John Stonestreet – Page 45

The Great Firewall of China

Jul 6, 2022John StonestreetChinaChina

“For many years, the internet in China was seen as a channel for new thinking, or at least greater openness,” writes Human Rights Watch researcher Yaqiu Wang. “Online discussions were relatively free and open, and users, especially younger ones, had an eager appetite for learning and debating big ideas about political systems and how China should be governed.”

That changed when Xi Jinping took power. Explaining what’s known as China’s “Great Firewall,” Wang notes, “the government got savvier, and more aggressive about using its own technology.” For example, dissidents, journalists, and public figures disappear frequently, sometimes often for minor infractions like logging onto Twitter.

The state’s actions have created “a generational split,” says Wang. “[T]hose who experienced a relatively free internet as young people—many strongly resent the Great Firewall. Among people who started college after Xi took power, however, there is a strong impulse to defend it.”

It’s an extreme example of how tools intended and used for good can also be harnessed for evil. The same resource that can promote flourishing can also promote tyranny. That’s true everywhere, not just China.

Pizza Hut Pushes Trans Kids Books

Jun 20, 2022John StonestreetTransgenderLGBT, Transgender

Recently, Pizza Hut, as part of their “Book It!” reading program, highlighted books that promote LGBTQ ideology to children. For example, Big Wig is a book about cross- dressing aimed explicitly at a Pre-K through 3rd-grade audience.  The “Book It!” website describes the book as a “wonderful read-aloud (that) celebrates the universal childhood experience of dressing up….  acknowledging that sometimes dressing differently from what might be expected is how we become our truest and best selves.”

There was a time when businesses found it wiser to remain largely worldview neutral. Now, given the pressure of outside watchdog groups, the tyranny of social media, and what may be called the “true believers” that dominate so many HR departments, Companies, businesses advance ideas about good and evil, the nature of human beings, and the right way to organize society. 

The rise in aggressive LGBTQ propaganda through business has been a key to the movement’s dominance of culture. Pushing back will require two things. First, Christians called to corporate America who reject a privatized faith. Second, Christian consumers willing to connect their convictions with their wallets.

Photo Credit: Aaron F. Stone, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr. No changes were made.

Rays Players Opt Out of Pride Jerseys

Jun 13, 2022John StonestreetLGBTLGBT

Kudos to these Tampa Bay Rays.

Recently, several players for the Tampa Bay Rays major league baseball team opted out of wearing rainbow logos for “Pride Night.” Pitcher Jason Adam represented those players to reporters, saying, that while players want all to feel “welcome and loved” at games,

“We don’t want to encourage [an LGBTQ lifestyle] if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior. Just like (Jesus) encourages me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside of the confines of marriage.”

Adam’s clarity and his teammate’s bravery despite the furnace of public outrage reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego facing Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. They also remind me of the courage of U.S. women’s soccer player Jaelene Daniels, formerly Hinkel, who refused to wear a pride jersey in 2017. She also was castigated for her stand.

According to Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash, instead of causing dissension, the opting out “has created … a lot of conversation and valuing the different perspectives inside the clubhouse but really appreciating the community that we’re trying to support here.”

In other words, opting out creates real diversity and inclusion. That’s something to be proud of.