Month: January 2022

Mother Sues School Over Teachers Manipulating Daughter To Change Gender Identity

Jessica Konen filed suit last week against teachers Lori Caldiera, Kelly Baraki and the Spreckels Union School District for allegedly manipulating her seventh-grade daughter to change her gender identity under the guise of the district’s “Parental Secret Policy” where teachers could counsel students and assert a new gender identity without notifying parents. At the time, the daughter, known as “A.G.” in the suit, was 11 years old. According to the suit the teachers coached students on LGBT+ identities such as homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism, gender non-conformity, etc., and how to express those identities. Read more about the lawsuit here. 

Atlanta Pastor And Wife Arrested For Holding Group Of Disabled People In Basement

A Georgia pastor and his wife were arrested for allegedly imprisoning people against their will after eight disabled residents were found in the basement behind a deadbolted door. Pastor Curtis Keith Bankston, 55, and his wife Sophia Simm-Bankston, 56, of Griffin, were arrested for false imprisonment after authorities found eight people who were suffering from a mental or physical disability between the ages of 25 and 65 inside the basement of their home. Police also alleged that the couple controlled the patients’ ‘finances, medications, and public benefits’ and that they were often denied their medications and medical care. Read more about the arrest here.

Tennessee Pastor Claims Autism Is A Sign Of Demonic Oppression

Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, recently drew criticism after claiming that mental health disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and developmental disorders like autism are signs of demonic oppression. According to Church Leaders, Locke went on to say that people use medical terms instead of biblical terms, like spiritual oppression, because it makes them feel better. “Are you telling me my kid is possessed,” the pastor rhetorically told congregants. “No! I’m telling you your kid could be demonized and attacked, but your doctor calls it autism.” Read more about his controversial remarks here.

Billionaire Mark Cuban Opens Online Pharmacy To Provide Affordable Generic Drugs

The Shark Tank judge, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, will be selling more than 100 generic drugs practically at cost through his new pharmaceutical wholesaler company, The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company (MCCPDC). Cuban’s company is seeking to combat the price gouging of prescription drugs by large pharmaceutical companies, pledging that MCCPDC will be “radically transparent” in its price negotiations with drug manufacturers. MCCPDC purchases drugs directly from manufacturers, bypassing middlemen to lower the price of more than 100 medications, the company said in a statement. Read more about his endeavor here.

Josh Duggar Asks For Dismissal Or Acquittal In Child Phonography Trial

Josh Duggar’s defense team has filed a motion for acquittal following last month’s guilty verdict. The former “19 Kids and Counting” star was convicted in December of downloading and possessing child sex abuse images. The motion, which was filed on Wednesday argued in part that  “The evidence elicited at trial does not support a conviction on either count.” Josh Duggar could face as much as 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. It is likely to take some weeks for the motion to be decided by a court of appeals. Read more about the appeal here.

Pastor David Jeremiah Warns Truth Is Disappearing From Our Culture

Saying Christians are living in a “post-truth world,” David Jeremiah on Sunday urged believers to be bold stewards of God’s Word even as the culture continually rejects it. Jeremiah, the pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif., is quoted as saying, “We’re living in a post-truth world. If you watch television, if you read magazines, if you read the newspaper, [then] you realize truth is little by little just disappearing from our culture.” Adding, “Many U.S. churches today have “forgotten” their purpose, becoming entertainment-driven social organizations eager to blend in with secular culture instead of focusing on biblical discipleship.” Read more of his warning here.

Grammy Nominated Christian Rapper Renounces His Faith

Brady ‘Phanatik’ Goodwin, founding member of Grammy-nominated Christian hip-hop group, The Cross Movement, and in recent years an apologetics teacher, stated Monday in a video posted online that he has renounced his Christian faith. Stating, “I sent a letter to my church withdrawing my membership and saying that I am denouncing the Christian faith that I have believed, professed, proclaimed, and defended for the last 30 years of my life.” Comparing Christian theology to a Rubik’s cube he said, “I began to look at the faith and say, ‘Man you could turn this Rubik’s cube any particular way and end up with a different understanding.’ And who can say that understanding is right or that understanding is wrong?’ Read more about his statement here.

Study Shows dogs Can Differentiate Between Languages 

MRI scans revealed that dogs‘ brains can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar languages, making them the first-known, and so far only, non-human animals to be able to tell the difference between human languages.  The new study, which was published online Dec. 12, 2021, in the journal NeuroImage, was conceived by lead author Laura Cuaya, a neurobiologist at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, who recently moved from Mexico to Budapest alongside her dog Kun-kun. She wondered if her dog noticed that people in Budapest speak a different language. The brain scans suggested that not only were the dogs able to clearly distinguish between speech and non-speech, but they also reacted differently to familiar and unfamiliar languages. Read more about the study here.