by Carrie Sheffield “There is an important body of conservative thought that is now nearly or completely absent on the faculties of many eminent universities,” former Harvard University President Derek Bok wrote in Harvard Magazine following Hamas’ terrorist attacks Oct. 7 in Israel and the ensuing campus chaos. He recommends “some immediate progress by trying to hire conservatives as visiting professors or lecturers while also encouraging conservative students with ability to consider embarking on an academic career,” Bok wrote. One area sorely needing hiring changes is mental health care. A profound mismatch exists between proven treatments for mental illness and the worldview of practitioners. Robust scientific evidence correlates faith and religious practice with strengthening mental health and preventing suicide and drug and alcohol overdoses. A faith-based worldview, often correlated with what society deems “conservative” or “traditional” religious values, is highly underrepresented among psychiatrists. For example, psychiatrists ranked 23rd among 24 medical specialists in their low propensity for Republican Party registration—far below the general population, Yale researchers reported. The religious composition of the mental health industry doesn’t mirror the United States. Similar trends can be seen across elite media and Hollywood. This is creating massive cultural blind spots—including in the treatment of mental health. This is why we are getting the “Bad Therapy” identified…
Read the full storyTag: Faith
Steve Bannon Calls Out Leftist Author Jim Wallis for Infusing the New Testament with Social Justice Politics by Pointedly Ignoring the Gospel of Mark
Matt Giffin, a reporter at The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, editor-in-chief and CEO of The Star, discussed a recent segment from Steve Bannon’s War Room where host Bannon explained how leftist Christians deceptively cherry-pick elements from the Gospel to push a socialist agenda.
Bannon specifically used Jim Wallis, founder of the non-profit, faith-based organization Sojourners and author of The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Re-founding Democracy, as an example of those using selective elements from the Gospel to paint Jesus as a social justice warrior.
Read the full storyAllen Jackson Ministries to Host ‘Culture and Christianity’ Conference in April Featuring Kayleigh McEnany, Kirk Cameron, and More
Allen Jackson Ministries will host a Culture and Christianity Conference at World Outreach Church in April built around the theme “Lead with Faith.”
The Culture & Christianity Conference, according to Allen Jackson Ministries, is designed to “help equip, prepare, and embolden the rising generation of Americans to be voices for God’s Truth, wherever He leads.”
Read the full storyCo-Founder of the Jewish Republican Alliance Mitch Silberman Says People are ‘Sick and Tired of Watching our Country Being Flushed Down the Toilet’
Co-founder of the Jewish Republican Alliance Mitch Silberman recently joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his work with the group as well as the changes he’s seen among Jewish voters amid the terrorist group Hamas’ attack on Israel last year.
Read the full storyFormer President Donald Trump Mourns Dr. Clarence Sexton
Former President Trump released a statement on Thursday in remembrance of Dr. Clarence Sexton, who passed away on December 12.
Read the full storyTucker Carlson Talks to Attorney About Why Ukrainian Government Has Banned Its Orthodox Church
In episode 34 of his newest production, “Tucker on X,” host Tucker Carlson interviewed Canadian attorney Robert Amsterdam about the Ukrainian government’s repression of the ancient Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Read the full storyNashville Rally in Support of Israel Set For Friday
A rally in support of Israel is set to be held this week at Legislative Plaza in Nashville.
The rally, hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), will be held from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. on Friday. The rally will feature special guest speakers including state representatives, senators, pastors, rabbis, music artists, and community leaders.
Read the full storyRepublican Presidential Candidate Tim Scott Releases New Iowa Ad, Reports $6.1 Million in Quarter 2 Donations
GOP Presidential hopeful U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) released a new ad Wednesday in advance of two major campaign events in the Hawkeye State.
His campaign also reported raising north of $6 million in the most recent quarter.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Ranks Low on Religious Freedom Index
A new report from a D.C.-based nonprofit suggests that Pennsylvania lags behind most states regarding religious freedom.
Last week, Napa Legal Institute published its first annual Faith & Freedom Index on which the Keystone State ranked 40th among all 50 states. The report rated each state in terms of its legal protections for faith-based institutions as well as regulatory regimes governing those entities. The commonwealth scored 30 percent for religious freedom and 55 percent for regulatory freedom for an averaged score of 55 percent.
Read the full storyHundreds of Methodist Churches in Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Depart the Denomination Over ‘Human Sexuality’ and Other Matters
On Saturday, 264 congregations part of the United Methodists of the Holston Conference had their requests processed to leave the denomination, citing “issues around human sexuality and other matters.”
Read the full storyTo Cap Off AmericaFest 2022, Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon, and Others Spoke on Freedom, Faith, and the Future
PHOENIX, Arizona – To mark the end of Turning Point USA’s four-day-long AmericaFest 2022, Charlie Kirk and many other Conservative commentators took the stage in downtown Phoenix to share final remarks with a crowd of cheering onlookers.
“Hey, AmericaFest is completed. Make a plan. Make a promise to yourself. Make a challenge to yourself. The easy thing in 2023 would be to complain and say this is kind of an off-year. The necessary thing is to say I’m going to do something in 2023 I did not do in 2022, and if you’re looking for that place to start, that’s why Turning Point exists,” Kirk said during his final remarks.
Read the full storyArizona Gov. Doug Ducey Announces Statewide Campaign to Raise Awareness for Human Trafficking
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) announced Thursday that he is launching a statewide campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking.
“It can’t be overstated—human trafficking is real, it is pervasive and it’s an issue Arizona takes seriously,” said Ducey. “Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the [Arizona Human Trafficking] Council and state agencies, Arizona’s youth, our tribal nations, and our entire state are able to join the fight in combating this horrific issue. Anyone can be a victim, but together we can ensure we are doing all we can to protect victims and stop human trafficking throughout our state.”
Read the full storyCommentary: The Faith of Nations
In the faith of nations is their life and their undoing, much as it is with individuals. We may survive on the faith of others, but we cannot flourish any more than a child would when attempting to live out the dreams of his parents without making them his own. Faith is an intangible. The artificial intelligence of a computer might precisely calculate the chance of a success but it has no clue as to the value of failure. Faith can absorb both and then some.
Read the full storyOhio Bill Would Protect Students’ Faith
Professors at Ohio colleges and universities could be required to accommodate students’ religious beliefs and practices if a bill recently passed by the House becomes law.
The “Testing Your Faith Act,” according to co-sponsor Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, would eliminate the potential of having to choose between academic standing and religion for students at colleges and universities.
Read the full storyChristian Student Sues Florida School, Alleges He Was Mocked By Students and Teachers for His Faith
A Florida student has sued his school over what he alleges is religious discrimination by his teachers and fellow classmates.
Nicholas Ortiz, a freshman at Miami’s Mater Academy has filed a lawsuit claiming he “was discriminated and retaliated against by his high school … because he is a Christian,” according to the complaint. Ortiz said he regularly brings his bible to school to read, which he alleges has made him a target for “disparaging comments” from other students, as well as school staff and administrators.
The complaint also outlines what it calls false and defamatory statements that circulated among students claiming Ortiz was planning a school shooting. Screenshots of communications between students show them discussing the rumored shooting and details their plans to physically assault Ortiz as a result.
Read the full storyGrant’s Rants: Put Your Faith in God Rather Than Government
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed official guest host Grant Henry in-studio for another profound edition of Grant’s Rants.
Read the full storyCallista Gingrich Commentary: Protecting America’s First Freedom
On January 15, during a Sabbath service at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, four worshipers were taken hostage by Malik Faisal Akram. Thankfully, all four hostages were freed, but that does not erase the evil and hate surrounding this terrorist attack.
Using Jewish worshippers as hostages to force the release of an imprisoned convicted terrorist was the explicit motive of Akram, as made clear by his statements during the attack. The Washington Post reported, “Akram chose this place, according to people who heard him on the live stream, because it appeared to be the closest assemblage of Jews to a federal facility in Fort Worth where an American-educated Pakistani convicted terrorist is serving an 86-year sentence for shooting at U.S. soldiers and FBI agents.”
Ironically, the day after this horrific attack, the United States observed National Religious Freedom Day, which commemorates the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786. This law later inspired and shaped the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Read the full storyUniversity Ordered to Pay Almost $2 Million After Students Win Religious Freedom Lawsuit
A federal judge ordered the University of Iowa (UI) to pay $1.9 million in fees and damages after two student groups won a series of religious discrimination lawsuits against the university.
The Becket Fund, which represents Business Leaders in Christ, will receive $1.37 million while Intervarsity Christian Fellowship will get $533,000, Crux reports.
Eric Baxter, a senior VP and counsel at The Becket Fund, told Campus Reform targeting students of faith “comes at a price.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Guided by Faith, Divinity Student Fought His ‘Anti-Racist’ Princeton Seminary — and Won
Timothy Keiderling’s decision to enroll in the Princeton Theological Seminary reflected his commitment “to give my life to work for justice and to live out the values of the Kingdom of God.” In a letter to the seminary’s president, Craig Barnes, he wrote that he “would sacrifice anything to make sure that my brothers and sisters see relief from their oppression.”
But the seminary’s concept of justice clashed with Keiderling’s conscience when PTS required him to attend “anti-racism” training sessions that he considered a form of indoctrination. He refused to participate in the sessions even after being reminded that they were mandatory. And then – early this year, with the potent support of the newly founded Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) – he convinced the seminary to exempt him from the training.
It was “a real victory which can advance the academic freedom cause substantially,” says Princeton Professor Robert George, a leader of the AFA who acted as an adviser to Keiderling, and whom the latter credits with making his victory possible. “Instead of a victim, we have a victor — one who stuck to his guns and persuaded his institution not only to respect his right of conscience, but to acknowledge the difference between education and indoctrination.”
Read the full storyAndrew Provence of Upwards Sports Talks Spreading the Word of God Through Child’s Play
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Director of Partnerships for Upward Sports, Andrew Provence to the newsmakers line to talk about their mission and connecting children to the word of God through play.
Read the full storyCommentary: How to Restore Faith in the Constitution
In one of the most extraordinary passages of his most extraordinary book, C.S. Lewis, the 20th century’s greatest Christian apologist, wrote of Jesus Christ, that he was either the son of God, as he claimed, or a madman. In the Christmas season, believers take comfort in their faith and joyfully embrace the first alternative.
The United States has a tradition of separating church and state, but there is a competing tradition, equally venerable, that our government is only fit for a religious people, one that understands there is a divine order to which humankind ought to conform, and that, as Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett once explained, it is our task to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God.
Read the full storyPelosi Claims ‘Faith-Oriented’ Lawmakers Say They ‘Don’t Believe in Science’
Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Monday that “faith-oriented” people in Congress have told her they “don’t believe in science.”
The California Democrat spoke Monday on the house floor where she discussed coronavirus relief and the recently approved vaccines, accusing the White House of spreading “quackery” notions of herd immunity.
Read the full storyThree-Quarters of Voters Say Faith is Important in Their Personal Lives
The vast majority of U.S. voters say their religious faith plays an important role in their personal life, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.
A full 72% of voters say that their “religion or faith” is either somewhat or very important to them. Just 24% of voters said religion holds little to no significance in their personal lives.
Read the full storyCommentary: Secular Education Is Contributing to America’s Decline in Religion
In his observations about 19th-century America, Alexis de Tocqueville pointed to religion as the first of the country’s political institutions—sweeping in its influence on our customs and powerful in its propensity to preempt and prevent tyranny.
Yet today, American religiosity is in decline. Weekly church attendance is trending downward, as is self-identification with a formal religion, denomination or belief system. The rise of the “nones” is increasing in speed and expanding in influence, replacing religious-cultural paradigms of old with a modern menu of personalized, à la carte “spiritualities.” Even where religiosity remains, it is often resistant or opposed to public expression, never mind institutional or cultural prominence.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Battle Between Something and Nothing
I’m no prognosticator, but in any conflict between Something and Nothing, my money is on Something, every time.
Read the full storyCommentary: Why Faith Is Key to Preserving Our Liberty
Attorney General William Barr gave an extraordinary speech at Notre Dame Law School last week, providing one of the most robust defenses of religious freedom in a generation.
Read the full storyChristianity Declines in US as More Adults Identify as ‘Nothing in Particular,’ Surveys Show
Christianity continues to decline among U.S. adults as the number of adults identifying as “nothing in particular” increases, Pew Research Center found.
Read the full storyReport: Northeast Cities the Most ‘Post-Christian’ in the Country While Tennessee’s Knoxville Appears in Top 100, Barely
Cities in eight states from Maine to Massachusetts topped a list of the “Most Post-Christian Cities in America,” a new study released this month found. The Northeast region stands in stark contrast to the sole Tennessee city of Knoxville who barely cracked the top 100 – coming in at #99. The study, conducted by Barna research, is part of an ongoing survey of Americans based on a random sample of 21,378 adults conducted over a ten-year period. To be identified as post-Christian, an individual had to meet nine or more of the following factors: – Do not believe in God – Identify as atheist or agnostic – Disagree that faith is important in their lives – Have not prayed to God (in the last week) – Have never made a commitment to Jesus – Disagree the Bible is accurate – Have not donated money to a church (in the last year) – Have not attended a Christian church (in the last 6 months) – Agree that Jesus committed sins – Do not feel a responsibility to “share their faith” – Have not read the Bible (in the last week) – Have not volunteered at church (in the last week)…
Read the full storyJC Bowman Commentary: The Best Gift of All
Lasting relationships are perhaps the key to a happy life.
Read the full storySCIENCE: Religious People Live Longer
by Joshua Gill Religious affiliation actually prolong one’s life through positive social effects according to a recent study of obituaries in Iowa and across the nation. Laura E. Wallace of Ohio State University, one of the study’s authors, found that among the social factors that affect one’s physical health and longevity, religion plays a large and observably positive role. Her findings showed that people who had active religious affiliations in life lived an average of 10 years longer than their non-religious counterparts in Des Moines, and an average of five years longer nationally. “Being healthy doesn’t just mean going to the gym and eating well. Our social worlds have such a large influence on our health as well. Religion is clearly one of these factors that makes a big difference,” Wallace said, according to PsyPost. “Religion has a strong relationship with longevity. Our research suggests that, in part, this is due to the opportunities that religion provides to make social connections and give back to the community,” she added. Researchers for the study, which was initially published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, analyzed 505 obituaries from the Des Moines Register and a further 1,096 obituaries from across the country. The parameters of…
Read the full storyJC Bowman Commentary: My Father’s Son
It is an ancient ritual of fathers and their children. The child yearning to grow into adulthood, and a father’s tough love. Mothers can be demanding, but they have that nurturing and caring side that escapes most men. Fathers try to instill discipline in order to help their children succeed in a heartless, often uncaring, world.
Read the full storyCommentary: Keeping the Faith in Public Education
In the age we live in, it is critical to recognize the freedoms we have. Public schools should not be hostile to the religious rights of their students and their families. Policymakers should make certain that school board policy protects privately initiated religious expression and activities from government interference and discrimination.
Read the full storyCommentary: Back to School, Back to the Future
Public Education is not failing. Our middle-class and wealthy public school children are thriving. Poor children are struggling, not because their schools are failing, but because they come to school with all the well-documented handicaps that poverty imposes – poor prenatal care, developmental delays, hunger, illness, homelessness, emotional and mental illnesses, and so on. The faith community could play a critical part in addressing critical social issues across our state and country.
Read the full storyConstitution Series: The Golden Triangle of Freedom
This is the eleventh of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23. A remarkable aspect of the Constitution of the United States is that since its ratification in 1789 the American people have, for the most part, viewed it as a covenant agreement between themselves and the national government. It is a powerful document not simply because of the words it contains, but because the people have freely chosen to be governed by those words. Words written a parchment or typed into an I-phone have no impact unless they are accepted within a common belief system. This why “the rule of law,” particularly as it has developed here in the United States, is so central to the development and growth of a vibrant and dynamic society where individual freedom flourishes. In America, we call this freedom “constitutional liberty.” But, as Ronald Reagan famously said, “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” The Founders knew this, and recently a Chinese-born English scholar who resides in America expressed in very…
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