The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 may have some earmarks unpopular with fiscal conservatives, but the new law contains a victory for religious liberty in the United States.

One provision of the budget ends discrimination against churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, and other houses of worship by banning them from receiving federal aid after a natural disaster through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) —  a policy put in place by the Barack Obama administration.

Banning religious institutions from receiving federal aid following a flood, hurricane, or other natural disaster also hampers such institutions from their mission of helping disaster victims generally.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in August, First Liberty Institute, a legal group working to preserve religious liberty, represented Trinity Church, Church on the Rock Katy and Grace Community Church (“Clients”) in the Houston area, which were suffering from the devastating impact of the hurricane. First Liberty wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to rescind the policy.

The letter said, in part:

These entities withstood displacement, human suffering, and millions of dollars in flood damage. And, like the neighborhoods and communities they serve, they need immediate aid and relief. However, under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide (“PA Policy Guide”), churches and other religious organizations, including our clients, are ineligible for disaster relief simply because they are churches. President Trump may be the only means by which churches and religious organizations in Texas and Florida obtain the disaster relief they so urgently need.

The PA Policy is not new, and has been re-issued under previous administrations, including two revisions under President Obama’s FEMA Assistant Administrator. But President Trump has publicly declared that churches and religious organizations should be entitled to disaster relief on equal terms as non-religious organizations. And with the stroke of a pen, the Trump Administration can make this a reality, providing much-needed disaster relief to hundreds of religious organizations—who themselves continue to provide relief to tens of thousands of affected citizens throughout Texas and Florida.

On behalf of our clients, First Liberty Institute requests the Trump administration immediately rescind the unconstitutional religious ban; specify that churches and religious nonprofit organizations, including our Clients, are eligible to apply for and receive Public Assistance on the same terms as their non-religious neighbors.

In January, Trump announced his administration would end the religious ban and allow religious entities to apply for FEMA relief, consistent with federal law, according to First Liberty.

“Today’s announcement by the White House allows our clients to continue to be the bedrocks of their hurricane-ravaged communities,” Chelsey Youman, Counsel for First Liberty, said of the decision.

“Thanks to the Trump administration, thousands of houses of worship are again eligible for FEMA relief just like everyone else and can start the process of rebuilding,” Youman said.

And now, the 2018 budget act makes the new FEMA policy law.

“It’s a great victory for equal protection and treatment of churches as valuable institutions as well as providers of critical services to the community in times of need,” Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, said.

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One year ago, the Supreme Court of the British territory of Bermuda ruled to legalize same-sex marriages. Now, officials are rolling back that decision.

Bermuda’s Governor, John Rankin, signed the Domestic Partnership Act into law on Wednesday, The Washington Times reported. The act gives same-sex couples similar rights to traditional one man-one woman couples, but does not recognize same-sex relationships as “marriage.”

This is a historic move and unprecedented move.

“The act is intended to strike a fair balance between two currently irreconcilable groups in Bermuda, by restating that marriage must be between a male and a female while at the same time recognizing and protecting the rights of same-sex couples,” said Bermuda minister of home affairs, Walton Brown.

The act passed with wide margins in both Bermuda’s House and Senate.

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This act was in response to the whopping 69 percent of people living in Bermuda who oppose same-sex marriages.

Of course, liberal Britain opposed the measure. However, while they did oppose it, they didn’t intervene to block the legislation.

A spokesman for the British Prime Minister Theresa May said the bill, “has been democratically passed by the Parliament of Bermuda, and our relationship with the overseas territories is based on partnership and respect for their right to democratic self-government.”

However, he mentioned that May wasn’t too thrilled with the legislation, saying she was “seriously disappointed” in the bill.

But then again, this is the same lady who threw a fit when Trump posted anti-terrorism videos on his Twitter account.

Gay rights groups are saying this is a step in the wrong direction.

In a statement sent to NBC news, Ty Cobb, who is the director of Human Rights Campaign Global said that this legislation, “strips loving same-sex couples of the right to marry and jeopardizes Bermuda’s international reputation and economy.”

“Despite this deplorable action, the fight for marriage equality in Bermuda will continue until the day when every Bermudian is afforded the right to marry the person they love,” he continued.

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NBC reported that some think that this decision will hurt the tourism industry. Let’s be honest, though. It’s Bermuda. People are still going to go and enjoy the beauty of the island, despite what it says on same-sex marriage. In fact, many people will appreciate that this nation recognizes traditional marriage and refuses to redefine it.

So, good for Bermuda for listening to the will of the people. A government for the people, by the people is always a step in the right direction.

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A teacher in England is out of a job for a stunning reason: She’s a Christian, and was honest about her beliefs when asked.

According to LifeSiteNews, an experienced educator named Svetlana Powell was fired from an academy for high school age students in Bristol. Not only that, but she was also reported as a “radicalization threat” to a government group that deals with counter-terrorism tips.

The problem began when Powell was asked to “sub” for another teacher. As often happens, some students decided to challenge the temporary teacher and purposely steered the classroom discussion toward her religion. One student in particular kept being disruptive.

“After the lunch break, the student continued talking while producing minimum work, so was asked to move away to the opposite end of the classroom,” LifeSite reported.

“The student objected, and then started to be argumentative about the tutor’s faith, asking her first a question about her personal beliefs on evolution.”

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The rest of the class seemed interested in the discussion, so the teacher did what many good educators do: She tried to use the existing topic to create a learning opportunity.

“I decided to use the students’ interest in the subject and to have a discussion to accommodate the activities included in the lesson plan,” Powell explained. “I considered the topic appropriate, as the discussion about Christian views would contribute in raising cultural issues of our day and awareness of the religion of this country.”

It’s a fair point. Considering that Christianity is one of the largest religions in the United Kingdom and throughout the world, having a general understanding of what its followers believe is valuable if only from a cultural awareness perspective, just as understanding what the adherents of Judaism or Hindu believe can be culturally educational.

“The student who had originally been warned about his behaviour then asked the tutor for her personal views on homosexuality,” said LifeSite. “She replied by saying that as a Christian, she ‘personally’ believed the Bible says that homosexual activity was against God’s will, but that God still loves every person regardless of what they did, or who they were.”

This is the key point: The teacher did not set out to lecture the students or push her views, but honestly answered a question posed by the class about her beliefs.

Apparently trying to “bait” the teacher into saying something controversial, the disruptive student who had sparked the discussion singled out a lesbian classmate.

“The same student then said that another student in the group was a lesbian, to which the tutor replied that God loved her,” LifeSite reported.

“The tutor was then asked whether the lesbian student would ‘go to hell’, to which the tutor replied with the historic Christian view that for everyone who repents (turns to God), God has provided a way of salvation to us through His son, Jesus Christ. The tutor said nothing about ‘hell.’”

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That interaction was apparently enough to end the teacher’s employment. The next day, Powell was told that students had made a complaint, and she was called in to a hearing by school administrators and made to explain and defend the explanation of her faith that she had told to the class.

When it was all over, Powell was out of a job — and more shockingly, later discovered that she had been referred to “Prevent,” a government anti-terrorist group that investigates reports of radicalism. Who knew “God loves you” was so threatening?

Now, the teacher is suing the school with the assistance of the Christian Legal Centre, based on the view that she was dismissed essentially for being a Christian.

“We are seeing a worrying trend of cases such as this,” said Andrea Williams, an attorney for CLC. “The fact that Svetlana was reported to Prevent for holding Christian views is a sign of our times. It shows how Prevent will be used to punish innocent and soft targets. A radical rethink is required.”

Freedom of religion is supposed to mean that a person’s faith alone cannot be used as the basis for discrimination. It would be one thing of a teacher used her position to try to convert students or brow-beat them with personal views — but Powell did nothing of the sort.

Instead, she simply told the truth when high school-aged students asked about her faith and the tenants of her religion. She didn’t repeat anything hateful, but apparently shared her belief in love. That is shocking and controversial?

Consider for a moment if this teacher had different beliefs. What if she were Sikh or Muslim or atheist? A classroom inquisitively asking a Sikh to explain their religion — or an atheist to explain how they arrived at their views — would be seen as culturally educational.

It’s hard to imagine a teacher of any other faith being dragged in front of a review panel and then shown the door for merely answering questions about their faith. Yet this is happening to Christians with alarming frequency.

Once again, those who talk about “tolerance” turn out to be incredibly intolerant when it comes to conservative or Christian views. America should pay attention, because this growing issue is not isolated to just Britain.

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There’s a reason firearms are sometimes called “great equalizers”: A gun in the hands of a law-abiding citizen can level the playing field with criminals, and give individuals a fighting chance against being prey.

That’s exactly what a handgun did for a cashier in Kinston, North Carolina. According to WITN News, an armed robbery at a convenience store went sideways after the employee refused to be a victim, and defended himself with a concealed pistol.

“Officers were called to the USA Store on 201 S. Adkin St. for a report of an armed robbery,” reported the local news station. “It happened right around 10pm. Officers were told that two black men entered the store and demanded money; one of them reportedly carried a rifle.”

The criminals no doubt thought that nobody would dare fight back if they were carrying a large gun. They thought wrong.

“Police say the store clerk fired a shot at the two suspects who then fled the scene in a silver vehicle,” continued WITN. Surveillance video was also released of the incident, and it shows the dramatic confrontation unfold.

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As the two men barge in, the second thug quickly raises his gun toward the employee behind the counter. Thinking quickly, the worker appears to step sideways and then draw his own handgun, targeting the intruders.

The moment the robbers see that their “victim” is armed, they panic and flee. In the confusion, the man with the rifle drops his own gun in the doorway, leaving a helpful piece of evidence behind for the police. How thoughtful.

It isn’t clear how many shots the clerk managed to get off or if any of the criminals were injured. Considering how well armed they were, however, it’s a safe bet that the employee’s concealed carry pistol may have saved his life.

Once again, the media and liberal narrative that “guns never solve anything” has been proven to be false. One look at this video shows just how quickly and dramatically one armed citizen changed the dynamics of the incident.

The simple fact is that most criminals seek out easy targets. Once those “victims” bare their proverbial teeth, thugs often go scurrying back where they came from.

That certainly doesn’t mean that guns are magic crime-stoppers, but case after case shows that firearms can protect people and save lives when seconds count.

For instance, the NRA’s “Armed Citizen” archive collects press and police reports of guns being used by Americans for self-defense. It contains thousands of real-life, verified instances of individuals using guns to defend themselves.

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Statistics back up a trend that no doubt drives gun-grabbers crazy: Gun ownership in America has been increasing, but violent crime numbers are actually declining.

“According to data retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control, there were 7 firearm-related homicides for every 100,000 Americans in 1993,” reported CNS News.

“By 2013, the gun homicide rate had fallen by nearly 50 percent to only 3.6 homicides per 100,000 population,” continued that news outlet.

But what about gun ownership stats?

“Adjusted for the U.S. population, the number of guns per American increased from 0.93 per person in 1993 to 1.45 in 2013, which is a 56 percent increase in the number of guns per person that occurred during the same period when gun violence decreased by 49 percent,” CNS explained.

There’s no getting around it: When in the right hands, guns can stop crime… and that’s what two thugs in North Carolina found out the hard way.

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Despite the leftist narrative that President Donald Trump shuts out the mainstream media, New York Times photographer Doug Mills says he has more access to Trump than he ever did to former President Barack Obama.

According to The Hill, Jones met with C-SPAN for a sit-down interview that airs Feb. 11.

In a preview of the clip, Jones applauds President Trump’s availability to the media.

“We’re getting a lot more, I mean from a photographer’s standpoint, we get a lot more access to the president,” Jones said.

“I see him more on a daily basis than we did with Barack Obama,” he continued. 

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When asked about his job photographing the president, Jones said: “It’s exhausting, but it’s great.”

“I love what I’m doing, I’ve got the greatest job in the world,” he stated.

Clearly, a man who works for the media would not admit he loves his job if President Trump was as awful as liberals portray him.

Watch a clip of the interview below:

.@DougMillsnyt on the White House & President Trump: “We’re getting a lot more, I mean from a photographer’s standpoint, we get a lot more access to the president. I see him more on a daily basis than we did with @BarackObama.”

Full Q&A airs Sunday (2/11) at 8pm ET on C-SPAN. pic.twitter.com/rJN9PbHDuO

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 9, 2018

Jones also called President Trump “one of the most iconic” presidents he has ever photographed.

“I look at just the past year in photographing Donald Trump and he’s probably one of the most iconic. It’s challenging but it’s fun,” Jones explained.

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According to Fortune, President Obama once criticized President Trump for his dealings with the media.

Obama liked to tout his own availability and the “transparency” of his administration.

If all that is true, why did President Obama grant the media limited access to his life in the White House? Was there something to hide?

Perhaps President Trump is fine with being transparent and available to the media because unlike Obama, he didn’t have anything to hide.

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