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While the pandemic mania has subsided to a significant degree, masks and vaccines continue to be debated. Many medical professionals continue to advocate masking, and some health science centers have reinstated mask requirements for clinical settings. Masks are the most visible sign of the covid-times, especially in comparison to hand-washing and vaccination. The latter two covid precautions are advocated, but we don’t see other people get shots or scrub hands nearly as much as we see people with (or without) masks. So, here follows a small thought on the psychological and religious role of masks today.
On August 10th, 2021 the village of Stapleton, Nebraska became the third city in Nebraska to pass an ordinance banning abortion within their city limits. The vote was 3-1. According to the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn website, the Village of Stapleton is the “fifty-first city in the nation” to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the home of former President Donald Trump based on an accusation from the National Archives that Trump had illegally stored classified documents in his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida
Conservatives are notoriously bad at establishing a collective policy. Most every-day American conservatives are hard-working and God-fearing. They take care of their piece of the pie and expect others to do the same.
On July 19th, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would make the right to engage in same sex ‘marriage’ federal law. As it currently stands, laws against same sex marriage at the state level have been rendered unenforceable by the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
In a 6-3 ruling, the Court found this law to place such a burden on exercising the Second Amendment that the law practically denied the right to bear arms. Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the majority opinion, paid special attention to the individual words of the Second Amendment. The amendment guarantees that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms… shall not be infringed.”
On Tuesday (6/21), the Supreme Court issued what’s already being called a landmark ruling regarding Carson v. Makin, a case concerning religious liberty and education.
The Supreme Court of the United States has 18 more decisions to release before their session comes to a close - including influential decisions which will likely impact religion, guns, and abortion in America. The most anticipated case for many being the Dobbs v. Jackson decision.
The Pro-Life movement, especially in Texas, has seen lots of fruit the past month of May. On May 19th, Governor Greg Abbott signed the Texas Heartbeat Act into law after it passed in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate. This act outlaws abortion after fetal heartbeat is detected and will go into effect on September 1st, 2021.
"Medical marijuana" as allowed in State programs, as well as the CBD under Texas' Compassionate Use program, are not like prescription medications that have been approved and are regulated by the FDA. That means, they've also bypassed FDA regulations for manufacturing purity and safety, and contain unpredictable and unlabeled amounts of psychoactive ingredients and other unlabeled ingredients.
The Customs and Border Protection agency “continues to see a large influx of illegal migration along the Southwest Border,” CBP chief Troy Miller said. Border Patrol officers and other CBP agents say they came across over 178 thousand illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the U.S. at the border with Mexico in April 2021. This is a 3% increase from March 2021 and a 1000% increase from April 2020.
Lubbock, Texas has been the sight of heightened political activism for the last year. On May 1st, this period of Lubbock history will reach a dramatic climax as the citizens of Lubbock consider passing an ordinance outlawing abortion within their city limits.
This past April 23rd through the 25th, the Young Conservatives of Texas hosted their annual statewide convention. As Texas’ most active youth organization, YCT prides themselves on their “principles over party” motto and supports non-partisan initiatives for spreading the conservative principles, such as life and liberty. This year, among the many chapters and alumni that attended, politicians including Ted Cruz, Chip Roy, Mayes Middleton, Briscoe Cain, Bryan Hughes, and more attended panels, gave speeches, and speculated on the future of politics in Texas and nationwide.
While the bill has wide pro-life support, it has come under fire by both pro-abortion groups and be some pro-lifers. Predictably, the pro-choice groups are upset that the Heartbeat bill infringes upon the supposed right to end a child’s life in the womb. More confusing to the political layman is the opposition from certain pro-life groups….[A]bolitionists want Texans to ignore Roe v Wade and to pass and enforce legislation that will make preborn baby killing illegal once again.
Texas is also one of 41 States and the District of Columbia that requires a prescriber or pharmacist to ensure that drug prescriptions are based on an actual physical examination of the patient and prohibiting licensed pharmacists from filling certain drugs if there is any doubt they were prescribed following an exam. According to Public Health Law Program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most States have multiple physical examination regulations under multiple categories. Texas is one of them.
Cruz is loved by most conservatives for his willingness to consistently stand for conservative value and for refusing to cave to the establishment Republicans or Democrats…. There are two main takeaways from Senator Cruz’s speech which apply to conservatives across the United States. First, Cruz stressed that there is a need to work hard. Second, conservatives have a reason to be optimistic.
As a connoisseur of Communism (not by choice mind you) I can argue for the falseness of the Communism the Chinese government proclaims. Yes, they keep the massive governmental structure that has the power to infringe all human rights without anything to oppose them, but the original Marxist economic ideology that serves as the foundation for Communism has long been abandoned.
The movement to legalize pot has not been a grassroots effort. Nor has it come from doctors or medical professionals; or scientists, public health experts, educators or law enforcement agencies. For decades, the organizations working to legalize pot − beginning with "medical" cannabis and working towards the ultimate goal of legalizing all illicit drugs − have been a highly funded worldwide network of NGOs. The largest in the U.S. are the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and Drug Policy Alliance.
Judge Christopher Murray of Michigan has ruled that the Michigan Secretary of State violated state election law. Secretary Joceyln Benson gave several election related orders that circumvented the Michigan legislative branch. Of specific note, Benson ordered that absentee ballots be sent to every registered voter. Furthermore, she said that absentee ballots should be assumed to be legitimate even if there were irregularities in the signatures of the absentee voter.
On April 6th, 2021 the city of Hayes Center, Nebraska became the first city in Nebraska to pass an ordinance banning abortion within their city limits. The vote was unanimous. According to the Hayes Center Times-Republican, the Village of Hayes Center is the “twenty-fourth city in the nation, and the first city outside of Texas” to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion.
On February 22nd, 2021 the city of Lincoln became the first city in Nebraska to pass an ordinance banning conversion therapy on LGBTQ youth. The vote was 5-1. According to the Lincoln Journal Star the ordinance “bars counselors, psychiatrists and therapists from seeking to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a minor.”
“The City of Naples, Florida has an ordinance on their books which prohibits the killing of baby sea turtles in Naples, Florida. Knowing about how much the City of Naples values the lives of baby sea turtles, a pastor from Texas is wanting to bring another type of sanctuary to Naples, Florida - a sanctuary for unborn children. While the City of Naples is fine with an ordinance protecting baby sea turtles being on their books, they were not ready to commit to extending the same level of protection to unborn children.“
When the declaration of independence was finally drafted and signed it immortalized a philosophy of governance that allowed for the birth of the most powerful, free, and just nation in history. This philosophy is the idea that government exists to serve its people and it derives its powers from the consent of the governed. This is what made me fall in love with the US and it is what makes it special. For most of the world this idea is disregarded.
“Yesterday’s liberals are today’s conservatives.” That quote seems to be true as indicated by one survey. A majority of Republicans now support same-sex marriage rights. Before Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case which resulted in nationwide gay marriage rights, it was a common Republican/conservative talking point to oppose homosexuality.
Before the 14th Amendment was enacted in 1868, the Supreme Court had ruled that the protections of the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government and not to state governments. Though the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause would gradually be used to incorporate the Bill of Rights to the states, the lack of major challenges to the presumptive accommodationist system after the 14th Amendment’s ratification lends itself to being more consistent with accommodationism than strict separationism.
Doctors promoting good health and healthy lifestyles, and parents wanting to raise healthy children, share concerns about the affects of marijuana use on our bodies. The medical literature sends an important message on the importance of understanding and following good scientific research, as well as knowing the serious risks of using marijuana and of taking unproven cannabis-based remedies before the evidence is in.
Two mass shootings have happened in the span of a week. Expectedly, firearm regulations have flared up….“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” That seems to be an unfortunate rule of politics. With two terrible shootings occurring very close in time to one another, there has been a renewed effort among Democratic politicians to further the gun control agenda commonly associated with the Democratic Party.
On Monday March 15, 2021, Latexo, a small Texas town in Houston County, become the 23rd city in Texas to pass an enforceable ordinance outlawing abortion within the city limits. The vote was unanimous (4-0)…. Latexo was the sixth city to pass the ordinance in year 2021 and the third in the month of March.
This legislative session, Texas State Representative Dustin Burrows filed House Bill 3. Also known as the Texas Pandemic Response Act (TPRA), the bill has gathered significant criticism. Specifically, the bill, as currently written, would give Governor Abbot the power necessary to enforce mask mandates and occupancy restrictions. If passed, the governor would be able to declare “Pandemic Disasters.” This would grant the power to the governor to enforce executive mask mandates with the force of law.
States that have legalized marijuana have discovered the social costs to local communities and the State are overwhelming. Drug use leads to rising healthcare and social services costs, as users face substance abuse and addiction, hospitalizations, overdoses and accidental poisonings, and the lives of the sickest and most vulnerable are endangered.