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” he said.

Ambassador Danon concluded by pointing out that “Jewish rights to the Land of Israel are also according to international law as decided upon in this very body (UN). A stronger and safer Israel means a stronger and safer world,” he insisted.

See video: https://www.garnertedarmstrong.org/israel-to-un-god-gave-us-the-land-ambassador-dons-kippa-and-reads-the-bible-video/ 

Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/Default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=36671

The post Israel’s Ambassador Turns to the Bible first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Israel to UN: God gave us the Land. Ambassador dons kippa and reads the bible. (Video) first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Trump’s tweet came minutes after “Fox & Friends” aired a segment Monday morning on pending legislation in six states — Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia — that would allow Bible literacy courses to become a part of a public school education.

“Nothing beats the Bible,” Trump famously said on the campaign trail in 2015 — not even “The Art of the Deal.”

The Christian activists who crafted the template for inserting the Bible into public school curricula celebrated the president’s endorsement of the idea.

“We were excited to see it happen,” Steven Fitschen, president of the National Legal Foundation, told Yahoo News. “The model bill that we were involved with is for the state level, but we were excited to see him use his bully pulpit, so to speak.”

Fitschen said the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation — a nonprofit group formed by former Virginia Republican Congressman J. Randy Forbes to promote “restoring Judeo-Christian principles” — hired him to help draft the text of legislation that could withstand First Amendment challenges to teaching the Bible in schools.

“We looked at what was already in existence and tried to craft a model bill so we could eliminate any constitutional problems, so there could be a course that taught about Islam or Buddhism or any other religion. Many other schools already have comparative religion courses,” Fitschen said. “The reason we centered in on the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the history of the country, how much of our idiom and our political framework, all these things that were biblically derived because of the historical situation with many of the early colonists.”

The American Civil Liberties Union blasted both the attempt to infuse Bible literacy courses in public schools and Trump’s support of it. Its concern is that, notwithstanding Fitschen’s self-proclaimed commitment to religious neutrality, in practice the courses could, at least in some states, amount to a form of Christian evangelism.

“Yet again, President Trump is exploiting religious divisions to score political points. Public school Bible courses are rarely taught neutrally and objectively as required by the Constitution,” Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, told Yahoo News in an email. “Instead, these courses usually resemble Sunday school classes that blatantly violate students’ and parents’ First Amendment rights. Religious education is best left to families and faith communities, not public school officials.”

Just as the pro-business American Legislative Exchange Council crafts model bills that can be adapted and introduced in states across the country, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation’s blueprint for inserting the Bible into public schools follows a similar starter-kit approach.

“We don’t get involved with the legislative battles,” Fitschen said. “Instead what we do is we put together model bills that we think would work in any of the 50 states, and it’s up on the foundation website.”

While bills following the foundation’s template failed to pass in Alabama, Iowa and West Virginia last year, Kentucky passed its version, House Bill 128, in 2017, over objections from the ACLU, and it was signed into law by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.

Supporters of Bible literacy classes say the text is being taught as a historical and cultural document, but the ACLU contends that including it in the curriculum is a way to promote religion.

Source: https://www.theisraelwire.com/2019/03/24/trump-boosts-bills-to-teach-his-favorite-book-the-bible-in-public-schools.html

The post Trump boosts bills to teach his favorite book — the Bible — in public schools first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.