Milton Quintanilla , Contributing Writer - Christian Headlines
Stephan: Whenever I go into the world of evangelical Baptists, the reality of christofascism, I am struck by the medievalism of their thinking. This is the largest group of Protestants in the United States and their sexism and racism in the second decade of the 21st century amazes me. I can see why young people particularly are walking away from this world in droves.
The Louisville, Kentucky-based Southern Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously approved a resolution last week affirming its stance that only men can be pastors.
“It is further resolved that this Board encourages The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary administration and faculty to continue its theological training with this stated conviction —graduating both men and women for service to the church, but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor,” the resolution states, in part.
As reported by The Christian Post, SBTS trustees passed the resolution at their fall meeting last week. The resolution affirms the stance made by SBTS president Albert Mohler, who helped craft the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, which is the SBC’s official statement of faith.
“Our @SBTS trustees made an important statement last week, passing a unanimous resolution defining pastor as both function and office and limited to men by Scripture as confessed by Southern Baptists in the Baptist Faith & Message,” Mohler tweeted on Tuesday. “Thankful for them.”
The resolution comes after Saddleback Church, which is affiliated with the SBC, ordained three women in May 2021 despite the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 stating that the “office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
Stephan: The American wealth inequality crisis is fundamentally changing the country's political system and American culture. In 2022 there are 735 American billionaires; they constitute over a quarter of the world's billionaires. There are also nearly 22 million millionaires in the U.S. making up 8.8% of the country's adult population. Meanwhile, the median net worth of the American population is $121,700, and 12.5 percent of families have children facing food insecurity, literally whether they will have enough to eat on a given day. This wealth inequality has largely been engineered by the notably corrupt American Congress who, as a result of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, were easily bribed to create a tax system in which billionaires can pay less in taxes than a $14-18 an hour janitor.
The rapper Ye’s purchase of the right-wing social media app Parler may do little to reignite the floundering platform. But taken as a piece in a larger puzzle of billionaires buying, creating and investing in social media apps, the acquisition could further consolidate the power of ultra-wealthy men to shape the online ecosystem based on their own ideological views.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is part of a new wave of high-profile billionaires — also including the likes of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and former President Trump — who are putting millions into platforms with the stated intent of enabling users, including themselves, to say what they want without the constraint of rules aimed at limiting abusive content.
The market of social media apps that espouse that laxer content moderation philosophy, largely allowing the racism, antisemitism, misogyny and conspiracy theories prohibited on mainstream sites, is crowded. Although none of those platforms, which cater to a right-wing audience, boast user numbers on par with those of mainstream sites, experts warn the alternative sites’ power to shape online narratives about elections and other hot-button events shouldn’t be underestimated — especially as billionaires’ deep pockets power their ability to grow.
Jared Holt, senior research manager at ISD Global, said […]
Ken Klippenstein, Investigative Reporter - The Intercept.
Stephan: The November election has been heavily manipulated by the Saudis who seek to skew it to the Republicans by cutting back production so that gas prices go up. Where we live regular gas is $5.60 a gallon. In my opinion, the American / Saudi relationship needs to be massively restructured. We have supported the Saudis for years because the military-industrial complex makes billions a year in profit selling weapons to the Saudis. That needs to stop because the Saudis no longer hold up their end of that bargain by keeping gas prices low through high production.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.: Credit: Alexey Nikolsky / Sputnik / AFP / Getty
The Saudi led oil cartel OPEC+’s announcement earlier this month that it was cutting 2 million barrels of oil per day — a move that would drive up the price of oil just a month before midterm elections — rankled Democrats in Washington. They accused Riyadh of aligning itself with Russia, another powerful member of OPEC+, which would indeed profit off the move. “What Saudi Arabia did to help Putin continue to wage his despicable, vicious war against Ukraine will long be remembered by Americans,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
But Saudi Arabia actually pushed to cut oil production twice as much as Russian President Vladimir Putin, surprising the Russians, two Saudi sources with knowledge of the negotiations told The Intercept, suggesting that Riyadh’s motives run deeper than what top Democrats want to admit. The sources requested anonymity, fearing reprisal by the Saudi government.
Public reporting has hinted at Saudi’s Arabia’s drive for […]
Stephan: Every day I listen to Republicans make crime a major factor in the election. What you almost never hear is that in Red states crime rates have gone up the most, particularly crimes involving guns.
Florida was the first state to enact a “stand your ground” law in 2005, and at least 27 others have similar laws, according to the National Conference of States Legislatures. As a result in those states homicide rates have gone up.Credit: CNN
Amid a nationwide rise in homicides, a new study has found that “stand your ground” laws — which allow people to respond to threats with potentially lethal force without fear of criminal prosecution — are linked to increased homicide rates, amounting to hundreds of additional deaths per year.
States saw an average increase of 8-10% in monthly homicides between 1999 and 2017 after the enactment of such laws, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal.
“Stand your ground” laws garnered national attention in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012. George Zimmerman shot Martin but was acquitted on second-degree murder charges in part because he claimed self-defense under Florida’s law. Saturday marks 10 years since Martin’s death.
Stephan: This is a follow-up of an earlier report I ran about the utter uninterest the Republican Party has about nurturing healthy children. As I watch the election campaigns and how Americans are reacting I am amazed and disheartened that American voters don't even seem to be aware of what the Republicans are doing to gut social programs that foster the wellbeing of ordinary Americans. It is astonishing how dim most Americans seem to be about which party is fostering wellbeing and which is not.
Parents and caregivers with the Economic Security Project gather to advocate for the expanded child tax credit before the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in Washington, D.C. on September 20, 2022. Credit: Larry French / Getty
A Boston-based research team on Friday reiterated the negative effects of ending the expanded child tax credit by releasing a study that shows a huge jump in U.S. households not having enough food.
“Even brief periods of deprivation during childhood can have lasting impacts.”
The expanded child tax credit (CTC) in the American Rescue Plan gave over 35 million U.S. families up to $300 a month per child until it expired last December, and congressional Republicans and right-wing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposed continuing it.
Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the new study focuses on food insufficiency, “a marker for economic strain… defined by household lack of enough food to eat in the last seven days.”
Researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) found that ending the monthly payments “was associated with a 25% […]
