Saturday, April 20, 2024

The Top 5 (April 20)

* "California’s Senate Democrats Reject Bill to Make Purchasing a Child for Sex a Felony" (Katy Grimes, California Globe) 

From the article -- As we explained at the time, human trafficking was defined as a “non-serious” crime because of Proposition 57 passed in 2016, which meant the act of human trafficking could no longer be considered a strike under California’s Three Strikes law. There is a plethora of history like this with California’s Democrat lawmakers.

Six proposed bills in 2018-19 would have corrected unclear language and serious flaws in Proposition 57, passed in 2016 by voters, which reclassified many serious heinous crimes as “non-serious.” The initiative specified early parole for persons who committed non-violent offenses. However, the initiative never specified what is considered a non-violent felony. But all 6 bills were killed by Democrats.

* "Planned Parenthood Checklist: More Abortions, Less Actual Health Care, More Tax Dollars Than Ever" (Melanie Israel, Daily Signal)

From the article -- In the long term, the trend of more abortions and fewer health services is even more stark. Pro-life scholar Michael New points out that “in the past 10 years, the number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood has increased by 20%. Meanwhile, cancer screenings fell by more than 58%, and prenatal services declined by more than 67%.”

After going all-in on “gender-affirming hormone therapy” starting in the 2015-2016 reporting year, Planned Parenthood reports an all-time high of 45 clinics offering such services. Planned Parenthood buries the specific number of services in an “other” category in the medical data tables. We can reasonably infer that gender services drove a noticeable spike in the category. It went from 8,153 in 2015 to 177,237 in this year’s report.

Now take a look at the financial side of things. Planned Parenthood reported:

$2.5 billion in net assets, up from $2.3 billion the previous year.

$699 million in government funding, up from $670 million the previous year.

$2 billion in total revenue, up from $1.9 billion the previous year.

* "The Joy of Imagining Heaven" (Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries)

From the article -- Too often we’ve been taught that Heaven is a non-physical realm, so we fail to take seriously what Scripture tells us about Heaven as a familiar, physical, tangible place. We cannot anticipate or desire what we cannot imagine. That’s why, I believe, God has given us glimpses of Heaven in the Bible—to fire up our imagination and kindle a desire for Heaven in our hearts. And that’s why Satan will always discourage our imagination—or misdirect it to ethereal notions that violate Scripture. As long as the resurrected universe remains either undesirable or unimaginable, he succeeds in sabotaging our love for Heaven.

If God didn’t want us to imagine what Heaven will be like, He wouldn’t have told us as much about it as He has.

* "Why Not Do Only the “Pleasant” Ministries?" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- So, with all of this heavy decadence to lift and with the playing field tilted so dramatically against us, why do we bother protesting abortionists? Why not gracefully resign the job, pat ourselves on the back for all the years we’ve sincerely tried to make a difference, and just move on to ministry activities that are less confrontational, less sorrowful, less hopeless?

* "The Obama and Biden Administrations' Betrayal of America's Closest Ally in the Middle East: Israel" (Majid Rafizadeh, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- What onlookers see, including terrorists and America's enemies and adversaries – when they also factor in the open US southern border across which millions of illegal immigrants have recently poured, including 46,000 Chinese, many of whom are military-aged men possibly "building an army from within" – is that the Biden administration is perfectly content to welcome and support terrorists.

The White House actions have bolstered America's adversaries and pretty much extinguished America's credibility as an ally. The universal "optics" are that if America will throw its closest ally, Israel, under the bus, what chance has anyone else got?