From the article -- All the cool kids think killing people is OK now. Or at least understandable, as long as the killer has, like, a really good reason. Few of the people who talk this way want to pull the trigger themselves, thank God. But it gives them a kind of edgy thrill to talk about how violence in the service of a good cause might be necessary, even ennobling.
Some years ago, writer Rob Henderson coined the term “luxury belief” to describe fashionable opinions held by people who are insulated from the consequences of their views: for example, professors in safe college towns who advocate defunding the police. In a Free Expression article earlier this week Mr. Henderson noted that “glorifying ‘microlooting’ is a luxury belief because the people praising it aren’t the ones who pay for it.”
The people pursuing luxury beliefs are engaged in a kind of status competition. Who can épater la bourgeoisie with the boldest, most transgressive political statements? After Oct. 7, 2023, we saw this kind of status-jockeying on college campuses, where elite students vied to become the most fervent supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah. Keffiyeh scarves became de rigueur. Celebrating political murder is the next step on this progression. For most, it’s only talk. But there will always be a few who seek what they see as the ultimate status: actually carrying out a political attack.
Related articles: “From One Assassination Attempt to the Next: Mainstreaming Violence Against a President” (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)...“The Young, Violent Political Left” (Michael Barone, Jewish World Review)...“Coddling Leftist Assassins” (Thom Nickels, Front Page Mag)...“Stoking Violence: The Assassination Culture In America Is Not A Problem Coming From ‘Both Sides Of The Aisle’ (Erick Stakelbeck, Harbinger’s Daily)...“Leftist Political Violence is an Existential Threat to the Republic (Josh Hammer, Front Page Mag)...“Party of Assassins: (The latest Trump assassin wasn’t a radical. He was a Democrat.” (Daniel Greenfield, Front Page Mag)
2) “The Pro-Life Movement Has An IVF Problem” (Nathanael Blake, Federalist)
From the article -- IVF is on the rise, and that’s a problem for the pro-life movement. The problem is that pro-lifers know that human life begins at conception, but the IVF industry intentionally destroys human embryos in vast quantities — yet IVF is very popular, including among those who describe themselves as pro-life. Even as the American birthrate plummets, more babies are being born through IVF, with the most recent release of data showing the number of IVF babies surpassing 100,00 in a single year.
This has established a pervasive dissonance. Many Christian churches proclaim from the pulpit that human embryos are fully human, but nonetheless seem untroubled when members, and even leaders, use IVF according to the industry-standard embryo-destroying protocols. They just prefer not to talk about the contradiction.
Thus, many people, not having thought about the issue much, do not realize that there is a conflict between the pro-life commitment to treating human embryos as human persons and what the IVF industry does. For instance, when President Trump unveiled his pro-IVF fertility policy, reporter Emily Jashinsky asked what his message was to those with “religious objections to IVF.” He replied, “I think this is very pro-life. … You can’t get more pro-life than this.” The apparent reasoning is simple: IVF helps people have babies and pro-lifers love babies. But the pro-life position is about protecting human life, not just helping people to have babies when they want them.
And protecting human life from conception is incompatible with how IVF is usually practiced. This is why IVF advocates are against recognizing human embryos as human persons. For example, Resolve (the National Infertility and Family Building Association) highlights the group’s opposition to laws that recognize that human life begins at conception.
3) “DOJ Report Reveals Biden Admin’s Expansive Religious Liberty Violations and Hostility to American Christians” (S.A. McCarthy, Washington Stand)
From the article -- “Our Nation’s origin and system of government bear the imprint of a Christian worldview and ethic, even as its laws protect religious pluralism. Christian beliefs, in conjunction with contemporary political thought and economic realities, influenced colonial settlers in their decision to overthrow tyranny and pursue independence,” the report’s introduction states. “After the Revolutionary War, Christians then informed the structure and contents of the United States Constitution, its amendments, and contemporaneous state constitutions.”
“But, when Christian beliefs about morality and human nature conflicted with the Biden Administration’s views, religious rights often suffered,” the report’s introduction continues. “The Biden Administration generally tolerated religious beliefs that were privately held but zealously pursued actions to limit Christians’ ability to act in accordance with their faith. This affected matters of deep personal importance to nearly every American: life, family, marriage, and self-identity,” it continues. “The Biden Administration’s policies regularly clashed with a Christian worldview and burdened traditional religious practices. These conflicts frequently arose over abortion, gender ideology, and sexual orientation. Ultimately, the Biden Administration penalized Christians who lived in accordance with their beliefs.”
The report details 14 “key findings” regarding the Biden administration’s abuse of power and violation of religious liberties, ranging from a two-tiered justice system and aggressive prosecution of pro-life activists to the coercive violation of conscience rights and the rabid promotion of LGBT ideology. The taskforce also identifies several “remedies” that the Trump administration has enacted to ensure that the federal government is not weaponized against American Christians.
Related articles: “New Report Thaws the Chill of Bias against Christians” (Tony Perkins, Washington Stand)...“Task Force Publishes Report on Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias and Restoring Religious Liberty” (Office of Public Affairs, Department of Justice)...“Pardons Aren’t Enough. The FACE Act Must Go” (Andrew Bath, Federalist)
4) “The New Religion of AI: Who Gets to Define What It Means to Be Human?” (Robert Maginnis, Washington Stand)
From the article -- On January 20, 2026, historian Yuval Noah Harari stood before the World Economic Forum at Davos and issued a direct challenge to Christians worldwide. “If religion is built from words, then AI will take over religion,” he said, then named Christianity by name: “This is particularly true of religions based on books, like Islam, Christianity, or Judaism.” And he left this question in the air: “What happens to the religion of a book when the greatest expert on the holy book is an AI?”
The clip accumulated 1.2 million views within days. The room at Davos did not object.
Harari’s 2026 remarks are the current edge of a worldview shift building for years — visible in the public statements of the most powerful technologists of our time, spanning five distinct domains of the human person.
Related articles: “China is Infiltrating the Anti-AI Movement” (Daniel Greenfield, Front Page Mag)...“Artificial Intelligence Misquotes The Bible Up To 60% Of The Time” (Ken Ham, Harbinger’s Daily)
5) “Why Is Progressivism Incompatible With the Declaration of Independence? Clarence Thomas Explains (Tyler O’Neil, Daily Signal)
From the article -- With his characteristic brilliance, Thomas cut through the Orwellian masquerade of Progressivism to reveal what it truly is—a fundamentally backward movement. By rejecting the solid footing of the declaration, Progressivism opened America to central planning and administrative rule.
While the declaration bases governmental authority on the consent of the governed and God creating human beings with inalienable rights, under Progressivism, “liberty no longer preceded the government as a gift from God but was to be enjoyed at the grace of the government.”
Thomas noted that President Woodrow “Wilson and the progressives candidly admitted that they took it from Otto von Bismarck’s Germany, whose state-centric society they admired. Progressives like Wilson argued that America need to leave behind the principles of the founding and catch up with the more advanced and sophisticated system of relatively unimpeded state power.”
Yet Thomas also quoted President Calvin Coolidge, who delivered a powerful address on the 150th anniversary of the declaration. “If all men are created equal, that is final,” Coolidge said. “If they are endowed with unalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress, can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which they can proceed historically is not forward but backward.”
Other Excellent Articles from the Week
* “Communism’s Comeback – and America’s Amnesia: A generation that forgot history is flirting with repeating it.” (Jeffrey Ludwig, Front Page Mag)
* “Biden Admin Used ‘Benghazi’ to Hide $90M to Planned Parenthood. Senator Wants DOJ to Probe.” (Fred Lucas, Daily Signal)
* “Teachers’ Unions Contribute a Combined $1 Billion Toward Left-Leaning Political Activism” (Kamden Muller, National Review)
* “Rep. Chris Smith welcomes Supreme Court’s decision in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Davenport and protection of pregnancy care centers” (National RTL)
* “The Story Of Everything Hits At Just The Right Time To Boost America’s Faith Resurgence” (David Goodwin, Federalist)
