Free Speech – Page 2 – Family Council

KC Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker Encourages Graduates to Live Out Their Faith in Commencement Address

May 16, 2024Jerry CoxCurrent EventsAbortion, Free Speech, LGBT, Marriage, Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Human Life, Transgender

Last weekend Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker received a standing ovation for his commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas — even though some pundits have oddly criticized his remarks as “controversial.”

Butker, 28, arguably is responsible for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Francisco 49ers in February. He is a devout Catholic, and he and his wife have two children.

During his commencement address, Butker discussed the many challenges that the Class of 2024 had overcome — such as graduating from high school and enrolling in college during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and “missing out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted.”

What grabbed some people’s attention, however, was Butker’s willingness to criticize abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, dangerous gender ideologies, and “a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media.”

Butker noted how President Biden often professes his Catholic faith, and yet strangely made the Sign of the Cross during a pro-abortion rally in April.

But Butker also pointedly criticized Catholic bishops who fail to take their calling seriously, and he urged ministers to lead in a Christlike manner.

Critics have seized on Butker saying women “have had the most diabolical lies” told to them, and observing, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”

But Butker also challenged the men in the graduating class to pursue God’s calling on their lives, and he spoke bluntly about the damage that absentee fathers cause.

Most of his address focused on encouraging the graduates to stand strong in living out their faith. “A life without God is not a life at all,” Butker said, “and the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.”

Throughout the speech, Butker was interrupted multiple times by applause from the graduates and their families, and he received a standing ovation at the end.

But pundits have criticized his statements. The radical, pro-LGBT group GLAAD, for example, issued a lengthy press release calling Butker’s remarks “inaccurate, ill-informed, and woefully out of step with Americans.” The Today Show encouraged viewers to watch a rebuttal to Butker’s comments, and the anchors on Good Morning America seemed genuinely puzzled that Butker would receive a standing ovation from the crowd.

The fact is Butker’s speech didn’t appear remotely controversial with his audience. It was very well received, and there are literally millions of Americans who would strongly agree with what he told the graduates. Plenty of people have expressed opinions about what he said, but it seems odd that so many would try to mischaracterize his remarks as “controversial.”

It shouldn’t be shocking when Christians publicly share their convictions. All of this reminds me of something John Stonestreet said in 2022: “Culture is most powerful in what it normalizes, and when lies are normalized, the truth becomes shocking. Thank God for Christian ministers willing to ‘shock’ and speak truth.”

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Arkansas A.G. Joins Letter Asking Bank of America to Come Clean About Debanking

Apr 30, 2024Jerry CoxReligious FreedomBanking, Debanking, Free Speech, Religious Freedom

Earlier this month Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin signed a letter alongside 14 other state attorneys general asking Bank of America to come clean about its “debanking” practices.

The letter says,

Bank of America appears to be conditioning access to its services on customers having the bank’s preferred religious or political views. This is inconsistent with your bank’s promise to uphold “the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical conduct[, including] efforts to always do business the right way for [its] customers.”1 Surely Bank of America would not say that denying service to clients for exercising their civil liberties is doing “business the right way for [its] customers.”

Your discriminatory behavior is a serious threat to free speech and religious freedom, is potentially illegal, and is causing political and regulatory backlash. Your bank needs to be transparent with and assure us, its shareholders, and others that it will not continue to de-bank customers for their speech or religious exercise

The letter goes on to cite past examples of politicized debanking — and how debanking may run afoul of the law.

Family Council has written repeatedly about how de-banking hurts charities, conservative causes, and people of faith.

For example, in 2021, our credit card processor — a company owned by Chase Bank — canceled our account with virtually no notice and no explanation.

In 2022, Chase abruptly closed the account of Ambassador Sam Brownback’s National Committee for Religious Freedom with little warning or explanation, and PayPal similarly disabled the account of a group called the Free Speech Union.

Last month the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report indicating the federal government actually weaponized banks against conservatives following the events of January 6, 2021.

The report shows that federal law enforcement officials from the Treasury Department and the FBI quietly contacted financial institutions to discuss ways financial institutions could share customer information with federal law enforcement outside of normal legal processes.

The U.S. Treasury Department gave banks and other financial institutions guiding “typologies” — patterns that could be used to identify suspicious people or activities — including search terms and patterns like “TRUMP” and “MAGA.”

The Treasury also encouraged financial institutions to comb through transactions for terms like, “Bass Pro Shops,” “Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods” when looking for “Homegrown Violent Extremism.”

The report further revealed the Treasury Department provided banks and financial institutions with information listing legitimate, conservative groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, American Family Association, Family Research Council, and many others as “Hate Groups” alongside the KKK and the American Nazi Party.

And last month testimony at congressional committee meetings further explained how banks and other financial institutions may abuse their power.

It is nearly impossible for a church, business, charity, or family to function in modern American society without a bank account. That’s one of the reasons why there are so many laws regulating the banking industry — and it’s part of the reason why debanking is so dangerous.

Nobody should have their bank account canceled because of what they believe.

We appreciate Attorney General Griffin’s willingness to stand up for transparency and accountability at Bank of America and in the financial industry.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

A Heresy to “Misgender” in Scotland: Guest Column

Apr 10, 2024John StonestreetLGBTFree Speech, LGBT, Religious Liberty, Transgender

On April 1, the Scottish government made it illegal to “misgender” someone. The new law “makes it an offense to stir up hatred with threatening or abusive behavior on the basis of characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity,” with obviously the last two getting the most attention.

Anyone found guilty of hurtful content could face up to seven years in jail, even for content published outside of Scotland. All it takes is for someone in Scotland to think it “might” be offensive.

As Lois McLatchie Miller posted on X, “It was 1697 when the last man in Scotland was condemned for blasphemy. Today, we’ve introduced a new blasphemy law to punish heretics of the dominant Church of ‘woke.’”

The promise of secularism was that religion would fade and freedom would rise. Instead, what we’ve done is replace the faith that gave us freedom with a new one that is far more intolerant.