{"id":183042,"date":"2023-02-16T10:29:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T15:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=183042"},"modified":"2023-02-16T15:45:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T20:45:53","slug":"where-things-are-headed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed","title":{"rendered":"Where things are headed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sometimes it feels as if we at the International Organization for the Family (IOF) are playing an international game of \u201cwhack a mole.\u201d As we focus on a problem that the political left has created \u2013 boys competing against girls, men in women\u2019s locker rooms, the advance of homosexual marriage and plural marriages, characterizing abortion as a \u201chuman right,\u201d etc. \u2013 another problem emerges that is just as serious (or more so) requiring our attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is where things are headed: In the United Kingdom, people of faith are being arrested and criminally charged for praying silently<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabel Vaughan Spruce is a pro-life activist. She recently stood in a public space near an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England with her eyes closed and in apparent deep thought and contemplation. She carried no signs, exhibited nothing to suggest she was protesting and said nothing out loud. The abortion clinic was closed at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, Isabel was standing in a public area that Birmingham government officials had designated a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d prohibited by a local \u201cPublic Space Protection Order\u201d (PSPO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabel was approached by three uniformed officers who demanded to know what she was doing. She made it clear to them that she was not there to protest. Then she was asked if she was silently praying about abortion and Isabel told them, \u201cI might be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that, Isabel was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and criminally charged for \u201cintimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, praying silently in a public space is considered \u201cintimidation\u201d by the Birmingham government if the area is subject to a PSPO. It doesn\u2019t matter that the abortion facility was closed and nobody was around who could have possibly been intimidated. The act of bringing one\u2019s private thoughts about abortion silently before God is enough to justify arrest and criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the world, religious liberty is under assault. Government officials \u2013 urged on by leftist political activists and wealthy NGOs including those funded by billionaire George Soros and huge international corporations \u2013 are increasingly targeting people of faith with Orwellian legal restrictions on gathering, speaking and even silently praying whenever they perceive it to be about a subject that challenges a leftist narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alliance Defending Freedom \u2013 which represents Isabel in her fight against the Birmingham government\u2019s censorship of private prayer \u2013 calls this latest situation \u201cwholly unprecedented territory\u201d where individuals can be prosecuted for their thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, it is not just government officials in the United Kingdom that are targeting people of faith. We have seen Catholic Archbishops, Protestant Pastors and Christian Governmental Ministers targeted in Canada and numerous countries in Europe and all over the world. The United States is also guilty of this type of persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden recently used his \u201cState Of The Union\u201d speech to call on Congress to enact legislation that would impose much of the radical LGBT political agenda into federal law. The misnamed Equality Act declares that belief in the primacy of traditional marriage is a \u201csex stereotype\u201d and strips Americans of their statutory religious liberty rights whenever they act on a position that is in opposition to the LGBT agenda. If Biden gets his way, refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding because of a belief that marriage was ordained by God as the union of a man and a woman, for instance, would subject a person of faith to ruinous legal complaints and lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wealthy corporations are equally responsible for the advance of leftist and LGBT ideology and policies that punish people of faith. The Disney Corporation, for instance, has been a leading advocate of \u201cqueering\u201d young children through what one Disney official called a \u201cnot so secret gay agenda\u201d to indoctrinate your kids to support all things gay, including forcing five-year olds to be instructed about \u201csexual orientation\u201d and \u201cgender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IOF is on the front lines fighting the whack-a-mole series of attacks on the natural family and family values. Whether it be pushing back against woke corporations like Disney, opposing the policies of Joe Biden and George Soros, fighting for families at the United Nations and in other government bodies, or advocating for the right of every person to live their life in accord with their religious beliefs, we are working day in and day out on behalf of this righteous mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please keep IOF, iFamNews and our team in your prayers. We are constantly under attack by the same forces who want to criminalize private prayer. And if you are able, please make a tax-deductible financial contribution<\/a><\/strong> to support our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how often they come to challenge our beliefs and attack our values, you can be sure that IOF and iFamNews will remain on the battlefield fighting for universal values and viewpoints that uplift families and contribute to human flourishing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leftist politicians and governments are criminalizing private prayer when the person praying appears to be in conflict with a preferred narrative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":183053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"Leftist politicians and governments are criminalizing private prayer when the person praying appears to be in conflict with a preferred narrative.","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-715"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"511"},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[804,511],"tags":[475,23679,1736,432,23678,5213,15361,3982,12389],"class_list":["post-183042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-culture","tag-abortion","tag-alliance-defendng-freedom","tag-international-organization-for-the-family-2","tag-iof","tag-isabel-vaughan-spruce-2","tag-joe-biden-3","tag-prayer","tag-religious-liberty","tag-religious-persecution"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere things are headed - IFN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leftist politicians and governments are criminalizing private prayer when the person praying appears to be in conflict with a preferred narrative.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where things are headed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leftist politicians and governments are criminalizing private prayer when the person praying appears to be in conflict with a preferred narrative.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-16T15:29:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-16T20:45:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/isabelprayingresizedimage-001.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frank Schubert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@iFamNewsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@iFamNewsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frank Schubert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where things are headed - IFN","description":"Leftist politicians and governments are criminalizing private prayer when the person praying appears to be in conflict with a preferred narrative.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where things are headed","og_description":"Leftist politicians and governments are criminalizing private prayer when the person praying appears to be in conflict with a preferred narrative.","og_url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed","og_site_name":"IFN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews","article_published_time":"2023-02-16T15:29:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-16T20:45:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/isabelprayingresizedimage-001.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Frank Schubert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@iFamNewsEN","twitter_site":"@iFamNewsEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Frank Schubert","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed"},"author":{"name":"Frank Schubert","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f059c4599e9d9efee95adbaab98c714"},"headline":"Where things are headed","datePublished":"2023-02-16T15:29:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-16T20:45:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed"},"wordCount":802,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/isabelprayingresizedimage-001.jpg","keywords":["Abortion","Alliance Defendng Freedom","International Organization for the Family","IOF","Isabel Vaughan Spruce","Joe Biden","prayer","Religious Liberty","religious persecution"],"articleSection":["Breaking News","Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/where-things-are-headed","name":"Where things are headed - 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Schubert serves a similar role for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). He has worked extensively on family-related issues including supporting marriage, the sanctity of human life and religious liberty, among other issues. Schubert is one of the country\u2019s top experts in managing ballot initiative campaigns and has won over 50 such campaigns in over one-dozen states, compiling an 80% winning record. He managed the successful Proposition 8 campaign in California as well as subsequent winning campaigns on marriage in Maine and North Carolina. His views on issues have been widely reported by the national and international media and he has been interviewed by news organizations hundreds of times. 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