It was an emotional night for the country artists who participated in the 2019 CMT Artists of the Year awards ceremony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

The night was especially sorrowful for Kane Brown, who is grieving the death of his band’s drummer, 27-year-old Kenny Dixon, who died in a car crash just days before the awards ceremony.

Brown could not hold back the tears as he stood on stage to accept his CMT Artist of the Year award, “Today” reported.

“I want to dedicate this to my drummer Kenny,” Brown said in an emotional voice. “People didn’t think we would make it.”

“He was with me the whole time. He was so supportive of me,” the country star continued. “I love you, man. I miss you. The band misses you.”

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Brown’s emotional speech weighed heavily on the hearts of those in the tight-knit country music community. When musician Thomas Rhett took the stage to accept his award, he took the opportunity to say a prayer for everyone who was missing Dixon.

“I just want to lift up Kane and his family,” Rhett said from the podium. “And I want to lift up his drummer and their family. I don’t know if this is very conventional, but can I just pray, really fast? Is it OK with everybody?”

Head bowed, Rhett began an impromptu prayer on live television.

“Father God, we love you so much,” Rhett began. “Loss is something that we can’t comprehend and so right now I pray that you would be with Kane and his family and his drummer Kenny and his family and bring them peace that only You know how to bring somebody.

“Thank you for this night. God bless country music. We love you Jesus, and in your name, we pray, Amen,” Rhett concluded.

The audience was moved by Rhett’s prayer, including country music legend Reba McEntire.

McEntire was present to accept the Artist of a Lifetime award, and acknowledged Rhett’s courageous prayer, saying the act took “guts.”

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McEntire is no stranger to the pain of losing a band member. She lost eight members of her band in an airplane crash in 1991, able to empathize with her colleague’s deep sorrow over Dixon’s death.

McEntire felt the prayer was entirely appropriate, saying, “That’s what we need in this world, a little more God.”

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Carl and Angel Larsen live in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  They are an openly Christian couple who operate Telescope Media Group, a video production company. Their website proclaims:  “Telescope Media Group exists to glorify God through top-quality media production. As much as it depends on us, we aim to make God look more like He really is through our lives, business, and actions. We want to magnify Christ like a telescope.”

Carl and Angel Larsen

They want to expand into making wedding videos and movies.  In keeping with their mission statement, they want to glorify God by focusing only on God pleasing marriages.  Since God defines homosexual acts as sinful in the Bible, these relationships cannot be God pleasing.  The Larsens should have the freedom to choose their clients in a way that fulfills their business plan.  (Note: The Larsens are making no attempts to get homosexual relationships banned, or force their religious views on others.)

Minnesota disagrees and is using the power of the state to persecute the Larsens and other Christians.

Minnesota’s Democrat Attorney General, Keith Ellison, has interpreted the state’s Human Rights Act to mandate that the Larsens must also make films celebrating homosexual same-sex marriages.  Penalties  include payment of a civil penalty to the state; triple compensatory damages; punitive damages of up to $25,000; a criminal penalty of up to $1,000; and even up to 90 days in jail. No exemptions for religious freedom.

The Larsens sued Minnesota in federal court for this violation of their constitutional rights.  Minnesota eagerly accepted the legal challenge.

Court records reveal the zeal Minnesota has used to force homosexual weddings on the citizenry.  Even setting up sting operations against Christians. “It has even employed “testers” to target noncompliant businesses, and it has already pursued a successful enforcement action against a wedding vendor who refused to rent a venue for a same-sex wedding.” (The large Somali Muslim community has not been targeted by Ellison to date. Ellison is a Muslim.)

Minnesota won the first round.  Minneapolis U.S. District Judge John Tunheim (appointed by Clinton) ruled against the Larsens.

The Larsens won round two.  On appeal, a three judge panel on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Larsens.  Judges David Stras (Trump appointee) and Bobby E. Shepherd (W. Bush appointee) ruled for the Larsens;  Judge Jane Kelly (Obama appointee) ruled against the Larsens

Rather than accept this loss, or appealing to the Supreme Court, AG Kieth Ellison has filed a new case in federal court against the Larsens.  This begins to look like lawfare, with Ellison using the massive resources of a state government to force a small business to either surrender or be bankrupted with legal costs.  Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Larsens to help reduce the massive legal costs.

Notice that every Democrat-appointed judge ruled to create a constitutional compulsion to force video artists to create content they do not believe in, while every Republican appointed judge ruled in favor of religious freedom. (The Constitution is silent on sexual orientation),

The Larsens’ case offers insight with respect to the positions taken by the national political parties.

The current Minnesota government is hostile to religious freedom for Christians and freedom in general.

Numerous Republican-led states filed court briefs in support of the Larsens.  Numerous states with Democrat governments filed court briefs supporting Minnesota.

Did Minnesotans realize they were electing an attorney general who would spend tax dollars seeking out and targeting Christian businesses who did not want to participate in homosexual weddings?

If Minnesota’s government can force a Christian couple to participate in homosexual ceremonies against their will, can they force pastors to perform the homosexual weddings?  This is a grave danger to religious freedom.

Scot Wolf is the author of The Bible and Constitution Made America Great By Providing Freedom and Liberty to Citizens, available in hardcover at Amazon.com, or atwww.RestoretheFoundation.com, or as a Nook or Kindle eBook.

Carl and Angel Larsen live in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  They are an openly Christian couple who operate Telescope Media Group, a video production company. Their website proclaims:  “Telescope Media Group exists to glorify God through top-quality media production. As much as it depends on us, we aim to make God look more like He really is through our lives, business, and actions. We want to magnify Christ like a telescope.”

Carl and Angel Larsen

They want to expand into making wedding videos and movies.  In keeping with their mission statement, they want to glorify God by focusing only on God pleasing marriages.  Since God defines homosexual acts as sinful in the Bible, these relationships cannot be God pleasing.  The Larsens should have the freedom to choose their clients in a way that fulfills their business plan.  (Note: The Larsens are making no attempts to get homosexual relationships banned, or force their religious views on others.)

Minnesota disagrees and is using the power of the state to persecute the Larsens and other Christians.

Minnesota’s Democrat Attorney General, Keith Ellison, has interpreted the state’s Human Rights Act to mandate that the Larsens must also make films celebrating homosexual same-sex marriages.  Penalties  include payment of a civil penalty to the state; triple compensatory damages; punitive damages of up to $25,000; a criminal penalty of up to $1,000; and even up to 90 days in jail. No exemptions for religious freedom.

The Larsens sued Minnesota in federal court for this violation of their constitutional rights.  Minnesota eagerly accepted the legal challenge.

Court records reveal the zeal Minnesota has used to force homosexual weddings on the citizenry.  Even setting up sting operations against Christians. “It has even employed “testers” to target noncompliant businesses, and it has already pursued a successful enforcement action against a wedding vendor who refused to rent a venue for a same-sex wedding.” (The large Somali Muslim community has not been targeted by Ellison to date. Ellison is a Muslim.)

Minnesota won the first round.  Minneapolis U.S. District Judge John Tunheim (appointed by Clinton) ruled against the Larsens.

The Larsens won round two.  On appeal, a three judge panel on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Larsens.  Judges David Stras (Trump appointee) and Bobby E. Shepherd (W. Bush appointee) ruled for the Larsens;  Judge Jane Kelly (Obama appointee) ruled against the Larsens

Rather than accept this loss, or appealing to the Supreme Court, AG Kieth Ellison has filed a new case in federal court against the Larsens.  This begins to look like lawfare, with Ellison using the massive resources of a state government to force a small business to either surrender or be bankrupted with legal costs.  Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Larsens to help reduce the massive legal costs.

Notice that every Democrat-appointed judge ruled to create a constitutional compulsion to force video artists to create content they do not believe in, while every Republican appointed judge ruled in favor of religious freedom. (The Constitution is silent on sexual orientation),

The Larsens’ case offers insight with respect to the positions taken by the national political parties.

The current Minnesota government is hostile to religious freedom for Christians and freedom in general.

Numerous Republican-led states filed court briefs in support of the Larsens.  Numerous states with Democrat governments filed court briefs supporting Minnesota.

Did Minnesotans realize they were electing an attorney general who would spend tax dollars seeking out and targeting Christian businesses who did not want to participate in homosexual weddings?

If Minnesota’s government can force a Christian couple to participate in homosexual ceremonies against their will, can they force pastors to perform the homosexual weddings?  This is a grave danger to religious freedom.

Scot Wolf is the author of The Bible and Constitution Made America Great By Providing Freedom and Liberty to Citizens, available in hardcover at Amazon.com, or atwww.RestoretheFoundation.com, or as a Nook or Kindle eBook.

File photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images)

The left is becoming more unapologetically totalitarian every day. Every freedom-loving American should be alarmed.

From hounding conservatives out of restaurants to spitting on Trump supporters at rallies, from firing employees for politically incorrect statements to fining people for “misgendering” a person, the left is on a path toward absolutism.

Even some former and current leftists have recognized this intolerant trend and broken from their colleagues, lamenting their intolerance of opposing ideas and disturbing mission to suppress dissenting opinion.

Just the other day, three incidents typifying the left’s authoritarianism popped out at me as I was surveying the morning news.

The Federalist reported that venues in three North American cities — Toronto, Brooklyn and Portland — canceled screenings of a movie about Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson because of leftist criticism. Peterson exploded onto the scene in recent years with his no-nonsense, brilliant and clear-eyed critique of insane cultural trends, especially those concerning gender.

Peterson’s book “12 Rules for Life” is wildly popular, and there are countless viral videos featuring his encounters with various leftist interviewers, panelists and audience members who have tried and failed to entrap him on a number of issues, and been reduced — in every case — to blundering, ineffectual bullies. If you haven’t partaken of these videos, you owe it to yourself to witness one arrogant leftist after another being gobsmacked by the simple weapon of unadulterated logic. These videos are irresistibly contagious and imminently satisfying for those longing to see intellectually defenseless, virtue-signaling finger waggers brought to their knees through the medium of polite debate.

Peterson, you see, won’t kowtow to the leftists’ demand that we embrace the tenants of gender ideology, which teaches that gender is less about biology and more about personal identification. He refuses to support laws that criminalize one’s failure to use a person’s preferred pronouns, such as “they” instead of “she.”

Peterson has the temerity to say that men and women are biologically different, and that gender is not a fluid, human construct. That doesn’t sit well with the left, who not only insists that we accept its cockeyed ideas as normal but also advocates imposing them on us by force of law.

Can you get your mind around the irony of the left banning a movie about Peterson because he’s dangerous? Who is more dangerous: a person who peaceably expresses an opinion that happens to be supported by thousands of years of human experience and common sense, or those who try to ban his voice or even a movie about it? This is “1984”-level scary, and it’s getting worse by the hour.

On what possible grounds is the left arguing that Peterson’s views are dangerous? He doesn’t advocate violence; he isn’t a rabble-rouser or revolutionary. He simply states his opinion instead of genuflecting to the despotic left.

But they claim that if Peterson’s views are openly expressed, he might convince other people that he’s right, and that could lead to the proliferation of conservative thought. Peterson’s “conservative perspectives on feminism and gender,” according to an opinion piece in The New York Times, “are very popular among young men and often are a path to more extreme content and ideologies.” Think about this. Conservative speech is dangerous because it is a slippery slope to the adoption of conservative ideas? This must be satire. Do these clueless cranks know how ridiculous they sound?

Again, who is more extreme and dangerous: Jordan Peterson, who advocates the silencing of no one and expresses mainstream opinions, or leftists, who are actively trying to censor Peterson?

Please don’t make the reckless mistake of dismissing this crusade against Peterson as exceptional. This is the left’s pattern, and it is becoming more aggressive all the time.

The second and third incidents I came across are further proof that the left is increasingly Stalinist. In the most recent Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Kamala Harris pushed for the suspension of President Trump’s Twitter, speciously alleging that he is trying to obstruct justice and intimidate and threaten witnesses. You see, the left always has some urgent rationale to smother conservative speech — whether it’s to prevent the incitement of violence or obstruction of justice. But it just wants to shut us up.

Those who would silence the other side are the very definition of dangerous. Don’t take Harris’ musings lightly, even if she is mostly posturing to gin up more support from the Trump-hating Democratic base. It is instructive that efforts to muzzle speech almost always come from the left, not the right, because the left is insecure about the popularity of its kooky ideas.

The third incident involved demagogue and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who said in a CNN forum on LGBT issues that churches and religious organizations should lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage. If I have to explain how outrageous this is, the country is in even greater danger than I imagined.

I found these examples in 15 minutes of reading this week. They are everywhere. America was founded on the idea of claiming and preserving our God-given liberties. The illiberal left, which believes our rights and freedoms come from government, is hell-bent on destroying our liberties and forcibly imposing its thoughts and ideas on all of us.

God save us.

(David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is “Jesus Is Risen: Paul and the Early Church.”)

Pres. Trump hugs son Barron (Screenshot)

Radical Democrats “want to indoctrinate our children,” President Donald trump warned a Dallas, Texas rally on Thursday.

By weaponizing the educational system, Democrats are teaching children “that America is a sinful, wicked nation,” Trump said:

“The radical Democrats want to destroy America as we know it. They want to indoctrinate our children – and teach them that America is a sinful, wicked nation. You see that happening all the time. I know it from personal experience.

“What they want to teach your kids: not good. They come home, ‘Mommy, Daddy, this is what I learned.’ And, you’re going, ‘No, no, don’t tell me. Let’s get them into another school fast.’”

“The radical Democrats want to destroy America as we know it.” – @realDonaldTrump

We won’t let that happen! pic.twitter.com/6utRuxfBoR

— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) October 18, 2019

Democrats are also trying to “censor, muzzle and shut down conservative voices” and drive religious Americans into hiding – and “They know better,” Trump said:

“They want to disarm law-abiding citizens; they want to take your guns away. And, they want to install far-left judges to shred our Constitution – it’s not happening.

“They want to tear down symbols of faith and drive Christians and religious believers from the public square. They want to silence your voices on social media and they want the government to censor, muzzle and shut down conservative voices. You know that.

“If they didn’t hate our country, they wouldn’t be doing this to our country. They wouldn’t be doing it – because they know better.”