This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A judge in Maine stunningly has ruled that a mother is forbidden from taking her daughter to church.

Any church that her ex-boyfriend does not approve.

And the legal team at Liberty Counsel has confirmed it launched an immediate effort to overturn the decision that actually violates multiple court precedents.

The report from Liberty Counsel uses pseudonyms to keep the identities of the mom and child private.

What happened is common: Mom and dad had a daughter 12 years ago, they broke up, even before the daughter was born, and "everything was fine" until the mom and daughter started attending church.

"When [the daughter] began wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Bible verses to her father's house, Mark rushed to the local family court, declaring those shirts to be 'religious paraphernalia,'" the team reported.

He claimed being baptized was "indoctrination."

And a large part of his complaint was that the church, Calvary Chapel of Bangor, "teaches the [B]ible chapter by chapter, verse by verse."

To push his own religious ideology, he "hired a former California State University sociology professor to testify that Calvary Chapel is a 'cult,'" Liberty Counsel confirmed, with a demand the court ban the mom from taking the daughter to church.

Then the judge stepped up to the campaign.

"Outrageously, the anti-God judge in this case was more than happy to oblige. The judge spent 11 pages excoriating Calvary Chapel of Bangor, and quoting a former Marxist sociology professor's assertions that Bible-teaching churches like Calvary Chapel are 'Moses Cults' that 'harm' children. The judge ruled that [the mom's] religious beliefs 'eclipsed her ability to make decisions that are in [her daughter's] best interests,' Because [the mom] had testified that her daughter's belief in God was 'more important than anything.'"

He demanded the mom never take the daughter to Calvary Chapel – "or ANY church that does not meet [the dad's] approval – ever again."

Liberty Counsel explained Calvary Church of Bangor was founded by Pastor Ken Graves, a "God-honoring man" and does teach the Bible.

In fact, Liberty Counsel defended the church when "Gov. Janet Mills threatened to arrest and imprison anyone who attended church during the COVID panic."

The legal team cited the U.S. Constitution, "hundreds of years of legal precedents, and even the Maine Supreme Court" which all say the government may not prevent a parent from raising a child in his or her own faith.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Democrats and other leftists in Congress and around Washington, D.C., are incensed that President Donald Trump is in the White House, and he's fulfilling a campaign promise to cut government waste through his Department of Government Efficiency and its chief, Elon Musk.

They've threatened to fight in the streets and raised both eyebrows and authorities' alarm by saying DOGE workers are wanted dead or alive.

One Republican senator has another perspective: Musk should be given a medal.

Musk previously hos documented his own personal stake in the abuse of taxpayer money, explaining at one point he was the "largest individual taxpayer in history."

It is Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who listed what Musk has found while investigating fraud and waste at USAID.

"He found that the USAID has 10,000 people employees, and every year they give away $40 billion.

"He found that the USAID gave money to support electric vehicles in Vietnam. Our money, taxpayer money.

"He found that the USAID gave money to a transgender clinic in India. 'I didn't know that. I bet you the American people didn't know that.'

"He found that USAID gave $1.5 million to a Serbian LGBTQ group, they got $1.5 million to QUOTE, 'advanced diversity, equity, inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities.'

"They found that USAID spent $164 million to support radical organizations around the world.

"They gave $122 million of that to groups aligned with foreign terrorist organizations.

"According to this report in Mr. Musk, the USAID has given millions of dollars to quote organizations in Gaza controlled by Hamas.

"He found that we gave $2 million, USAID did, for sex changes in Guatemala.

"He found that we gave $20 million to produce a new Sesame Street show in Iraq.

"He found that we gave $4.5 million of taxpayer money to combat misinformation in Kazakhstan.

"He found that we gave $10 million, USAID did, of meals to an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group called the Nusra Front.

"Mr. Musk found that we gave $7.9 million of taxpayer money to a project that would teach Sri Lankan journalists to avoid binary-gendered language.

"USAID gave $1.5 million to promote LGBT advocacy in Jamaica.

"They gave $1.5 million to rebuild the Cuban media ecosystem.

"They gave $1.5 million for quote, art for inclusion of people with disabilities in Belarus.

"Another $3.9 million for LGBT causes in Macedoni.

"$8.3 million for equity and inclusion education in Nepal.

Kennedy's recommendation: "I think we ought to give him a medal."

Trump has confirmed that most of the USAID employees are being put on leave, with only a few hundred remaining on duty, duties that apparently are being folded into the world of the State Department.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A student at the University of Colorado was known to occasionally share her personal opinions on issues in society.

For example, she once told another person at the school she doesn't care "about your identity. I care more about what you have to say as a person."

The student, Zoe Johnson, also wondered why was LGBTQ Pride celebrated in June … and in October.

She also asked about the purpose of another student's headwear.

For these and other incidents, the school ordered her into a review by the university's Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance, which determined her speech was "unwelcome."

Now the school is being sued for violating her First and 14th Amendment rights.

It is a lawyer from the Dhillon Law Group that has taken the fight to federal court, charging that the school's OIEC violated her rights by subjecting her to an Orwellian crackdown on speech.

The legal team said the complaint charges "Johnson was subjected to a pattern of ideological enforcement disguised as a nondiscrimination policy, culminating in an investigation into her for engaging in everyday dialogue with classmates."

Her comments, that became part of the school's case against her, sometimes weren't even mentioned by anyone complaining, the lawyers explained.

Even so, she was ordered into a disciplinary meeting where she was "berated for her so-called 'white privilege.'"

Lawyer Matthew Sarelson, a partner at Dhillon, called the school's actions a textbook example of an unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

"Public universities cannot weaponize vague and subjective 'nondiscrimination' policies to silence students with opinions that diverge from the prevailing campus orthodoxy," Sarelson said. "Zoe Johnson was not targeted for harassment or discrimination—she was targeted because she asked reasonable questions in a learning environment that claims to encourage open discussion."

Spencer Brown, a spokesman for Young America's Foundation, which is supporting the case, said, "The University of Colorado Boulder is engaging in an insidious form of authoritarianism under the guise of inclusivity. Universities should be places where students sharpen their critical thinking skills, not where they are coerced into parroting approved viewpoints out of fear of punishment."

The case, in federal court in Colorado, names university President Todd Saliman, associate Vice Chancellor for OIEC Llen Pomeroy, executive Vice Chancellor Patrick O'Rourke and associate Director of Choral Activities Elizabeth K. Swanson as defendants.

The case seeks to have the defendants held personally, and financially, responsible.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The Lord's Prayer, from the popular New International Version translation of the Bible, is:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

This obviously fails to meet the requirements of today's leftists and others who require the Good Book to support their causes, including transgenderism.

This video, caught by Protestia, which advocates for "the theological and worldview perspectives of conservative evangelical Christianity," reveals a new version promoting the unscientific beliefs that men can become women, or women can become men.

PJMedia explained, "We already know that the left ruins everything it touches. This includes Christianity. Progressive Christianity is loaded with dangerous heresies, but it's also ripe for ridicule."

The words to what many are describing as a heresy:

Our mother and our father, our beloved parent in who we move and breathe and have our being. The glorious hallowing of your name shines forth in the diversity of your children. May your peace and love, justice and equality, inclusion and belonging reign here on earth as in heaven.

Build your kingdom in the hearts of all. Help us meet our daily needs. Be with those who suffer as a result of living as the fullest truth of your divine child. Grant that our transgender loved ones might have their daily needs met, That they might find employment without discrimination, That they may have access to medical care without fear, That they might have their rights and lives protected, That they might find a loving, safe community to belong to and call their own.

Forgive us for the ways that we have fallen short and failed your beloved transgender children, as well as our many trespasses. Forgive us of the times we turned away or did not care, For the times we laughed or judged their unique expression of your image, Just as we forgive those who might have failed to see, hear, and understand us.

Lead us away from the temptation to be complacent in the face of injustice But instead, give us the courage to stand up for and with your beloved children. Open our minds and our hearts to those who think, act, and experience life differently. Help us do our part to make your love and justice reign in our diverse, beautiful world, now and always.
Amen.

Online commenters objected to fabricating a new prayer:

"I honestly don't know why they have to co-opt everything just so they can affirm their own sin? If you are a true Christian, all of that stuff just doesn't matter. We all are then new creatures that must leave the former life behind. Not drag it along like an anchor."

And, "Disgraceful."

And, "Vile."

And, "Destructive words."

PJMedia explained, "You see, the thing about scripture is that it's fine all by itself. That's why there's a doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture. It's heresy to add to the timeless truths of scripture, especially to justify lifestyles of sin. Shame on these people — particularly Frumpy Baritone Grandma."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The U.S. Department of Justice now is getting involved in the investigation by the White House Department of Government Efficiency, run by Elon Musk on President Donald Trump's instructions, of fraudulent and wasteful spending by the U.S. government.

Already, the Musk investigation has resulted in the essential shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which employed thousands and was tasked with handing out billions of dollars to other nations.

The problem that was uncovered was that leftists were spending billions of tax dollars on leftist ideologies in other countries that had no bearing on America's national security or priorities.

There are supposed to be a few hundred USAID workers kept on, and apparently their duties will be transferred to the U.S. State Department. Up for review, and possible shutdown, now is the Department of Education. And reports confirm the Pentagon is facing an audit.

But the situation now has gone far beyond questioning spending programs that likely were inappropriate. Now the DOJ is looking into charges that could develop against individuals or networks for stealing government property.

DOGE officials had made a referral because of evidence they uncovered.

Ed Martin, U.S. attorney for Washington, confirmed, "If people are discovered to have broken the law or even acted simply unethically, we will investigate them and we will chase them to the ends of the Earth to hold them accountable."

He explained, "We will on rest or cease in this. No one should abuse American taxpayer dollars nor American taxpayer workers. No one is above the law."

Earlier he had confirmed that an "initial review" of evidence suggests "certain individuals and/or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees."

A report from the Gateway Pundit said Martin didn't provide any names of suspects, and it was unclear which laws were violated.

But the report noted he confirmed he was in contact with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to move on the allegations.

At the time, Martin explained, "I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly. At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws."

He said, "Let me assure you of this: we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people. We will not act like the previous administration who looked the other way as the Antifa and BLM rioters as well as thugs with guns trashed our capital city. We protect DOGE and other workers no matter what."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The transgender agenda failed, catastrophically, on the U.S. House floor when Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., in the chair, addressed Rep. Tim "Sarah" McBride, D-Del., as "Mister."

It's because McBride calls himself a woman. In fact, he created a scandal for a time when first elected last year with the suggestion that he be allowed to use the women's restrooms and such in the Capitol.

House Speaker Mike Johnson vetoed that immediately.

"The chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBridge," Miller said.

Miller explained, "Today on the House Floor, I refused to deny biological reality. President Trump restored biological truth in the Federal Government, and I refuse to perpetuate the lie that gender is open to our interpretation. It is not."

A commentary at Twitchy noted, "McBride made news in 2024 by becoming the first 'transgender' member of the House of Representatives, but he soon found out that the Republicans in Congress weren't about to bend the knee to his mental illness. Rep. Nancy Mace led a personal crusade to prevent McBride from using the women's bathrooms (because, you know, he is not a woman). Reality won that fight when Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that men like McBride must use either his own private bathroom or the men's room. Yesterday, Illinois Rep. Mary Miller gave reality another victory when she refused to recognize McBride as a woman on the House Floor."

College athlete Riley Gaines, who famously battled the now-defunct NCAA agenda of promoting transgenderism in college sports, said Miller's comments simply were "based in reality."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Concerns are increasing that Kari Lake's loss to Ruben Gallego in the Arizona U.S. Senate race in November was due to malfeasance. For example, many believe around 60,000 votes were transferred from Lake to the unknown Green Party candidate in the race. Now, the CONELRAD Group, a team of mostly former intelligence and military officers located primarily in southern Arizona that investigates illegal election activity, along with the Pima Integrity Project, or PIP, have issued a new report on alleged improprieties in Pima County's elections last year.

The groups found 10 areas of concern, including some where laws or rules were allegedly violated involving "possible malfeasance," and called on the Arizona Legislature and the Trump administration to investigate.

The 54-page report, compiled by CONELRAD founder Jack Dona and a couple of team members including Tim Laux of PIP, found what they are calling multiple violations of the chain of custody (COC) of ballots, which is a class 2 misdemeanor, noncompliance with the state's Election Procedures Manual (EPM), also a class 2 misdemeanor, refusing to allow political party observers at early voting locations, providing mostly left-leaning ballot couriers, courier time records that were impossible, unsecured ballot boxes, and ineligible voters on the voter rolls.

Dona suggested to this writer how the wrongdoing could have happened. "All of the information lawfully obtained in this report begs the question: Is this nothing more than a series of possible mistakes, errors, incompetence, malfeasance … or is it something else entirely?" he asked. "One could imagine if the fictional character Sgt. Joe Friday of the TV Show 'Dragnet' were assigned to this case, his discussion with his partner, Detective Bill Gannon, might go something like this: 'Bill, let's see if we can piece this all together. First they make a copy of the voter database. They use that copy of the database to adjust addresses. Then let's say they send a dump for printing. The database copy then gets tossed and disappeared.'"

He went on, "'Then when the election happens, those adjusted addresses go to different places, ballots filled out and dropped somewhere? Isn't it a fact that between the November election and the January data dump, thousands of records are removed? They don't go inactive first as ARS (Arizona Revised Statutes) states, do they?… Don't they just go away? Has anyone ever seen those ballots' histories because as I understand it the voter record is gone? Doesn't this answer the question as to why a voter swears they didn't vote in spite of the records showing they actually did?'"

For their investigation, the teams reviewed chain of custody documents from Pima County's 2024 primary and general elections, and digital data provided to the Republican Party by the Pima County Recorder. They included screenshots of the problematic findings in their report.

The teams found that ineligible voters cast ballots, since they had registered to vote after the cutoff date. Their research went back to the 2016 election and found over 500 of these voters.

The group also found that the chain of custody forms used by Pima County did not follow the template recommended by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). "It appears that every ballot transfer sheet that we reviewed had only one courier, a severe violation of the Arizona Revised Statutes and the EPM. This constitutes a break in the chain of custody," the report said.

Some of the chain of custody forms contained blank lines to fill in important information, but nothing was marked down. The forms lacked blank lines for filling in the "pickup date and time, were seals intact? what are the vote counts? and when did the couriers with their ballot boxes arrive at the BPC (Ballot Processing Center)."

After the groups had previously expressed their concerns to Pima County about its chain of custody form not requiring adequate information, the county changed some of the forms. However, "the new chain of custody form did not bring about any better or more trustworthy results. In fact, the recorder and staff made things worse by leaving off a space for ballot box and seal numbers. Instead of 2-party printed names below the line of legible signatures, the form now has tiny spaces for initials only."

Some of the chain of custody forms lacked information such as the name of the person who signed to receive the ballot boxes and the time the box was opened. Instead of names, only initials were jotted down. The report added up instances of each involving the mail-in ballot drop-offs during the primary election. There were seven boxes of ballots lacking seals, 35 missing a delivery date or time, 39 missing a pickup date, 52 instances that took over four hours to deliver the ballot boxes, 35 missing the couriers' initials, and six instances of blanks not filled in.

The couriers were frequently registered as independents, also known as Party Not Designated, or PND, and some had changed their party from Democrat shortly before the election. "Did whomever put this into practice believe or think that no inquiring citizen would notice how they seem to be circumventing the law so they can work solely together?" the report asked. "Basically, two Democrats oversee adjudication, duplication and often pick up ballot boxes, and handle voted ballots." The groups asked, "Why are there no spaces or lines to write in a second bi-partisan courier?" Both Arizona statutes and the EPM require two couriers from two different parties to move a ballot box from one location to another.

Asked whether independents constitute a "political party" that could be one of the bipartisan couriers, an election attorney responded, "The law requires one person from the two major political parties, but it's widely interpreted by all county recorders to be of differing parties, including PNDs. But the couriers should be one PND and a person of another party. But, if the PND routinely votes the same primary ballot as the other courier, that would be a huge problem. Two PNDs cannot be couriers together, period."

Laux responded and said, "My belief is that the County Recorder goes beyond the spirit and intent of the law by not using couriers from differing political parties."

Next, the report went over the issues with ballots that were dropped off where voters showed ID. It stated, "Mail-In Early Ballot Boxes were often not picked up on a daily basis. At times they were left unattended for days and even over weekends." The report found that seven boxes of ballots had no names or signatures, 172 boxes had no box number or seal, 17 had broken seals, 32 had no couriers, and 172 lacked two bipartisan couriers.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

President Donald Trump has sanctioned the International Criminal Court, an international group that has no jurisdiction over the United States or its ally Israel, but yet issued arrested warrants for a number of key Israeli officials.

The sanctions target ICC officials, their family members and even their properties. Financial sanctions and visa restrictions are a part of the plan.

The action was in response to the ICC's claim to have issued an arrest warrant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a move that followed the ICC's leftists claims about Israel's military response to the war started by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, when those terrorists invaded Israel, slaughtered some 1,200 civilians and abducted hundreds more.

The determination by Trump is that those officials, employees and agents, "as well as their immediate family members," would be "detrimental to the interests of the United States" if they enter the country.

"I therefore determine that any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute protected persons, as defined in section 8(d) of this order, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to address that threat."

He determined others will be added to the order, following a determination by State and Treasury officials and the attorney general.

Trump said, "I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the International Criminal Court (ICC), as established by the Rome Statute, has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel. The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant."

He pointed out that neither the U.S. nor Israel has agreed to be subject to the ICC.

"Neither country has ever recognized the ICC's jurisdiction, and both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war. The ICC's recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest."

He called out the ICC's "malign conduct."

A number of nations around the globe have submitted to the ICC, and in fact said they would be arresting Netanyahu if he ventured onto their territory.

That means, Trump explained, there need to be "tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC's transgressions," including blocking of property and assets and denial of entry.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Under Joe Biden's agenda to promote transgenderism to all, including those horrific body mutilations done on children, it was routine for prison inmates to demand, and be provided, tax-paid surgeries.

But it appears that might be coming to a halt.

A new report at HeadlineUSA explains Indiana's prison system was told by a judge to arrange for such "treatment" for one inmate, but now cannot find a doctor to participate in the procedure.

The report cited social media documentation that, "Indiana's prison system can't find a single doctor in the state willing to give a sex change to the baby-killing, self-purported trans Muslim inmate. It also looks like doctors around the country are shuttering their sex-change practices. Moreover, 15 states refused to even consider giving the baby-killer a sex change, while the rest of the states have signaled they probably won't, either."

HeadlineUSA said a federal judge had ordered the sex-change operation last year to "self-purported Muslim transgender inmate Jonathan Richardson."

He's in jail for 55 years for murdering his infant stepdaughter.

His case has been complicated by a report from psychologist Kelsey Beers who recommended against the procedure, citing the inmate's "co-morbidities of borderline and antisocial personality disorders—not gender dysphoria."

He also pointed to the inmate's history of faking mental illnesses.

Notwithstanding, the prisons division has been asking doctors to do the surgery, a result of Richardson's lawsuit over a law banning such treatments.

The report noted, "However, no doctor in Indiana is willing to conduct such a surgery, parties to the lawsuit revealed in a status report Wednesday."

One doctor said he was unwilling to move on the case and others said they had discontinued such treatments.

Reaching across state lines, the request either was rejected outright, or put on hold pending developments, by officials in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Virginia, Wyoming.

So far, what is happening in the case is an order for a mental health evaluation for the inmate, the report said.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Under Joe Biden's presidency, indeed under that of his mentor, Barack Obama, too, American government was rife with anti-Christian bias.

There was Obama's orchestrated war to try to force Catholic nuns to pay for abortions, there were Biden's orders that churches be shut down for COVID, while bars and strip clubs were open. There was Obama's blast at voters who "cling to their Bibles." There was Biden's open defiance of his own claimed Catholic beliefs in his support for unlimited abortions.

Biden dispatched federal investigators to monitor religious parents at school boards and conservative Catholics in worship. Obama's IRS openly attacked Christians for their beliefs.

President Donald Trump is changing that trend:

He has announced, that "to confront such weaponization and religious persecution," there now is a new task force.

"Today I am signing an executive order to make our attorney general, who's a great person … she's gonna be a great attorney general, Pam Bondi, the head of a task force, brand new, to eradicate anti Christian bias," he said.

Trump made the comments at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.

He said the goal will be to "immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government." And he cited the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He also announced plans to "protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares."

He said his goal is to "bring our country back together as one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all."

Trump also announced the establishment of the White House Faith Office.

Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for First Liberty Institute, said, "We are thrilled that President Trump recognizes that religious liberty is foundational to all of our Constitutional freedoms and plans to do all he can do to protect our first freedom. All Americans should be free to exercise their faith without government intrusion in school, in the military, in the workplace, and in the public square.

"We are ready to stand with President Trump to ensure that the religious liberty of every American is safe and secure."

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