The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive National Defense Authorization Act, complete with an amendment blocking the Pentagon from funding abortions with taxpayer dollars. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, had introduced an amendment to the $883.7 billion act blocking President Joe Biden’s administration from using taxpayer funds to reimburse abortion-related expenses. Van Duyne emphasized on Friday her efforts to “support women throughout their pregnancies and after, instead of incentivizing abortion on demand.” Her amendment was approved by the House in a 214-to-207 vote. Two Republicans voted against the pro-life amendment (Reps. John Duarte of California and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania) and one Democrat voted in favor of it (Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas). Duarte, Fitzpatrick, and Cuellar did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., blocked hundreds of military promotions for more than 10 months as pushback to the Pentagon policy promoting abortion, saying that until the policy was changed, he would not approve any military promotions, arguing that the policy is illegal and violates the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment is a measure dating back to the 1970s that prohibits federal taxpayer funding of most abortions.  The Alabama lawmaker, who received heavy criticism from his Democratic colleagues, ended his holds in December. Tuberville had also come under fire from some GOP senators, who called on him to give up his effort and allow the promotions to move forward despite the Pentagon’s unchanged pro-abortion policy.   But other leaders—including Ryan Williams, president and publisher of The Claremont Review of Books and publisher of The American Mind; Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project; and Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation—praised Tuberville for his commitment to standing against the Pentagon’s pro-abortion policy, saying that his hold “on military promotions over the Pentagon’s unjust decision to fund abortion tourism is a righteous manifestation of the Senate’s responsibility to scrutinize military leadership.” ? PASSED: The House just voted to adopt my amendment to the NDAA. This will block the Biden Administration’s illegal practice of using taxpayer funds to reimburse abortion expenses. pic.twitter.com/rEzFwsRP8O— Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (@RepBethVanDuyne) June 13, 2024 The passage of the defense bill complete with the pro-life amendment was celebrated by pro-life groups, such as SBA Pro-Life America, which congratulated Van Duyne and House Republicans on the amendment. Congratulations to the @HouseGOP on the adoption of the @RepBethVanDuyne amendment to the NDAA. The amendment would roll back Biden's illegal DoD abortion travel policy. pic.twitter.com/Jc4NYDO2kB— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) June 13, 2024 Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said in a statement Friday that the United States “must provide our military with all the tools they need to defend our nation and deter our enemies” as the U.S. faces “increasingly hostile threats from Communist China, Russia, and Iran.” “This year’s NDAA will refocus our military on its core mission of defending America and its interests across the globe, fund the deployment of the National Guard to the southwest border, expedite innovation and reduce the acquisition timeline for new weaponry, support our allies, and strengthen our nuclear posture and missile defense programs,” the Louisiana Republican said. “This legislation also reinforces our commitment to America’s brave men and women in uniform, and their families, by making landmark investments in their quality of life,” Johnson added. “I’m proud that we’re providing significant pay increases to our service members, reducing barriers to employment for military spouses, and improving military housing and access to child care.” In October 2022, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin released a memorandum for senior Pentagon leadership on “ensuring access to reproductive health care.” That memorandum announced that the Defense Department would establish “travel and transportation allowances for service members and their dependents … to facilitate official travel to access non-covered reproductive health care that is unavailable within the local area of a service member’s permanent duty station.” The move was a direct response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the memo said. It claimed that funding abortion travel would be done in accordance with federal law, but Republicans noted at the time that funding travel and transportation to get abortions through the DOD would “in and of itself violate federal law” and contradict the Defense Department’s “past recognition, interpretation, and implementation of this law.” The post House OKs Massive Defense Bill With Provision Blocking Pentagon From Funding Abortions appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The recent elections for the European Union Parliament showed significant wins for conservative parties in several countries—as some of us had predicted. One thing those parties have in common is their opposition to mass illegal migration, and experts believe this is a sign that voters throughout Europe are beginning to reject the open-borders mindset—and many other failed parts of the globalist liberal agenda—that have pervaded the continent for decades. Conservatives from Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, and Italy gained seats in the European Parliament. In Belgium’s case, it caused the prime minister to resign. For decades, “Germany’s socialist-green coalition has been one of the great promoters of the EU’s current governance model of environmentalism, globalism, and uncontrolled immigration,” the National Review wrote. In Sunday’s EU elections, the right-wing Alternative for Germany Party won even more seats in the European Parliament, ascending to second place for the number of seats held within the German delegation, beating the current German chancellor’s own Social Democratic Party, which is part of the socialist-green coalition governing Germany. In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party got only half the vote of Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally Party. In response, Macron called a snap election for the French Parliament in a few weeks. The National Rally Party has gained support over time under Le Pen, daughter of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, and boy-wonder Jordan Bardella by distancing itself from antisemitism and other historical baggage and by reaching out to young voters. Bardella, not yet 30, grew up in working-class Paris, has charisma, and uses social media with skill. The Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner saw Sunday’s results as “a firm rejection of socialist ruling elites.” Gardiner told The Daily Signal that immigration is “probably the most important issue for European voters.” He believes “European voters emphatically rejected … the open borders mindset that has been dominant in Europe for so many decades.” Voters were also concerned about crime and “the Islamification of Europe,” Gardiner added. According to The Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker, EU voters have “had enough of the bipartisan progressive-green-secularist-globalist consensus under which they have been governed for years” and voted for parties that “oppose mass immigration, reject extreme climate measures, and resist the continuing dissolution of their civilization into a relativist, multicultural mush.” Meanwhile, Americans may also be fed up with what Gardiner calls “the most left-wing presidency in American history,” one that encourages and facilitates mass illegal migration. The Wall Street Journal’s Dominic Green describes that what the Swedish call a “Jimmie moment” may now be happening in the U.S. It’s named after the leader of a conservative party that did well in 2018 elections when voters punished a government that had forced mass migration on voters, wrongly assuming they’d just take it. In 2015, Sweden took in “more than 160,000 asylum applicants, mostly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan—more per capita than any other European country.” Now, with 20% of its population made up of recent immigrants, many from war-torn countries where women are subjugated, Sweden is plagued with urban crime and is the European capital of gangland murder. According to professor Stefan Hedlund of Uppsala University, Sweden’s “open-door migration policy with no accompanying policy to help the newcomers integrate” has accomplished the feat of turning Sweden from socialist model to cautionary tale—in a single generation. Hedlund blamed “the media and the political establishment [who] have for so long been cocooned in naive views of criminal dangers, leading to extremely lax legislation and enforcement.” Here in the U.S., our government keeps telling us that mass illegal migration is due to factors beyond its control; that the border is secure; that, OK, it’s not secure, but it’s congressional Republicans’ fault; that Biden can’t secure the border without new laws and powers; that Democrats have proposed the toughest border bill ever; and that illegal immigration doesn’t lead to more crime or cost money. The public isn’t buying it. Americans see young thugs roaming their cities after having been released by the Biden administration into the United States at the border on the pretense that they are seeking asylum. They read about the Venezuelan drug addict thief who bites police officers. They see members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang robbing New Yorkers at will. They also learn of terrorists being released without proper identification—much less a threat assessment—into our country by the hundreds. Like Americans, voters in Europe not only want immigration laws enforced, they want legal immigrants, and asylees, to learn and conform to the norms of their hosts. In a word: “assimilation.” Without this powerful, cohesive force, there would be no United States. The sight of thousands of protesters in U.S. and European cities openly expressing allegiance to other countries, advocating a Palestinian state at the cost of eliminating Israel, or supporting terrorist violence by Hamas, should be evidence that assimilation is desperately needed. It may also—to the consternation of the media class—have convinced 62% of Americans that the masses here illegally should be deported in accordance with the law, according to a recent CBS News poll. This X thread from the United Kingdom chills the blood: London — a violent mob of Arabs led by Mohammed Hijab was walking the streets and screaming about hunting Jews and spilling Jewish bl00d — and the UK police, who have been known to arrest people for “hate crimes” for opinions alone, did nothing.pic.twitter.com/Jc86JzkOqD— Marina Medvin ?? (@MarinaMedvin) June 10, 2024 The leader of the demonstrators is, judging by his accent, either a British national or long-term resident. Still, when he speaks of “our people,” he means Palestinians. When he says, “We believe life begins at death … we love death,” he is not expressing European values—of the Left or the Right. Later in the thread, we see what reminds us of the “pogroms” in 19th century Eastern Europe of hate-fueled mob violence against Jews and their property. In Canada, the U.S., and much of Europe, police seem unwilling to take on violent and threatening conduct, either because they are outnumbered, or because they or the politicians who command them fear being accused of “Islamophobia.” Yet they still have time to arrest people for praying in their own heads, scuffing “pride” symbols on streets and crosswalks, or committing supposed “non-crime hate incidents,” which include verbal or online abuse that is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice. The reaction of the European establishment to this week’s EU parliamentary elections mirrors the panic on the American Left about Republicans winning an election now and again. A group of House Democrats is reported to be ginning up a war room to oppose their latest bugaboo, The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. That effort—the joint work of over 100 conservative organizations—is open to all to read. It is a transparent, coherent collection of policies for the next conservative presidential administration that conservatives, insofar as they can agree on anything, mostly concur would be in the national interest. One of these allegedly “harsh” proposals, according to Roll Call, is that “[i]llegal immigration should be ended, not mitigated; the border sealed.” In other words, the law should be enforced. Radical! In democracies, people who win elections get to change policy—that’s why voters elected them. Making Project 2025 a bugbear for fearmongering is akin to what European leftists do to suppress right-wing challengers. They smear conservatives like Nigel Farage in the media, block them from having bank accounts, and even assault them as they campaign. Farage, the engineer of Brexit, has come back to the political scene to challenge the unpopular ruling Conservative Party, which promised and failed to address the illegal immigration crisis. His brand-new Reform Party has already come ahead of the Conservatives in a recent poll, with national elections less than a month away. Condescending political elites keep telling their people that mass immigration, legal or not, is good for them, and that they should ignore the downsides. As the EU parliamentary elections showed, this time, it’s not working. The BorderLine is a weekly Daily Signal feature examining everything from the unprecedented illegal immigration crisis at the border to immigration’s impact on cities and states throughout the land. We will also shed light on other critical border-related issues like human trafficking, drug smuggling, terrorism, and more. Read Other BorderLine Columns: Let’s Talk Some More About America’s Supposed ‘Rule of Law’ Videos Uncover Illegal Immigration Realities the Media Tries to Hide Unprecedented Surge in Chinese Illegal Immigration Raises Security Concerns Reason No. 3 the Left Wants Open Borders—Extortion for Amnesty The Ways the Left Exploits Illegal Immigration for Electoral Gain The post Conservatives Gain Ground in EU Elections as Public Rejects Open Borders: The BorderLine appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The use of Clearview’s facial recognition tech by US law enforcement is controversial in and of itself, and it turns out some police officers can use it “for personal purposes.” One such case happened in Evansville, Indiana, where an officer had to resign after an audit showed the tech was “misused” to carry out searches that had nothing to do with his cases. Clearview AI, which has been hit with fines and much criticism – only to see its business go stronger than ever, is almost casually described in legacy media reports as “secretive.” But that sits badly in juxtaposition of another description of the company, as peddling to law enforcement (and the Department of Homeland Security in the US) some of the most sophisticated facial recognition and search technology in existence. However, the Indiana case is not about Clearview itself – the only reason the officer, Michael Dockery, and his activities got exposed is because of a “routine audit,” as reports put it. And the audit was necessary to get Clearview’s license renewed by the police department. In other words, the focus is not on the company and what it does (and how much of what and how it does, citizens are allowed to know) but on there being audits, and those ending up in smoking out some cops who performed “improper searches.” It’s almost a way to assure people Clearview’s tech is okay and subject to proper checks. But that remains hotly contested by privacy and rights groups, who point out that, to the surveillance industry, Clearview is the type of juggernaut Google is on the internet. And the two industries meet here (coincidentally?) because face searches on the internet are what got the policeman in trouble. The narrative is that all is well with using Clearview – there are rules, one is to enter a case number before doing a dystopian-style search. “Dockery exploited this system by using legitimate case numbers to conduct unauthorized searches (…) Some of these individuals had asked Dockery to run their photos, while others were unaware,” said a report. But – why is any of this “dystopian”? This is why. Last March, Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That told the BBC that the company had to date run nearly one million searches for US law enforcement matching them to a database of 30 billion images. “These images have been scraped from people’s social media accounts without their permission,” a report said at the time. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Indiana Cop Used Facial Recognition Scans To Preform Non-Work-Related Searches appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. YouTube (Google) competitor Rumble has published a video of former Google VP of Search Products Marissa Mayer, showing her addressing recruits and breaking down the very essence of how Google “arranges” results on its search page. According to what Mayer is heard saying in the video shared by Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski, it’s simple: Google products are always shown on top. That’s regardless of popularity, metrics, or other criteria – it’s based solely on Google’s decision to “make it so.” Display content from Twitter Click here to display content from Twitter. Learn more in Twitter’s privacy policy. Always display content from Twitter Open "content" directly And this is a documented statement of fact that Rumble is hoping will help its legal case against Google, where it is accusing the giant of self-preferencing antitrust violations. Mayer, the former Google exec, is heard talking about how the establishment of Google Finance changed the way the stock quotes were displayed (she even mentioned that her previous employer, Yahoo, had previously appeared on top). And so before there was Google Finance, Mayer continued, “We were actually ordering the links based on various published metrics like Comscore and media metrics.” But then, instead of continuing with the practice of actually having the top five finance sites appear thanks to their popularity – the Google Finance platform resulted in the giant “putting the Google link first.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/mayer-google-rumble-lawsuit.mp4 It’s only fair, she went on. To whom, though? To the user, the search market, the competition, the law – or only to Google itself, as an isolated behemoth? It will be very interesting to see how the US courts view this practice. Not least because in the same video, Mayer is heard confirming that it didn’t stop with Google Finance. “So when we rolled out Google Finance, we did put the Google link first. But for Google Maps, again, it’s the first link, and so on and so forth. And after that, it’s ranked usually by popularity,” she is heard saying. The air of “the unbearable lightness of breaking antitrust law” – namely, Mayer is seen laughing while explaining all this to her audience – is something Rumble must be hoping to capitalize on, on top of the actual statements made. And the place to capitalize is the court – Rumble is suing Google as an unfair competitor, a giant dominating the market and from that position, preferencing its own products, against antitrust rules. The lawsuit that accuses Google of abuse of its monopolistic position in the market was launched in January 2021, alleging that Google (YouTube) was rigging its algorithm against competition. Rumble CEO Pavlovski is now promising the Mayer video will be “exhibit 1 in our self-preferencing antitrust lawsuit against Google.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Rumble Finds Video of Google Exec Admitting to Search Engine Bias appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Sign Up To Keep Reading This post is for Reclaim The Net supporters. Gain access to the entire archive of features and supporters-only content. Help protect free speech, freedom from surveillance, and digital civil liberties. Join Already a supporter? Login here If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post The Hidden Threat to Your Privacy: Unmasking the Third-Party Doctrine appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Laboured Breathing: What You Get When Farage's Grinning Mug Appears in Your Rear-View Mirror

UFC Hall of Fame member Donald Cerrone caused some online hysterics after allegedly posting a video talking about Russian Muslim fighters.Cerrone, nicknamed "Cowboy," allegedly posted a video discussing how he enjoyed watching fellow UFC alumnus Tim Kennedy beat on fighters who are from Dagestan, Russia. Fighters from the region are known to be particularly dominant in wrestling, with many success stories in mixed martial arts and the UFC.Particularly, fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov or Islam Makhachev are praised. Nurmagomedov retired with an undefeated record and is seen as one of the best fighters of all time. Makhachev is currently the UFC 155-pound champion at the time of this writing.'I hate them, but there's nothing I can do. I'm 155 pounds.'In a video clip that was uploaded to X by outlet MMA Mania, Cowboy explained how he would revel in watching Kennedy "annihilate" fighters from that region while in his former gym, Jackson Wink MMA Academy."My favorite thing about Tim Kennedy is he's as American as apple pie. So we're at Jackson's, and if any of the Russian Muslim fighters would come in, old Timmy would take it upon himself to just take down, smother, and absolutely destroy these dudes," Cerrone said.Cerrone continued, stating that due to his size, he wasn't able to throw around the Russians the same way Kennedy could."I'd be sitting there going, 'Get them, Tim.' He would annihilate them, and I'd love it. He would smile and laugh and rub their face in the mat. He'd do malicious s***. I’d be like, 'F*** yeah, Tim, that's what I'm talking about.' He'd come back and be like, 'I hate them.' I'd say, 'Me too. I hate them, but there's nothing I can do. I'm 155 pounds. That dude is 200 pounds, and you've just destroyed him.'"Dagestan's best fighters are typically of the lower weight classes, especially Cerrone's, and this is likely the reason the fighter could not do his own bidding. Cerrone is a legendary fighter but was never able to win a title, finishing with a 36-17 record.The original video of Cerrone's remarks was apparently uploaded to his YouTube channel but was seemingly deleted over the controversy. The exact reason is unknown. Neither Cerrone nor Kennedy have released statements on the matter. Cerrone has not used his X page since 2022 and has not addressed the remarks on his Instagram account (where he is active) either.Cerrone has had a successful post-fighting acting career, appearing in many movies, including the Daily Wire's "Terror on the Prairie" alongside former fighter Gina Carano.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Future generations are being thrust into a world that’s more digital than ever, and not many people have a solution. NYU professor Jonathan Haidt is one of the few people who, as Dave Rubin says, have a solution for “helping young people deal with this digital madness.” “One: No smartphone before 14. You can give them a flip phone,” Haidt says. “You do not give a child the internet in their pocket where strangers can reach them and they can watch beheading videos. You don’t give that to a child to have with them all the time.” “Number two: No social media until 16. The kids say this themselves. 18-year-olds say this; they wish that this didn’t exist, but they’re stuck. They’re trapped on it. So, how about we just delay it till 16,” he explains. “Just don’t let children go through puberty on social media,” he continues, noting that it’s a “really vulnerable time.” His third rule is placed in the hands of the educational system. “Phone-free schools,” he says. “We went to school before the internet. Imagine that the school had a new rule: You can bring in your television from home, you can bring in your walkie talkies, you can bring in your record player, put it all on your desk and we’ll give you an outlet, and you can do that during class while the teacher’s talking.” “This is complete insanity, but that’s what we’ve done,” he explains. Haidt’s fourth rule is a critique of how insulated the lives of children have become in the past couple of decades. “Far more independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world, just like everyone had until the 1990s. There can’t be an adult guarding them all the time until they go to college,” he says. Rubin believes Haidt’s advice is extremely important. “We’ve put the most powerful technological tool in their pocket and said, ‘Have at it,’ and then, guess what?” Rubin asks. “A whole bunch of nefarious forces are filling up their brains with bad things.” Want more from Dave Rubin?To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The leading polling outfits all indicate that the majority of American adults believe in hell. The trouble with that determination is that there is a wide range of views on what exactly the word "hell" means. For existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, for instance, hell was apparently other people. As became clear in part one of "Understanding hell," the Jewish conception of hell, or Gehinnom, closely resembles the Roman Catholic conception of purgatory. Meanwhile, hell according to Catholics is an eternal place of torment effectively chosen over God and love by sinners. Blaze News has endeavored to further explore the particularities of various views on hell. In part two of "Understanding hell," a British Old Catholic priest, a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Toronto's Department for the Study of Religion, a Christian Universalist executive minister, and an Anglican bishop share their respective thoughts on and insights into the inferno. Rev. Fr. Calvin Robinson Rev. Fr. Robinson, formerly a deacon in the Free Church of England, was ordained a priest last year through the Nordic Catholic Church of the non-papal Old Catholic denomination and concluded his service in an Anglican parish in Harlesden, England, last month. Fr. Robinson has served as a radio presenter, a television presenter for GB News, and as a political adviser, and has worked ardently in various media to defend traditional values in and outside the church. Blaze News put questions to Fr. Robinson over the phone while he was visiting the Lone Star State. Eternally apart from God Fr. Robinson said that belief in the existence of hell is one of the "fundamental pillars of our faith." After all, "Christ came to earth as God incarnate to offer us eternal salvation from eternal damnation." While through His death and resurrection, Christ has gifted mankind salvation, some may nevertheless opt out. This comes down to a choice: "We get to choose to live forever in Christ or to be damned forever without Him," said Fr. Robinson. 'It is up to us to accept it.' Hell is the place where those who freely willed themselves into damnation reside for eternity. Fr. Robinson indicated that we have but our short time on earth to make that choice of infinite consequence, telling Blaze News that "our lives here are so important because we have the opportunity to repent of our sins, to be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit, and to have faith in Christ — to accept the offer of eternal salvation that He gives us. It is up to us to accept it." When pressed on whether human beings' eternal fates are sealed upon death, Fr. Robinson indicated, "That's what we don't know." "We don't know what happens the instant we die," said Robinson. "We don't know when judgment takes place, which is why we pray for the souls of the faithful departed. It's why we pray that if they are in a purification process, if they are in some kind of limbo or purgatory, we pray that their journey is increased and they gain entry into heaven. That much is a little bit more vague." Opposites in the hereafter Fr. Robinson indicated that hell is the opposite of the Beatific Vision, which is the immediate knowledge of God. 'Hell is the absence of God.' "If heaven is the Beatific Vision — if heaven is communion with God in ... praise and worship of Him, in an intimate relationship with Him — then hell is the opposite," said Robinson. "Hell is the absence of God. And fear and damnation is the opposite of love and hope." While opposites in at least this respect, heaven and hell share this much in common: They are both places, said Fr. Robinson. "[Hell is] absolutely a place. I mean, the words 'physical' or 'spiritual' lose relevance when we're talking about the afterlife," Fr. Robinson told Blaze News. "It's not a place as in like Texas versus Canada. It's not an earthly place. But it is a place that, well — Christ descended into hell to free souls before His resurrection." Seizing upon Fr. Robinson's allusion to Christ's harrowing of hell, Blaze News revisited the question of whether the damned might have a shot, ultimately, at redemption. Fr. Robinson clarified that Christ had not rescued the damned from hell after the crucifixion, but rather lost souls who previously had nowhere else to go. "The word the Bible uses there for hell is 'hades,' right, rather than Gehenna. So, it seems as though that was a place of lost souls rather than damned souls because there was no entry into heaven after the fall — not in the way we have it now," said Robinson. "So basically, when Christ descended into hell, what He was doing was opening the gates of heaven for the lost souls and for the rest of us who have faith in Him." In darkness, embodied Blaze News asked Fr. Robinson whether the residents of hell would be conferred their bodies after the resurrection along with the saved in heaven. "I don't think I've ever been asked that before," said Fr. Robinson, laughing. Resuming a serious tone, the priest noted that "upon the resurrection, we know that Christ comes from heaven on a cloud and meets us, essentially, halfway, and we are resurrected for our glorified bodies and join Him. ... I think if we refer to Daniel, everyone gets a resurrected body. So, whether it's saved or not saved, everyone gets a resurrected body." Guaranteed ticket to hell Fr. Robinson indicated that all sin separates humans from God, but mortal sin poses the greatest threat to their salvation. Fortunately, "We have the sacraments so we can be realigned with the graces of God." 'We also know that the gravest sin is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as well, so we should always be wary of that.' "So, for example, if we have mortal sin on our soul, then we should repent of our sins to be reassured of our salvation because we can lose our salvation," said Robinson. While any mortal sin could drag a person down, the priest cautioned against one sin in particular. "We also know that the gravest sin is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as well, so we should always be wary of that," said Robinson. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is regarded by some Christian theologians as an unpardonable sin, citing various gospel passages, including Matthew 12:30-32 where Christ says: Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. This warning is repeated in Luke 12:8-10 and Mark 3:28-30, and echoed elsewhere in the New Testament. Augustine of Hippo said that it is "being unrepentant that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven in this age, nor in the age to come." Aquinas wrote that "in one way, to sin against the Holy Ghost is to sin through certain malice," specifically by "contemptuously rejecting the things whereby a man is withdrawn from sin." He noted further that it is unpardonable "by reason of its nature, in so far as it removes those things which are a means towards the pardon of sins." "We should always avoid sin," reiterated Fr. Robinson, "but when we do sin, we should repent of our sins and realign ourselves with Christ." When pressed on whether non-Christians — those who ostensibly never formally aligned with Christ — were hell-bound, Fr. Robinson responded, "It used to be said that there is no salvation outside of the church. However, we know that Jesus Christ died for all of us. So those who are ignorant of the faith, those who never had access to the faith — we can only hope and assume that God finds a way to reveal Himself to them." While holding out hope for nonbelievers, Robinson added, "But we know the surest way to salvation is through the church, is through faith in Jesus Christ."A chastening belief Fr. Robinson indicated that fear of hell should help orient us toward heaven and God; that we should fear what separates us from God and the judgment that may make definitive that separation. "We're going to stand there before Jesus Christ one day and atone for our sins. We're going to hope that we've repented of our sins enough and had faith in Him enough to be accepted into heaven," said Robinson. "We should be afraid of the alternative." 'Having fear of hell and having love of heaven go hand in hand.' Fr. Robinson noted further that "we should be afraid of living out our lives focused towards hell because it's not somewhere we want to be. We want to be in heaven. Having fear of hell and having love of heaven go hand in hand. It's difficult to have one without the other." A waning belief in hell may correspond with an increase in immorality because it takes consequence off the table, suggested Fr. Robinson. "If there is no hell, you can do what you like — it doesn't matter. We center our lives on Christ and we do things out of love, of course, but we also have to do things out of fear of hell because if we don't, then we are passive. Then we have dead faith," said the priest. Rev. Dr. Lance Haverkamp Rev. Dr. Lance Haverkamp, executive minister of the Christian Universalist Association, studied at Denver Seminary and at the Wagner Leadership Institute, earning a master's degree and a doctorate in practical ministry. The Christian Universalist Association is a "loose association of CU congregations, who provides needed coordination for things like military and hospital chaplaincy, globally recognized ordination." Rev. Dr. Haverkamp shared some Christian Universalist insights into hell and salvation with Blaze News via email. All are saved In the first complete American translation of Italian poet Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy," Canto III opens with a description of the vestibule of hell: Through me the way is to the city dolent; Through me the way is to eternal dole; Through me the way among the people lost. ... Before me there were no created things, Only eterne, and I eternal last. "All hope abandon, ye who enter in!" Those Christian Universalists who believe that this antechamber sees regular traffic apparently believe there is ample cause for hope. Rev. Dr. Haverkamp told Blaze News that Christian Universalists generally believe that "through the saving work of Jesus Christ, all people will ultimately be reconciled to God." Accordingly, hell, should it exist, is not a place of eternal torment but rather a place for correction, not wholly unlike Gehinnom as described by Rabbi Aron Moss. Rev. Dr. Haverkamp noted that while Christian Universalists largely see eye-to-eye on the big picture, there is "diversity of thought" on the specifics. He identified three main branches of Christian Universalist thought: "Patristic Universalists, following the teachings of many early church fathers, believe that those who reject God in this life will undergo temporary correction in the afterlife, but will eventually repent and be saved. They see this correction as real, but not eternal. This was the majority belief, for the first 500 years of the early church." "Liberal Christian Universalists tend to downplay the idea of any correction. Many believe all are saved immediately upon death, without any corrective period. Opinions vary on whether correction is literal or metaphorical. They tend to take Christ's statement that 'It is finished' literally." "Charismatic Universalists, coming from Pentecostal backgrounds, retain a more fundamentalist view of a correction, and of the end times. However, they still see correction as temporary, and believe all will ultimately be restored through the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ." This belief — in the ultimate reconciliation of all — is based on a scriptural understanding "of God's boundless love, Christ's victory over sin and death, and God's desire for all to be saved," said Rev. Dr. Haverkamp. While Haverkamp alluded to other scriptural passages, he specifically referenced 1 Timothy 2:4, 1 Corinthians 15:22, and John 3:17 as verses bolstering the belief in universal salvation. The first passage notes that "God our Savior ... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." The chapter goes on to note that Jesus "gave Himself as a ransom for all people." The second passage, in 1 Corinthians, notes that "for as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." The third passage states, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." Blaze News staff writer Christopher Enloe highlighted several additional verses that hint at the salvation of all, including Romans 5:18-21, which states: Just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rev. Dr. Haverkamp said, "We understand biblical references to a correction for unbelievers as real warnings, but see them in light of larger themes of redemption and reconciliation." Bishop Stephen Andrews The Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews is the principal of Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. The American-born Anglican served as the bishop of the Diocese of Algoma from 2009 to 2016. A graduate of Cambridge University and Wycliffe College, Andrews has explored the Jewish biblical interpretation of the Second Temple period and taught courses on the prophets of Israel, the Pauline epistles, the development of Christian thought, St. Mark's Gospel, and Christian worship. He is also a father of two, a grandfather, and a woodworker. Bishop Andrews responded to Blaze News' questions via email. The gray town once visited by Christ Bishop Andrews indicated that there is "no consistent doctrine of hell in Anglicanism, but to the extent that we affirm the Creeds." The Anglican Church, which does not define its doctrine in a single confession, affirms in multiple creeds and in the church's 39 Articles of Religion that Christ descended into hell. The hell referenced in Article III in reference to the divine descent is "widely interpreted as 'the place of departed spirits,'" said Bishop Andrews. When asked whether hell could be conceived of as a place, Andrews replied, "Of course it is 'conceived of' as a place because of the imagery the Bible uses to describe it. But many understand these images metaphorically, and hold that hell is better thought of as a state of being." The bishop added that C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" is "quite evocative in this way." Lewis' hell is a gray town devoid of joy and subject to constant rain. While only a bus-stop away from the periphery of heaven, the souls inhabiting the place are more often than not self-made captives to pride, vice, and/or delusion. 'There will be a new heaven and new earth. But these are also understood as realms of the spiritual.' "Once again, because of the images Scripture uses, earth, heaven and hell are conceived of as spatial," said Bishop Andrews. "Heaven and earth are also described in temporal language, so there will be a new heaven and new earth. But these are also understood as realms of the spiritual. Lewis's 'gray town' is a literary image that invite[s] us to think of the spiritual (and psychological) aspects [of] eternity." The traditional view is that the occupants of the heavenly and hellish spaces both "inhabit resurrected bodies (Matthew 25), though theologians since the time of Augustine have struggled to understand this," said Bishop Andrews. The embodied in the latter camp may not be long for existence, according to some Anglicans. Despite the variability in Anglican beliefs on hell, Bishop Andrews indicated that "many do believe it is eternal, though many would adopt a conditionalist or annihilationist reading of the biblical text." According to conditionalism, the damned, having rejected the gift of immortality conditional upon belief in Jesus Christ, will ultimately be erased from existence rather than suffering eternally in hell. Salvation beyond the grave When asked about the apparent insinuation in the Rainer fragment of the apocryphal Apocalypse of Peter that the damned could ultimately be saved, Bishop Andrews clarified that "there is a section in this fragment where those who are saved see the torment of the damned and pray for their salvation. There is no biblical warrant for this, though the practice of praying for the dead comes from the earliest centuries of the Christian church." "In this case, the teaching of the Catholic Church is that those being prayed for exist in purgatory (i.e., the fate of the damned is unalterable)," said Bishop Andrews. The Anglican Church, meanwhile, discounts the existence of purgatory, stating in Article XXII, "The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God." Bishop Andrews noted, however, that those Anglicans "who pray for the dead may have some vague idea of an intermediary state the dead inhabit for a time." Such prayers would apparently be wasted on those who deliberately reject God. Bishop Andrews indicated such rebels "will not be forced to live with God for eternity." Judaic roots and divine justice While Jesus' description of hell was taken from the Hebrew Bible, Bishop Andrews indicated that the concept metamorphized in Hellenistic cosmology, where Sheol and Gehenna became Hades and hell. "In the Hellenistic period, hell becomes more straightforwardly understood as a place associated with punishment," said the bishop. 'A balance of perspective is required.' The promise of hell as punishment, as an expression of divine justice, can be beneficial in this mortal realm. Bishop Andrews said that this understanding of hell "can guide moral behavior and be the basis of social cohesion." However, the "prospect of heaven can also be a source of hope for those who live in discouragement and despair," said the bishop. "But a balance of perspective is required, lest someone think that salvation is a matter of living a virtuous life." Dr. Kenneth Green Dr. Kenneth Green is a professor at the University of Toronto's Department for the Study of Religion where he specializes in Jewish studies and the philosophy of religion. Green has written extensively on the thought of Leo Strauss, whom he figures for one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. Green, who earned his doctorate in Jewish philosophy at Brandeis University, is presently working on a book tentatively titled, "What Moses Saw: Maimonidean Meditations, or On the Torah as a Speculative Teaching." His latest book, "The Philosophy of Emil Fackenheim: From Revelation to the Holocaust," was published in 2020 by Cambridge University Press. Green responded to Blaze News' questions via email. Hell, depending on who you ask Dr. Green indicated that "Jewish views on hell are a complicated matter" and that there is no "simple, single view of hell in Judaism." While there is certainly a concept of hell in Judaism, some faith groups give it more consideration than others. The hell of the Jews, Gehinnom, derives its name from a valley surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem. Dr. Green noted that this particular valley, the Vale of Hinnom, was referred to in the Book of Jeremiah "as the location in which Jews who had succumbed to idolatry sacrificed their children (Jeremiah 7:31 and 19:2-6), which the prophet cursed as a horrifying deed." While sharing the valley's name, Gehinnom is a spiritual locale, albeit possessing a "quasi-physical aspect," said Dr. Green. "It is not precisely clear just how it stands 'geographically' in relation to heaven and earth, but it is clearly somehow 'beneath' the world, following the word 'Sheol' in the Book of Numbers, Job, and Samuel," continued Dr. Green. "It is unclear what happens in it, whether it is reward and punishment or only eternal sleep." 'Hitler and his Nazis would qualify for such a sentence.' When pressed about Gehinnom's possible eternal nature, Dr. Green noted that "Hell is 'eternal' — for some. A theological debate has erupted at several points in Jewish history about whether it is 'eternal,' or only seemingly so, i.e., until the Messiah arrives = the redemption occurs, which will be a historical event." Dr. Green indicated that some Jews believe that there are some sins "so great as to preclude a soul's ascent to heaven ever, hence guaranteeing one's permanent sentence of punishment in hell for eternity." "In our era, Hitler and his Nazis would qualify for such a sentence, and probably some terrorists also," added Dr. Green. Rabbi Moss, who spoke to Blaze News in Part One, and Rabbi Shana Goldstein Mackler, whose insights are featured in Part Three, have both expressed the alternative belief that wicked persons who have evidenced an unwavering commitment to evil may instead be annihilated for good. Hell, under development Dr. Green noted that the Jewish concept of hell has changed periodically over the ages. "For the ancients, it was not as defined clearly or in detail," said Green. "Then it became defined clearly and in detail in the medieval era." Now, the professor indicated it is "much vaguer" for most Jews, with some moderns even discounting the need for such a concept. While the Christian concept of hell is rooted in the Jewish tradition, Dr. Green noted it still plays a much bigger role, "or at least in orthodox Christian belief." Dr. Green noted that extra to having greater significance in some forms of Christianity, "It's also different in being defined in greater detail and pictured in Christian tradition almost from the beginning." Another distinction is that whereas some Christians attest that entry to heaven is conditional on faith in Christ, "Heaven isn't believed to be reserved only for Jews," said Dr. Green. "The most famous and authoritative statement on this point is that any Gentile who observes the basic religious laws (no idolatry allowed) and the basic moral laws ('the seven commandments of Noah') qualify for the reward of eternal life," added the professor. The Noahide Laws prohibit the worship of idols, the cursing of God, the commission of murder, the commission of adultery or sexual immorality, stealing, and the consumption of flesh torn from a living animal. The seventh law requires the establishment of courts of justice. Editor's note: This article originally stated that Old Catholics were of the high church Lutheran partrimony. It has been updated to reflect that they are non-papal Catholics. In Part I, Archbishop Emeritus Cardinal Thomas Collins details the Roman Catholic views on hell and mortal sin, and Rabbi Aron Moss discusses the "kindness" of hell and the nature of Gehinnom. In Part III, Rabbi Shana Goldstein Mackler provides some Reformed Jewish thoughts on the prospect of hell and the afterlife, and American conservative talk radio host and writer Erick Erickson goes deep on the Presbyterian Church in America's views on perdition. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Joe Biden rebuked a reporter on Thursday for not playing "by the rules."Earlier in the day, Biden announced a 10-year bilateral security agreement with Ukraine to help the country "defend itself now and to deter future aggression." The agreement also reaffirmed the Biden administration's stance that "Ukraine’s future is in NATO," a position that experts believe is a red line for Moscow. In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday the war could end if Ukraine renounces plans to join NATO.'I'm here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. You're asking another subject.'At a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the new U.S.-Ukrainian agreement, Biden got upset when a reporter asked an off-topic question.After both presidents spoke, Biden called on Bloomberg reporter Josh Wingrove to ask a question. It appeared that staffers had preselected which reporters would be allowed to ask a question.But instead of asking Biden about the U.S.-Ukrainian agreement, Wingrove queried Biden about the Israel-Hamas war."I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit," Biden snapped. "I'm here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. You're asking another subject. I'll be happy to answer in detail later, but the bottom line is that we made an agreement," Biden chided. — (@) Wingrove was actually the second — and final — American reporter on whom Biden called. The first, Colleen Long from the Associated Press, didn't earn a scolding despite asking Biden about his son, Hunter.Still, Biden's assertion that Wingrove did not adhere to the "rules" raised eyebrows and questions about the media's independence.The incident forced NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, to release a statement clarifying what happened."The White House Correspondents’ Association believes it is in the public interest to make clear that at a presidential press conference, at home or abroad, there are no preconditions regarding question topics," O'Donnell said."While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to professional journalists to decide what to ask," she added. "Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently."Biden has given few press conferences as president, and when he does speak with the press, the White House normally preselects the reporters who get to ask a question.Last April, a photographer snapped a picture of one of Biden's media "cheat sheets" that appeared to show he had advance knowledge of a reporter's question. The White House and the media outlet in question later denied that Biden had advance knowledge of the question.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!