The Brew: On the Front Lines and Front Rows of Spiritual Warfare
Happy Monday!
Well, as happy as any Monday can be when your taxes are due.
Yesterday, The Stream’s John Zmirak dropped a crucial essay: “Why We Need to Talk About Satan.” We are fighting against “principalities and powers.” Take the Washington State Senate legislators who are carrying the devil’s water.
Don’t Want Your Minor Child to Change Genders or Have an Abortion? “No Problem,” Says Washington State Senate. “We’ll Just Take Your Child Away From You.”
The Washington State Senate has passed a bill that would allow the state to remove from the home – take – the children of parents who won’t consent to gender transformations or abortions for their child.
Not just grab the child, but not even tell the parents what happened.
From Townhall:
According to Senate Bill 5599, shelters could contact the Department of Children, Youth, and Families instead of parents for minors seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care.
The proposal would pave the way for more of a “compelling reason” to conceal a child who seeks sex change operations or reproductive health services such as abortion.
State Senate Republican Leader John Braun blasts the bill. He also shows us why we are not dealing with rationality. The same legislators who are arguing that a kid is mature enough to decide for themselves to have life-altering surgeries and abortions are at the same time arguing that kids don’t have the maturity to face the consequences for crimes they commit.
“Right now, [Democrats] are sponsoring a juvenile offender sentencing bill based on ‘the expansive body of scientific research on brain development, which shows that adolescents’ perception, judgment, and decision-making skills differ significantly from that of adults.'”
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Put aside for a second the evil of the state secretly taking kids from parents. Look at purpose. Why would they want children to sterilize themselves or abort babies when they know the child’s brain is not mature enough to maturely decide?
Who’s the ultimate victor when you exterminate babies? And extinguish a child’s ability to later procreate? Who ultimately is thwarting God’s objective for us to be fruitful and multiply?
Here’s another example of irrationality that’s hard to contribute to an earthly force.
Trans Teacher Kept on the Job Despite Threatening to Shoot Up School and Kids
“Gotta protect the schools! Gotta protect the kids! Wait. A transgender teacher threatened to shoot up a middle school? No problem.”
Happened at Fox Chapple Middle School in Florida. A biological male teacher named Alexander Renczkowski who goes by “Ashlee” is transitioning. According to an incident report obtained by Moms for Liberty, Renczkowski made comments about being suicidal and possibly shooting students.
What’s the response? Get this teacher the heck away from children and into therapy, right? Nope.
The Hernando County School District mental health coordinator Sandra Hurst investigated. Renczkowski denied wanting to hurt kids or suicidal. But did admit to having “bad thoughts” and was found to have three firearms at home. Yet Hurst decided the teacher with guns and bad thoughts did not met the criteria for involuntary institutionalization.
Renckowski ended up being back in class a day later. It would be nearly three weeks before the school notified parents of the situation … after a local news reporter broke the story.
Saved by the Clydesdales: Anheuser-Busch Drops New Patriotic Ad in Wake of Bud Light Debacle
Whataya do if your company loses $5 billion in value in days and spits on the values of your core consumer? Quickly go back to what worked. Bring back the big guns. Or in this case, big horses.
Anheuser-Busch on Friday dropped a new spot designed to help reverse the damage done the company by embracing and partnering with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney. It’s a patriotic, heart-stirring spot featuring those famous Clydesdales trotting near scenic American landscapes and landmarks, like the Lincoln Memorial and One World Trade Center. (And Middle American guys in baseball caps, not attention-seeking guys in tiaras.)
— Budweiser (@budweiserusa) April 14, 2023
The copy opens with the line, “Let me tell you a story, about a beer rooted in the heart of America … “ (That’s the point. They forgot their roots in a bow to woke-ism.)
It’s not an apology. But it’s a tacit acknowledgement they messed up. Will it work to repair the damage? Your thoughts.
- Yes, it’s a touching attempt to reach out to their core consumer.
- No, it’s manipulative. They think we’re stupid rubes.
- I don’t know. I just like looking at the horses.
Battling the Demonic at the Movies
Two movies opened this weekend that involve battling demonic possession. One is Nefarious, which John Zmirak raved about Friday. And is getting great reviews in conservative circles.
Unfortunately, you might say, for its box office fortunes, Nefarious was up against the big budget film The Pope’s Exorcist. Starring Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, the movie is based on the real life experiences of Father Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist for the Vatican.
How fascinating to see audiences seeking out these two films, both which take demonic possession seriously and express the reality of evil. (Both blatant and subtle.) Far too often in recent years in pop culture, the devil has been glorified. Evil glamorized.
Now, did people head to the theaters because both films seemed like a fun time at the movies? After all, The Pope’s Exorcist has “popcorn movie” written all over it. Or is something deeper going on? Are people awaking to the fact that evil is afoot in the land, a spiritual battle is underway, and they’re seeking out stories that acknowledge that reality? The reality of Satan … and God.
Further evidence we’re not on the wrong track? His Only Son, the film about Abraham and Isaac from the people behind The Chosen is still going strong. All three movies made this weekend’s top ten at the box office.
One more word about Nefarious. The Enemy doesn’t like being exposed. Check out the article at Breitbart written by the film’s writer-directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon on all the bizarre and near-fatal occurrences that attempted to disrupt the production and promotion of the movie. This list did not even include Executive Producer Steve Deace, upon whose novel the film is based, nearly dying last week from a mysterious infection.
Along The Stream
Make no mistake. God is on the move. In fact, our Aliya Kuykendall talks about another movie in her weekly Sunny Side of the Stream. This one a documentary called Asbury Revival: Desperate for More.
It’s available for free from Redeem TV
Encore: Phantom of the Opera Ends 35 Year Run on Broadway
History last night on the Great White Way, as the curtain came down after 35 years on Phantom of the Opera. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical played 13,891 performances on Broadway and has been seen by over 20 million people.
Phamily. #PhantomBroadway pic.twitter.com/DXcBlTckEn
— The Phantom Of The Opera (@PhantomOpera) April 16, 2023
The Phantom was most famously played by Michael Crawford. Crawford was unable to attend the reunion of past cast due to an untimely dental surgery, but he tweeted his best wishes for the final show
Let’s take it home today, Michael Crawford and his indelible performance of the one of the most iconic songs in musical theater history: “The Music of the Night.”
Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.
