“But if the watchman
see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if
the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] 'Cancel Culture'
Strikes D. James Kennedy Ministries
[3] Christian
Coalition Call on Government To Postpone Controversial Sex Education Programme
---
[1] 'Cancel Culture'
Strikes D. James Kennedy Ministries
FORT
LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 19, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Lifetime TV
demanded in February that D. James Kennedy Ministries (DJKM) eliminate all
"controversial" content from Truths That Transform, its weekly half-hour
Christian broadcast.
Specifically, Lifetime announced it would no longer air programming that
addressed abortion or Left-wing financier George Soros. And it refused to carry
any DJKM programming—even broadcasts celebrating George Washington—unless the
media ministry founded in 1974 agreed to Lifetime's sweeping new conditions.
"Because of Lifetime's newfound ban on so-called 'controversial' content,
D. James Kennedy Ministries has been forced off the cable channel—to which we
have paid enormous fees since 2018 to air our program," said Frank Wright,
Ph.D., DJKM President and CEO.
Lifetime's sudden decision to impose severe content restrictions came after
nearly three years during which the cable channel aired, without comment,
Truths That Transform programs addressing abortion and other matters of concern
to Christian social conservatives. Just last October, Lifetime ran—without
protest—D. James Kennedy Ministries' blockbuster documentary, Billionaire
Radical: George Soros and the Scheme to Remake America.
Yet in February Lifetime joined the growing number of private media firms—among
them Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple and others—who are deplatforming and
silencing outspoken Christian and conservative voices.
"We will not cave to the cancel culture," Wright asserted. "D.
James Kennedy Ministries is committed to proclaiming biblical truth and
defending freedom in America. We simply cannot water down our message to please
Lifetime and be faithful to our mission."
Wright added that DJKM is actively working to find new broadcast distribution
channels to replace its lost platform on Lifetime—which reaches 105 million TV
households nationwide. Doing so, Wright said is enormously expensive and is
made all the more difficult because of the recent decision by some networks to
eliminate all religious programming.
"We are extremely grateful to our partners who are praying for us and
standing with us by their much-needed financial support now," Wright said.
"But this is not just about us," Wright continued. "We are at a
critical turning point in our culture. The cancel culture is in high gear and
coming after anyone who speaks with courage and candor to the great moral and
cultural issues of our day. With God's help, we will not bow."
To request an interview with Dr. Frank Wright, contact John Aman, Director of
Communications, at j.aman@DJKM.org.
D. James Kennedy Ministries is a media ministry whose television programs,
Truths That Transform and The Coral Ridge Hour, air nationwide. It actively
communicates the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the supremacy of His Lordship, and a
Biblically informed view of the world.
SOURCE D. James Kennedy Ministries
CONTACT: John Aman, j.aman@DJKM.org
+ D. James Kennedy Ministries, An
Outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries Media, P.O. Box 11184, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33339, 866-534-1294, letters@djameskennedy.org
The following is excerpted
from “4 Main Things Christians Need to Know about CRT,” Pulpit & Pen, Aug.
6, 2019: “Invented by Derrick Bell and other attorneys as a spin-off of
Critical Legal Theory in American law schools in the 1980s, these theorists
were disenchanted with the results of the Civil Rights Movement. Bell, Richard
Delgado, and other CRT thinkers viewed classical liberal ideas such as meritocracy
(people being rewarded based on their individual merits), equal opportunity,
and colorblind justice (like that promoted by Dr. King) to all be factors that
cause systemic, invisible, intangible racism. What many people don’t understand
is that CRT rejects most of the things that the 1960s Civil Rights Movement
fought for, like treating people equally in institutions and under the law.
Instead, CRT teaches that if power is to be properly redistributed from the
‘haves’ to ‘have-nots’ (which in their eyes include minority identity groups),
the law may actually need to be biased in favor of minority identity groups.
... CRT is a system that rejects both human biology and Biblical doctrine and
teaches that mankind should be separated into various ethnic minority groups.
With CRT, people are encouraged to identify with their ethnicity (which CRT
thought-leaders inaccurately label ‘race’), rather than with greater and more
significant distinguishing factors, like Jesus, their nation, or their
community. It’s also important to understand that Critical Race
Theory--although it may seem counter-intuitive--doesn’t just deal with race.
CRT promotes division between ‘identity groups,’ dividing people into either
the ‘oppressor class’ (usually, White and ‘straight’ men holding to the
majority religion) versus ‘victim identity groups’ which can include so-called
‘sexual minorities,’ the disabled, abuse victims, women, the ‘transgender,’ as
well as ethnic groups. CRT is used by homosexuals, the transgender, and women
as much as it is used by ethnic minorities. In CRT, ‘whiteness’ refers to
anything identifying with power or privilege as it relates to the ‘majority
class’ (usually, those who hold ethnic or religious majority). For CRT
theorists, to be white is to have privilege, and to have privilege is to be
white. The term Whiteness, as used in CRT, refers to any majority group that
has majority status and--in the world of CRT--that is synonymous with power and
privilege.” https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/08/06/4-main-things-christians-need-to-know-about-critical-race-theory/
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port
Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
[3] Christian
Coalition Call on Government To Postpone Controversial Sex Education Programme
A coalition of Christian
educators and bodies has urged the Secretary of State for Education to postpone
this year’s planned summer implementation of Relationships and Sex Education
(RSE).
Written by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, on behalf of
the constituent bodies of the Christian Coalition For Education (CCFE), the
letter states that amidst the continued chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic,
parents have not been properly consulted on the new curriculum, which is
required by law.
The letter states therefore that ‘if schools are to have any chance of
truly “taking their parents with them” in this, there cannot be any shadow of
doubt the mandatory process has been completed properly.’
Furthermore, the signatories, which include Christian leaders from schools,
universities, and educational bodies from across the UK, state that if the
Department for Education (DfE) were to go ahead as planned it would be ‘bizarre’ and ‘confusing’ for
children, parents and teachers in an educational system already reeling under
the current pressures.
In May 2020, the Department for Education (DfE) had announced that while the
new regulations making RSE compulsory would still take effect from September
2020, schools would be able to delay introducing it to their pupils until
Summer term 2021 due to the impact of Covid-19.
The letter states that RSE, which could involve the teaching of sexualised
themes to children as young as four, has already ‘given rise to school
protests, lawsuits and a huge rise in home-schooling in certain areas and
communities’, and that ‘to require implementation by the
summer term would place parents, pupils and schools under unconscionable
strain.’
Addressing the challenges of a summer implementation on schools, the group
presents that RSE’s: ‘forced arrival in the summer term will exhaust
and dismay many throughout the teaching profession and lead it to being
dismissed at a time when the welfare, well-being, mental health and managing
exam pressures on students are more pressing.’
The group also cite new
guidance, issued by the DfE on 24 September 2020, which aimed to help
school leaders implement the new statutory RSE curriculum.
The guidance presented a sharp departure from the DfE’s previous messaging
about the programme, which had been significantly influenced by special
interest lobbying groups.
However, the September 2020 guidance stated that schools ‘should not
reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by suggesting that children might
be a different gender based on their personality and interests or the clothes
they prefer to wear.’
Plus, the guidance made it clear that schools ‘should not work with
external agencies or organisations that produce such material’ or
suggest to children that they may have been born in the wrong body.
The group argue that this message represents such a departure from previous
guidance that ‘schools need time to assess and consult with parents
fully’, due to the number of political and partisan groups continually
seeking to influence schools across the country on this issue.
Therefore, the group ‘strongly urge’ Gavin Williamson, the
current Secretary of State for Education, to delay the implementation of the
programme again until September 2021.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said: “Parents have the right to expect that
their children will be taught according to their religious and philosophical
beliefs. The State and schools are strictly ancillary to parental
responsibility for the upbringing of their children and both must listen
carefully to what parents are saying if the world of education is to be one of
mutual respect and harmony”.
Steve Beegoo, Christian Concern’s Head of Education, said: “Many parents
have been totally left in the dark about what their school deems appropriate to
teach their children about sexual activity, LGBT+, transgender ideology or
pornography.
“Due to the pressures on schools during the pandemic, many, if not the
majority of schools have had no capacity to fully disclose their RSHE
curriculum or properly consult with the parents on this highly controversial
area. It is deeply disturbing that the Department for Education is yet to
announce any flexibility for schools to fulfil their legal duties, opening up
the possibility of many more parental complaints which is the last thing
schools need.”
+ Christian Concern,
