Daily News Brief

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by "Christian Business Leaders Network." If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network.  As our journalist Kevin Amundson reported, Pope Francis just died last Monday at age 88 after being Pope for twelve years. During this time, Pope Francis took an unbiblical, unchristian stance on many of the culture of the cultural issues that have gained traction around the world in the past couple decades, such as LGBTQ+ nonsense, speculative climate change, and immigration. It’s bad when a normal Christian takes a liberal view on these problems, but it’s even worse when the Pope does. However, like every ruler and person on earth, the Pope has passed away, and so the College of Cardinals has to select a new candidate. As our reporter Kevin Amundson wrote, these Cardinals and every other Christian must look back to Christ as head and remember he has authority over everything. He rules the nations, he rules the stars, he rules the President, and he rules the Pope. Christ had authority over Pope Francis, and he has authority over the next Pope, who will be the 267th Pope. Let’s pray that this next pope will better honor Christ’s authority and headship by taking a stronger, more biblical stance, against the liberalism rooted in our culture. (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/pope-francis-dies-at-88)  On a different note, our reporter Justin Chartrey just wrote about the ongoing tax storm blowing through Washington State. And while already the tax weather is very temperamental, it looks like it could grow even worse with the newest two bills that have been proposed by Washington State’s Senate. These two bills are Senate Bils 5812 and 5786, and they will increase taxes for levies and properties. Also, as a side note, the one involved with property taxes is also connected to providing government funds for education. Yikes. Both of these bills, though, will triple the cap of the taxes from an annual growth of 1% to 3%. Our journalist Justin Chartrey showed the disastrous effects of Senate Bill 5812 by showing how it will increase property taxes: "An 1,800 square-foot home in Spokane Valley, Washington with a property size of roughly one-third of an acre has a valuation of about $350,000. The property taxes on that home in 2024 are just over $2,700. Let that sink in. A state like Tennessee meanwhile has a property tax of about $600 a year. Under the new proposed bill, combined with a 1% population growth for Spokane County; the tax increase for 2025 would push that amount to near, if not more than $3,000 a year."  (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/washington-wages-war-on-its-middle-class)  Meanwhile, the second Senate bill will increase liquor license taxes by 50%, which will really hurt many small businesses. So many taxes. Even Bob Ferguson, the governor of Washington State, isn’t thrilled about these taxes. If you’re living in Washington, now is the time to act against these terrible bills. Time is running out before legislatures make their decisions. Finally, our journalist Bill Peacock wrote an article about the new school choice rulings in Texas. Although the state’s House of Representatives in Texas debated on the issue for 11 hours, those who voted for school choice eventually won, securing a bill that will give money to homeschoolers and private schools in a few years. The democrats and two republicans tried to stop this bill, but it passed 86-61. While it is good that Texas is giving people the choice to pick their school and is backing their education decisions, there’s still something odd here. If we are finally securing a school bill from the state, doesn’t that mean we are still receiving orders about education from the government? It looks like the state still makes the standards when it comes to education, something that we don’t want. Yes, we shall be grateful for any progress, but let’s not stop at these pro-choice laws. The government in Texas isn’t gripping education in Texas anymore, but it also hasn’t completely let go. We must continue to press the advantage while we have it and fight for a government-free education. (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/texas-house-passes-school-choice-bill-after-marathon-partisan-battle)  To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "What Happened to Parental Rights?" by our journalist David Fowler, or "Conservatives Voice Concerns over House Approval of Texas Budget," by our reporter Bill Peacock, or even, “‘Severance’ Season 2 Review” by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. Why is the soundtrack Epic which is about Homer’s Odyssey, suddenly so popular? Our writer Clarissa Alexandria created an article about this, and we can see that there are a few different reasons that could explain Epic's success, varying from the soundtrack’s content to its audience. For example, the music itself is good and fits the story, but that’s not the only thing. It also seems like the soundtrack has become popular for both what it is saying and to whom it is saying those things to. Epic centers around the story of the Odyssey, which deals with story themes that easily resonate in our world, as our writer Clarissa Alexandria points out: "It follows themes of exile, temptation, descent, and eventual renewal that should feel familiar to anyone who has studied the Scriptures or consumed a good story of any variety in their life." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/an-epic-alternative-to-woke-hollywood) Our broken culture relates to these themes because they understand the journey of Odysseus. His character lives through their own problems and experience, so people gravitate towards his story. For example, they understand his longing for home, because so many people feel the lack of real, good homes in our world. And yet while this cultural tie is strong, Epic also contains themes that are found in the Bible, which is also why these stories are so effective. After all, they align with how God designed the world.  Meanwhile, on a different note, our reporter Justin Chartray wrote about how the State of Washington is having trouble trying to figure out how to deal with its taxes because while the liberals want to raise taxes, they are meeting opposition from the governor, even though he’s also a liberal. So, what’s going on in Washington State? Well, we can see that it has been very liberal recently in respect to their recent recognition of Muslim holidays, their attack on gun rights, and their unlawful orders against parental rights, but, as I just mentioned, its government can’t decide what to do with taxes yet. One of the reasons this tax issue is important is because Washington State needs a $12-15 billion deficit in order to uphold its current programs and bureaucracy.  In order to pay for all this, Republicans want the state to withdraw from areas that the government should not concern itself with, such as education and immigration. Unsurprisingly, the democrats don’t want to lower the budget this way, though. Instead, they would prefer increasing everyone’s taxes, specifically targeting property taxes and rich people. With these property taxes, Washington State's government would want to keep changing the amount of taxes in order to match the growth of society and other outside conditions. But there’s a problem here. If the amount of taxes changes continually because it is dependent on variables that frequently change, then there is no truly objective wall or limit that could stop its government from demanding very heavy taxes.  Nevertheless, these increased taxes would seem to meet the $15 billion budget deficit, but it would be through taxing people uninvolved with that deficit. However, while most of the liberals in power seem eager to adopt this strategy, the newest governor of Washington, Bob Ferguson, has rejected this plan. It appears that he doesn’t want to raise taxes to make the money they need. Despite his previous liberal actions, such as trying to sue the presidency of Trump almost a hundred times during Trump’s first time in office, Governor Ferguson is actually making a more Republican decision right now by rejecting these increased taxes. Did he change political parties? Our journalist Justin Chartray doesn’t think so: "No, Bob Ferguson has not become a conservative overnight. What he may represent is a rare callback to the previous generation of liberals; socially progressive but fiscally conservative. A dinosaur. A relic. A man woefully out of step with his progressive comrades and now, a fly in the ointment for their unending lust of the rich man’s gold." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/division-at-the-top) So, even though Ferguson isn’t a Republican or Conservative, he is still making a solid leadership move that serves the citizens of Washington State, who now have the opportunity to fight back against these unjust laws. We should pray that he continues this. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "Severance Season 2 Review", by our journalist Wes Walker, or "Stopping Universal (Nationwide) Federal Court Injunctions", by our reporter David Fowler, or even "Is Your Pastor a Coward?", by our journalist Luke Edison.  Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.  

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. We’ve talked about how Washington State has increased its gun laws and restrictions in previous episodes, so now it's time that we also talk about how to battle these unconstitutional fences around guns. So, how do we preserve the second amendment? Our journalist Justin Chartray wrote an article about this and reported that even though liberals may have the money, numbers, and votes, we can fight back their influence by helping the citizens of Washington State understand the true nature of a firearm. People need to know more about guns than just what popular media tells them. Jeremy Ball, a Washington State citizen who owns "Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Club", thinks that this is the best course of action to take because even though liberal influence has had a negative impact on guns, we also need to realize that many of us have not done our duty in teaching our kids how to handle guns properly. This blame also falls onto the gun industry itself. "We have not pushed back as an industry to get kids involved. We have failed to provide a positive outlook for them, and a positive outlet for teaching them safe firearm  ownership and teaching them some of the things they get to do with guns." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/a-bright-future-in-sight) Not many people are raised properly around guns anymore, so when the left says that guns are evil, there’s no pushback because guns aren’t a part of our daily life or thought. This allows the left to control the narrative. This allows them to criminalize guns. So, the first step is that we need to get guns back into people’s hands, but we still need to do it in safe contexts. For example, one of the best ways to do this is through creating trap teams in schools that competitively shoot clay pigeons. We can fight back the broad and false narrative about guns by giving people, as Jeremy Ball says, a positive way to think about firearms. While it’s hard to make changes in liberal government and legislation, we need to realize that if we want long term effects, we need to focus on how parents and families understand firearms. We need to shape how the next generation will handle their responsibility of guns in a safe way that still honors everyone's second amendment rights.  Jeremy Ball wants to preserve these rights, and he knows it will be hard. However, it’s not impossible: "It probably can be done. But it’s going to take parent(s) who are motivated to do it and to start pushing the issue. They expect gun store owners to lead the charge...but I can’t do it by myself. The approach needs to happen in the community, and if you make enough noise people will listen."  (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/a-bright-future-in-sight)  Meanwhile, President Trump just issued a presidential memorandum yesterday about the security of the Southern Border. This memorandum will give the military more power to protect the Southern Border from external threats. As seen on the White House's website, President Trump, "assigned the Armed Forces of the United States the military missions of repelling the invasion and sealing the United States southern border from unlawful entry to maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/military-mission-for-sealing-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states-and-repelling-invasions/)  President Trump wants our southern border to be stronger, so hopefully this memorandum will help accomplish that goal. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "Severance Season 2 Review", by our journalist Wes Walker, or "Stopping Universal (Nationwide) Federal Court Injunctions", by our reporter David Fowler, or even "Is Your Pastor a Coward?", by our journalist Luke Edison. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews' Weekly Roundup, sponspored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that's businessmakers.network. And don't forget that our first Business Makers Summit is happening next week on April 10th and 11th in Pennsylvannia. If you want to find out more about it, make sure to check out the link in the description and read about this great opportunity to learn from other Christian business leaders and shapers of culture.  https://businessmakers.network/events/business-makers-summit-pa/ As our journalist Jonathan Kelly reported, Dr. Owen Anderson is a professor at Arizona State University who has taught religion and philosophy for over twenty years Dr. Anderson has been criticized for one of his class in the past few years, "Introduction to Christianity", because 1) it had too much Christianity in it, and 2) he didn’t talk about issues that his department's overseers wanted to hear in the course, like decolonization or slavery. Eventually, the college took away the general education credit for this class, so the number of students in the course grew smaller and smaller until it didn’t even fit the requirement of twenty students in the classroom. Is Arizona State University just trying to be neutral with its classes and how it approaches religion? No. Dr. Anderson says that there is no neutral ground: “We’ve wrongly accepted the idea that institutions are neutral. All that really means is that they’re not Christian.” (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/the-silencing-of-christianity-and-the-battle-for-academic-freedom) We can see this because, as Dr. Anderson points out, the college offers courses that strictly oppose Christianity: "As of now, my class isn’t being offered. I checked the ASU course catalog for the fall—there’s only one class with Christianity in the title, while there are multiple courses about witchcraft." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/the-silencing-of-christianity-and-the-battle-for-academic-freedom) As we can see, neutrality is really just warfare against Christianity and God. Dr. Anderson is also suing Arizona State University because they require employees to take DEI training, because they are enforcing their own ideology on their employees. ASU should not be allowed to do this, so Dr. Anderson is taking a stand against the college. However, there is a deeper problem than just DEI training, and Dr. Anderson sees this. The deeper problem is the reality that the majority of our culture’s colleges attack Christianity: "A huge number of students enter college as Christians and leave their faith behind. But the opposite isn’t true—you don’t see students going to university and suddenly becoming Christian." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/the-silencing-of-christianity-and-the-battle-for-academic-freedom)  Dr. Anderson wants parents to really consider where they send their children to college, remembering both the fact that many colleges are anti-Christian and the fact that people don’t always need a college degree to get a good job. On a slightly different topic, our journalist Luke Edison wrote about the decline of courageous pastors in the church. Too many of them want to stay clear of political topics to try and keep the unity of the church. But the fact is, many political topics overlap with spiritual topics because many deal with spiritual issues. For instance, many pastors are shy when they have to talk about homosexual relationships, education, or Israel. They don’t want to be too strong on any topic because of the pressure they could get from culture. But, as we see in Revelation, God hates lukewarm Christians. This doesn’t mean to be rash, but, as our reporter Luke Edison wrote, "we are to fear God and God alone – not secular culture or the demands of humans." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/is-your-pastor-a-coward)  Christians need to consider whether or not their church takes a strong stance on actions condemned in the Bible, such as abortion, transgenderism, and the like. If these issues are not definite, the pastor probably can’t stand his own ground when it comes to politics and the church.   We prioritize parts of politics because of how God speaks about those subjects in the Bible. As our journalist Luke Edison wrote, God is political, but God is political in the sense that good politics will align with the Word, and bad politics will contradict it. "The topic of politics falls squarely under God’s purview and authority, and thus, while God is not political for the sake of politics, politics are moral, and morality flows from God." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/is-your-pastor-a-coward) So, when we talk about politics, we are talking about a subject that connects back to God and his commandments. Morality is linked to politics, so pastors should not be weak when it comes to defending God’s truth.  

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. As our reporter Justin Chartray wrote, we’ve entered another spring of baseball, and the first game this year was played on March 18th between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Where did they play? Chicago? Los Angeles? Actually, they played in Tokyo, Japan. This might seem a little weird at first, but there’s some reasoning behind it. Our journalist Justin Chartray interviewed a former pitcher for the MLB named Mark Dewey, who’s also the host of the podcast In the Bullpen. Dewey has been involved in baseball for over twenty years, and he thinks that playing baseball in Tokyo is an overall good thing. For instance, he enjoys the fact that baseball is gaining traction in other places of the world as a popular sport, and so it makes sense to play the first game in Tokyo because many baseball fans live there. "“Overall I see it as a positive move. Now, if I knew the actual motives behind it, I could have all kinds of concerns.” (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/recovering-americas-pasttime)  After all, there are reasons to believe that baseball’s popularity is generally declining in America. Local networks are struggling, there are fewer people who watch it, and young boys don't seem to be playing it as much.   Why? Well, baseball is a bit more expensive and particularized than other sports that just need a ball to kick or throw. Also, people might not be as interested in baseball because it requires more attention and patience than most social media influenced Americans want to give a sport. Over the years, baseball has continued trying to keep peoples’ interest through shortening the game, by playing loud music, by including dancing girls, and by finishing off games with a fireworks finale. Mark Dewey, the former MLB pitcher mentioned earlier, notice that this overall change in baseball actually started around 35 years ago, and we’re still seeing it today. "I have no problem trying to grow the game, trying to involve more fans. But I’m convinced if baseball sets all kinds of revenue records, I would still argue that the vast majority of that has nothing to do with baseball fans. You’re not developing fans, you’re expanding a customer base.” (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/recovering-americas-pasttime)  Even worse, America is seeking globalism at the cost of its morality, much like its neighbor across the Atlantic—Europe. Terrible ideology is pouring out of America’s big colleges into the baseball diamond, and it’s slowly rotting the sport. In order to rekindle America’s love for good baseball, Dewey says that we need to start baseball again in the home and then in that home’s surrounding community. Then, along with cultivating this humbler, neighborhood mindset, we must fight the other major problems plaguing baseball and our culture, which are self-idolatry and self-obsession. This idolatry must be killed if we want to restore baseball to the iconic American game that it once was. Our journalist Esther Elliott recently interviewed Samuel Sey, a black Christian, conservative blogger who fights against and explains the ideological problems of our culture. He enjoys explaining topics through a biblical lens, and coupled with this, he also uses stories to help persuade his audience better. In this interview, Sey mentioned that while he was interested in politics since the start of high school, it wasn’t until Christians voted for Obama in 2008 and the BLM riots happened a decade later that he really wanted to explore the topic of politics more. Now, he has a blog called Slow to Write where he posts about politics and became his full-time job after it was received well around 2020. If you want to find out more about this article and read some insightful quotes about our culture, make sure to check out “A Black Conservative Perspective on Culture: An Interview With Samuel Sey” by our journalist Esther Elliott. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "Missouri Wins Lawsuit Against China with $24B ruling" by our journalist Wes Walker, or even "The Mainstream Narrative is Not Real: Investigating the Case of Tiffany Gomas" by our reporter Luke Edison, or even “‘Severance’ Season 2 Review” by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. You’re going to hear a lot about money in today’s episode. You’ll hear about Missouri demanding money from China in the courtroom and then also about generous donors who give lots of money to try to get rid of guns.   First, though, the money that China owes. As our reporter Wes Walker wrote, the state of Missouri had filed a lawsuit against China back in twenty-twenty two  for starting the Covid-19 virus, although then Missouri later changed its intent to prosecute China for "withholding PPE materials." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/missouri-wins-lawsuit-against-china-with-24b-ruling) The judge in this court, Stephen Limbaugh, just ruled in favor of Missouri in the past couple of weeks, so now Missouri demands 24 billion dollars from China in the form of assets, such as farmland, for damages done during Covid. China, however, had wanted to avoid all charges, stating that America didn’t hold the legal authority to prosecute them internationally, but Missouri doesn’t want China to get away like this. So now, according to the ruling, China owes 24 billion dollars to Missouri, whose own farmland and assets do not even add up to this amount of money. Still, though, the issue isn’t completely settled yet because China will probably refuse to pay by arguing that Missouri has no authority to prosecute them like this. The Attorney General for Missouri, Andrew Baily, wants more support for their ruling, asking both President Trump and the country to help them in this effort. However, as reporter Wes Walker noted, this ruling combined with the threatened Tariffs on China by the U.S. will also increase the tension between both of them. Meanwhile, about the topic of guns, our journalist Justin Chartray reported that liberals have been able to advance anti-gun regulations in Washington State through emotional stories and outside financial support. So long as liberals get money to keep going, they won’t stop. However, while money is the logs that keep the fire burning, it is these tragic stories of recent mass gun shootings that act like the match that sets it all off. Yes, these shootings were horrible, but the liberals have used them as emotional manipulation so that they can lead people to blame guns as the problems in society instead of the criminals using those guns. Now, maybe it seems like all of these groups have a noble motive: that is, to save lives. However, when our reporter Justin Chartray interviewed Jeremy Ball, who owns Sharp Shooters Gun Store and Indoor Range in Washington State, Ball said that while people quickly establish these anti-gun laws to protect people, they don’t actually check afterwards to see if these laws actually work. If human safety really is the priority, and it is for many, why aren’t more people looking at the results of the various laws and regulations in Washington state? As Jeremy Ball wondered, it seems like the legislature’s goal is a moving target. And while he doesn’t believe that these activists will ultimately take away all guns, it seems clear that they aren’t done advancing gun regulations yet, either in Washington or other states. We can see this because there is still more money being donated to support these anti-gun rights groups. These groups aren’t going away yet, and they will continue to manipulate people’s emotions in order to advance their ideology and raise money. However, Ball does show us hope because in his personal experience, he has shown multiple supporters of these anti-gun groups the faulty thinking behind this type of emotional entanglement, and they have been persuaded. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "SCOTUS Case Exposes State of Christianity" by our journalist David Fowler, where he talks about free speech and Christian counseling, or even "The Mainstream Narrative is Not Real: Investigating the Case of Tiffany Gomas" by our reporter Luke Edison, where he talks about a weird airplane incident that still remains a mystery.   Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. Recently, our reporter David Fowler wrote about the legislation efforts in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Missouri to enact “covenant marriage license laws” (www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/tony-perkins-and-homosexual-covenant-marriages). in their respective states. When you first look at it, this seems like a good thing. Wouldn’t these covenant marriage license laws help our country return to a more Christian understanding of the world? We’re commanded to spread Christianity in our country and in the world, but this is actually not the way to do it. This isn’t the way to do it because these license laws place the authority of marriage beneath the state’s standard and give the government a power over marriage that it shouldn’t have. It’s not an issue of the government enacting good or bad laws, but of whether the state even has the power and ability to make laws that will give them a defining control over marriage.  David Fowler foresaw this in 1998. And then, in 2015, the Obergefell versus Hodges case showed that he was right. In the Obergefell case, there were five justices in the Supreme Court who agreed that marriage is personal, and that civil law could create one type of marriage just as easily as another.In other words, the government could declare homosexual relationships as “civil marriage” because they had the power to define what it could look like. But while we want to keep this power away from the government, we also want governments to preserve a biblical view of marriage. So, how can we do this?Our journalist David Fowler recommends that we require the government to recognize but not administer marriages. When a man and woman would get married, the government would have to, “give notice to the public of their already existing marital relationship.” If we did this, then the standard and definition of marriage would properly be outside the state's control.So, we shouldn’t want the government to enact covenant marriage license laws, but we should have it recognize marriages rightly and biblically understood. After all, if the state doesn’t recognize its proper place, then the covenant marriage license laws could also be easily exploited by the liberals. On a different topic, our journalist Jonathan Kelly wrote about the case of Navy pilot and reservist Michael Cassidy, the man who tore down the Satanic statue that stood in the State Capital of Iowa. Cassidy had turned himself in after destroying the statue, and “pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vandalism but maintained that his actions were not extremist, violent, or a violation of military conduct standards" (www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/navy-clears-michael-cassidy-rejects-extremism-charges-over-satanic-statue-incident). His attorney argued against the bias towards Christians in the military, and he also brought up the larger issue of Satanic statues in our culture because Cassidy’s actions to both Florida and Iowa voting no against installing more of these statues.Cassidy’s boldness not only tore down that one statue then, but it also prevented others from being erected. Returning to Cassidy’s attorney, though, he said that Christians have effectively been told to be quiet, compliant, and secret with their faith. As we can see, Cassidy’s actions have thankfully challenged this mainstream, unbiblical expectation. Christians should thank God that Cassidy has won his case, even we don’t know yet if the Navy leadership will allow him to be completely reinstated into the Navy. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as Bridge-Building Apologetics With Lindsey Medenwaldt by our journalist Esther Elliott, or Tier List: Trump’s Greatest Moments by our reporter Luke Edison, or even The Oscars and the Moral Confusion of Hollywood by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews weekly roundup, sponsored by our corporate partner Dominion Wealth Strategists. If you want to find out more about their efforts to restore biblical financing, visit dominionwealthstrategists.com. As our journalist Justin Chartrey reported, things are looking pretty bleak for the gun store owners in the state of Washington as tyrannical legislation continues to choke their freedom and ability to sell guns.Specifically, Washington state legislation has not only focused on limiting the types of guns they can sell, but they are also attacking how gun stores sell those guns, which they can do by using what is called the FFL, or Federal Firearms License. This license gives the ATF (which is the Bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives) oversight over how gun stores sell their firearms. Our reporter Justin Chartrey interviewed a man named Jeremy Ball, who owns Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Store in the city of Spokane, Washington, and Ball said that this oversight isn’t bad in itself. In fact, it makes expectations from the government clearer and so it helps with their compliance. But even with this process, the gun store can still legally sell their firearms and conduct business after the oversight, because the FFL is not meant to stifle their business. However, neither the Obama nor the Biden administration liked these FFLs, and since Washington state has grown more progressive, these licenses have suffered many attacks. These liberals have painted these licenses in a bad light by pointing to the various shootings around the country and in Washington state. Then, they connect that violence with the licenses. But this is more than just a false narrative now because in 2023, a bill was issued called Senate Bill 5078 that brings heavy financial consequences on any gun store that sold a gun that somebody used later in a crime. But this isn’t justice. The stores are being punished for crimes they didn’t commit, simply because liberals are feeding everyone a narrative that blames these gun stores. There’s another recent bill, the House Bill 2818, that has also added many financial burdens to these stores by requiring them to have money that they just don’t have. And if all of this wasn’t enough already, Washington State has introduced its own state oversight over gun purchases along with the already existing oversight of the ATF. But this oversight from the state doesn’t want to help gun store owners run things smoothly and legally. No, it takes so long to approve gun purchases that the unfinished gun deals expire, leaving the guns unsold. And the state’s interference is only spinning a new sticky web of legalities for the stores that is so convoluted that even though the state has banned gun store owners from holding and selling AR-15s, the owners don’t have a way to get rid of them. For example, even though the state has banned gun store owners from holding and selling AR-15s, the legalities don't allow the owners a good way to get rid of them.All of these bills and regulations have led to a huge decrease in gun sales, hurting an incredible percentage of gun store owners in Washington State. Things look bad right now for these gun stores. Jeremy Ball, the previously mentioned gun store owner, said that he is trying to push back against the mainstream criminalizing narrative and attitude towards these FFLs, and he’s also fighting back legally against the unjust legislation of Washington State. But it will be a long process.Our journalist Justin Chartrey also wrote about a different topic in Washington State, though. People in its government are also talking about changing the state’s flag, which has a picture of George Washington that was originally designed in 1914. If this happened, though, it wouldn’t be the first time that a state has recently done this because in May 2024, the state of Minnesota changed its flag. The flag most recently had a picture of a man plowing his field next to a river in front of green plains, a yellow and red sunrise, and a Native American riding his horse. And this entire picture had a white frame with gold edges set on a blue background. Now, the redesigned flag has two solid blue colors with a white, eight-pointed star on the darker blue. Apparently, the star is supposed to represent the North Star. But it’s evident that the people and landscape of Minnesota have been wiped out and replaced with lifeless shapes. What happened? Well, it seems that people didn’t like the Native American in the original background, so they claimed that the flag as a whole didn’t represent the people of Minnesota well. But now, as our reporter Justin Chartrey noted, it doesn’t represent Minnesota at all. And it looks like Washington state wants to do the same thing with their flag because some people are arguing that the picture of George Washington doesn’t represent everyone in their state. However, there are thankfully a number of voices who are fighting against this disastrous potential change, asserting that this flag is part of their history. Let’s hope that these voices manage to protect their state’s flag and prevent yet another terrible result of liberal agenda. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as Investigating the "Case of Tiffany Pontes-Dover" by our journalist Luke Edison, or "The Democratic Party’s Transgender Madness" by our reporter David Fowler, or even "'House of David' TV Review (Episode 1)" by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews' weekly roundup, sponsored by our corporate partner Classical Conversations. If you want to find out more about their efforts to forward classical Christian education, visit ClassicalConversations.com. Right now, it’s hard to tell whether or not America’s allies feel comfortable with all of her recent political changes, and we can see this attitude whether we consider Vice President J. D. Vance’s speech in Germany or even the most recent national hockey league games of Canada versus America. For example, as our reporter Justin Chartrey noted, while the Star-Spangled Banner began to play at the NHL (or national hockey league), people in the Canadian crowd began booing the song, most likely angry at America for the tariffs that President Trump wants to enforce on Canada. And then, when the whistle blew and the game began, there were immediately three fights between the players of the two teams in the first nine seconds. We don’t necessarily know that these fights were provoked by the booing of the crowd, but it seems evident that a tension filled the stadium between America and Canada. Meanwhile, as our journalist Jonathan Kelly reported, President J.D. Vance recently gave a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, and the topic of the speech wasn’t quite what Europe expected. Instead of talking about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia or the rising power of China, Vance addressed the internal problems that currently plague the nations of Europe, infections that eat them from the inside out. Vance criticized the willingness of Romania to stall elections because of possible interference from Russia, and he critiqued the swiftness of German authorities for executing punishments on people who used “hate speech.” Vance even rebuked the U.K. for unjustly treating a man named Adam Smith Connor by prosecuting him for praying silently nearby an abortion clinic. All of these actions, according to Vance, stifle the democracy of Europe’s nations. “The fundamental principle of democracy is the ability of people to express their views, even if they are unpopular. Yet across Europe, we are witnessing a systematic suppression of dissenting voices, all in the name of combating misinformation or extremism.” – J.D. Vance Additionally, Vance also attacked the willingness of Europe’s nations to allow illegal immigrants to enter their borders, yes, allowing illegal immigrants to come into their land, despite the harm done to their own citizens and despite their citizens’ longing for security. In his speech then, Vance took this opportunity not to point out the problems that arise for Europe from other countries, but to show Europe the problems that they are creating themselves, the sickness that they don’t want to see. Vance gave his speech as a call for action and hope, but we will have to see if Europe repents, if they turn around, or if they clench their fists and refuse to listen. Just like tension filled the hocky stadium, we can sense the tension that is filling the nation of Europe. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as “Can We All Acknowledge That Pope Francis is a Progressive, Globalist, Heretic Yet?” by our journalist Luke Edison, or “Rick Warren’s Politics Isn’t the Worst of It” by our reporter David Fowler, or even “Gen Z Christians On The Rise: Interview With Noelle Fitchett” by our journalist Esther Elliott. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, January 31st, 2024.    Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com.   https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison   Pro-Life Demonstrators Found Guilty, Face Up To 11 Years In Federal Prison   Six pro-lifers were found guilty on Tuesday after the Biden administration charged them over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021. They face up to 11 years in prison.   The pro-life activists were accused by the Department of Justice of violating the FACE Act and civil rights conspiracy for a protest that took place in a hallway outside of a Mount Juliet abortion provider on March 5, 2021. On that day, a group of demonstrators gathered on the second floor of an office building in the hallway outside the Carafem Health Center Clinic. The group prayed, sang hymns, and urged women showing up to the clinic to not get abortions.   Those on trial included Chet Gallagher of Tennessee, Coleman Boyd of Mississippi, Heather Idoni of Michigan, Cal Zastrow of Michigan, Paul Vaughn of Tennessee, and Dennis Green of Virginia.   All six defendants were found guilty of both counts. They are expected to be sentenced in July.   The conspiracy charge can be punished with up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000 while the FACE Act charge can lead to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.   The verdict was delivered on the fifth day of the trial, which took place at the Fred D. Thompson courthouse in Nashville. The case was overseen by Judge Aleta Trauger, appointed to the court in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton.   One of the government’s key witnesses was Caroline Davis, a woman who was arrested with the group at Carafem. During her testimony, Davis claimed that she had a change of heart about attending the protest and that her “rational side” was “in the toilet” at the time of her participation. She said that she changed her mind “over time” and that being indicted by the federal government “terrified” her.   Video of the demonstration showed the group singing songs like “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “Onward Christian Soldiers,” while others showed members of the group talking to police. Another video showed one participant telling another to speak “in love” to a man with his girlfriend who had shown up at Carafem and that someone’s “baby is a gift from God.”   https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-governor-abbott-stark-message-sanctuary-cities-migrant-crisis   Texas Gov. Abbott sends stark message to sanctuary cities as migrant crisis continues   Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a stark message to sanctuary cities on Monday, vowing his state's transportation of migrants to their areas would continue until the federal government takes action on the worsening border crisis.   "Texas has transported over 102,000 migrants to sanctuary cities. Overwhelmed Texas border towns should not bear the brunt of Biden’s open border policies. Our transportation mission will continue until Biden secures the border," Abbott wrote in a post on X.   Abbott's promise comes amid his feud with the Biden administration over enforcement of the border, and whether Texas has the authority to defend itself from the waves of migrants overwhelming law enforcement and immigration officials.   The two sides have been feuding since 2021 when the migrant crisis escalated and Texas launched Operation Lone Star to surge resources to the border.    The administration recently sued over an anti-illegal immigration law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. It has also sued over the state’s setting up of buoys in the Rio Grande. The administration says immigration enforcement is up to the federal government and Texas is interfering.    Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on an emergency appeal to temporarily overturn a lower court’s injunction that banned the federal government from cutting razor fencing Texas had installed along the border near Eagle Pass while litigation continues.   Following the ruling, Abbott declared his constitutional authority to reserve the right of his state to self-defense against an invasion, adding that the executive branch had broken its constitutional pact with the states by failing to enforce federal immigration laws.    Former President Donald Trump on Thursday gave his backing to Abbott amid the latter’s feud with the Biden administration — urging states to send their National Guards to the border and promising to work "hand in hand" with the state to combat the "invasion" if he is inaugurated again in January 2025.   Abbott has also picked up the support of more than two dozen Republican states who have publicly expressed their support for the state. Meanwhile, some Democrats have urged the Biden administration to seize control of the National Guard.   https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-disneyland-posts-woke-wheel-of-privilege-in-employee-kitchen-removes-it-after-daily-wire-inquiry   Disneyland Posts Woke ‘Wheel Of Privilege’ In Employee Kitchen, Removes It After Daily Wire Inquiry   Posters featuring a “wheel of power/privilege” were hung in employee spaces in Disneyland, instructing employees that being white, “cisgender male,” and even speaking English means you have “unearned” privilege that your “marginalized” coworkers do not, according to images obtained by The Daily Wire.   The wheel featured for all employees to see has the word “power” in the middle, and is sectioned like a dart board, with certain traits fanning outward that are labeled “marginalized.” For example, being white, a “cisgender male,” owning property, and speaking English are all considered privileged, while being dark-skinned, transgender, homeless, and not speaking English are considered marginalized. In between the inner and outer circle – which would be considered not completely marginalized but not totally privileged either – are “cisgender women,” gay men, people with a high school education, and who learned English.   Included with the wheel is a definition of “privilege,” stating that it is “unearned access or advantage granted to specific groups of people because of their membership in a social group.”   “Privilege can be based off a variety of different social identities such as race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, ability status, sexuality, age, education level, and more,” it continues. “Within the US, members of social groups that hold privileges (white, male, wealthy, able-bodied, etc) have historically held dominance and power over targeted groups.”   The poster also asks, “why should we accept that we have privileges?” It provides the following answer: “By accepting that we have privileges, we can see that not everyone sees the world from our perspective and that we have privileges in our life that have hindered our awareness of the world.”   The image was provided by source who works for the Walt Disney Company, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the company. The employee said the materials were posted in the production kitchen on Main Street USA in Disneyland in Anaheim, California. This production kitchen services Carnation Cafe, The Tropical Hideaway, Jolly Holiday Bakery and Cafe, and Refreshment Corner sponsored by Coca Cola.   The employee said divisive materials like this are “destroying the magic” of the park.   “So many cast members, myself included, are tired of the division being pushed by companies with a lack of regard for the founder’s vision,” the source told The Daily Wire. “This isn’t what Walt would have wanted for his company. He once said, ‘To ALL who come to this happy place, Welcome.’ Things like this make people feel unwelcome, destroying the magic.”   The Daily Wire reached out to the Walt Disney Company to ask about the poster and why they are posted. Within hours of reaching out, our source said a manager removed the poster, and sent a photo of the now-empty display cabinet, which still features another poster about the lunar new year and 2024 being the year of the dragon. Disney did not ultimately respond to the request for comment.   Disney has come under fire in recent years for its turn toward “wokeness,” with numerous box-office blunders for films deemed to be pushing Leftist political agendas. Top-ranking employees at Disney have also admitted to pushing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda,” The Daily Wire previously reported. In 2023, the company lost nearly $1 billion on movies like Elemental and The Little Mermaid.   Company CEO Bob Iger admitted last year that Disney lost sight of entertainment as it put more political messaging into its content.   https://www.dailyfetched.com/serbia-to-introduce-a-mandatory-military-draft-amid-ww3-tensions/   Serbia to Introduce a Mandatory Military Draft amid WW3 Tensions   Serbia is reportedly considering reintroducing compulsory military service as tensions in the Balkans and elsewhere in Europe begin increasing amid WW3 fears.   President Aleksandar Vucic said army commanders gave him “a strong argumentation” in favor of mandatory draft.   Compulsory drafts here were suspended in 2011 in a push to professionalize the armed forces.   However, the Serbian president did not specify when the draft would return but said the national parliament would vote on the proposal.   “We are not threatening anyone,” Vucic said.   “Today, if you don’t have (a strong) army, you don’t have a country.”   “We will see if it (military service) will last 90 or 100 days, or maybe 110 days,” Vucic told reporters.   “As well as when it will be introduced and how the financial and logistical assumptions will be fulfilled.”   The Washington Post reported:   “Opposition politicians and other critics of a draft have questioned the logic of a military buildup when Serbia is almost completely surrounded by NATO member countries which have superior firepower in case of a conflict. There are also concerns that the government may struggle to foot the bill for a larger military.   Tensions have been high in the Balkans, which went through the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Although formally neutral, the Serbian Army has maintained close ties to Russia, from which it purchases most of its arms, including fighter jets and tanks.“   Serbia was one of the few countries to refuse sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.   Tensions revolved around Serbia’s former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, which Serbia and allies Russia and China have not recognized.   Over the last few months, Serbia has raised the combat readiness on the border with Kosovo several times.   The country also maintained cordial relations with NATO, whose troops have been stationed in Kosovo since 1999.   Earlier this week, top military officials warned that conscription could happen in the UK if NATO goes to war with Russia.   General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing head of the British Army, said such a conflict would need to be a “whole-of-nation undertaking.”   “Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough,” he said.   “We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking,” Sanders added.   “Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them. “But we’ve been here before, and workforce alone does not create capability.”   The BBC reports that “other senior NATO military commanders have also recently been calling on the alliance to ready itself for a potential conflict.”   According to the outlet:   In response to Gen Sir Patrick speech the UK prime minister’s spokesman said hypothetical scenarios of a future potential conflict were not helpful and ruled out any move towards a conscription model for the Army.   One senior Conservative MP told the BBC he did not think Rishi Sunak had fully appreciated the threat posed by Russia.   The MP said that might be because the prime minister when growing up had not experienced the existential threat posed by the old Soviet Union during the Cold War era.   Gen Sir Patrick said the nation could not afford to make the same mistakes of 1914, when it failed to perceive the escalations that led to World War One.   And that is your news for today…   Now folks, normally this is the part where I’d ask you to send me a news story to my email, or if you have questions about the upcoming FLF conference shoot me an email, etc. But alas, not this time. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed bringing you the news over the last year and a half or so. I’ve enjoyed giving you a look at what’s happening around the world on your morning commute to work… but I’ve received a job offer out of state - down in Huntsville AL, that I just couldn’t pass up. If you’re down that way, friend me up on Facebook by the way and we’ll meet up!    With that being said, I wanted to tell you, the listener, how thankful I am for you giving my news show a listen. For saying hello at our FLF Conferences when I was out and about, for sending me news stories to my email, for the encouragement, or constructive criticism I’d receive when I couldn’t pronounce something… which believe me, I’m aware of those things… All of that to say. I’m thankful for the FLF community