If the U.S. Capitol Police was hoping for a quiet Tuesday morning, they got anything but. By 10:30 a.m., officers had already arrested 22 people, which turned out to be just part of the angry mob sent to disrupt Brett Kavanagh’s Senate Judiciary hearing. Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who’s presided over his share of contentious nominees, watched in amazement as shouting protestors were hauled off one after another by security. Trying to call the chamber to order, Grassley could only shake his head. “This is something I’ve never gone through before in 15 Supreme Court nominations.”

Senate Democrats were no better — heckling Grassley from the moment he started his opening statement. With activists shouting from the back and Senate liberals interrupting in the front, it took more than an hour to get the chaotic scene under control. But the fireworks were just getting started. Senate Democrats demanded the hearing be adjourned, complaining that 483,000 pages of documents wasn’t enough to make an informed evaluation of Kavanaugh. “I’ve never had a hearing like this, where documents are so difficult to get,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) complained.

That’s ridiculous, conservatives fired back. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee had access to almost a half-million pages of documents on and from Judge Kavanaugh. That’s more than they received for the last five Supreme Court nominees combined! “The American people have unprecedented access and more materials to review for Judge Kavanaugh than they ever had for a Supreme Court nominee,” Grassley countered. “And to support the review of Judge Kavanaugh’s historic volume of material, I’ve worked to ensure that more senators have more access to more material than ever.”

What’s more, Kavanaugh served on the D.C. Circuit for 12 years. In that time, he wrote 307 opinions. Back when the Senate was considering Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-Calif.) — the same Chuck Schumer who’s griping that Democrats don’t have enough information — said that the best way to evaluate a SCOTUS nominee was to look at their work on the courts. “I want to turn to your record on the bench, which I believe is the best way to get a sense of what your record will be on the bench in the future,” he told her. Now, suddenly, they want us to believe that Judge Kavanaugh’s 10,000 pages of judicial writings aren’t relevant?

If anything, Kavanaugh probably provided too much information to Democrats. After all, this is the party of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who thought a 2,300-page bill fundamentally reshaping American health care was too much to read until after they passed it. They certainly took a “pass-it-to-find-out-what’s-in-it” approach with Elena Kagan, President Obama’s nominee, who they promoted to the Supreme Court without a scrap of judicial experience. (Number of pages she submitted to the committee from her work on the bench? Zero.)

In the end, though, yesterday’s spectacle says a lot more about the president’s opponents than it does about Brett Kavanaugh. Make no mistake: This hearing is a snapshot of where America is and where we’re headed if the Left has the reins of government. After more than a year and a half of correcting our country’s course, this administration will be forced to spend its time fighting the Left’s rejection of the rule of law — which was on grand display yesterday, not just from the outbursts of protestors, but from the obstruction of senators themselves.

All of it validates what President Trump told evangelical leaders last week: the Left will stop at nothing. Just look at the violence of Antifa. The unhinged conduct of liberals should make it crystal clear what is not only at stake in the balance of the court — but the future of our country. If the first day of Kavanaugh’s hearing has shown us anything, it’s that America is at a critical stage. If Christians or conservatives step back for just one moment, it could result in the loss — not just of the fundamental freedoms reestablished over these last two years — but the loss of the republic as we’ve known it.

For more on what could unfold these next three days, check out Ken Blackwell’s op-ed in the Stream, “What to Expect from the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing.”

Originally published here.

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Golden State’s Warriors Win on Ban

If you asked California’s pastors, they’d probably call it a miracle. Despite months of hearings, rallies, ads, and testimonies, the legislature was on the verge of unleashing one of the biggest attacks on religious freedom in America. With a nod from the bill’s sponsor, California would have officially made it a crime to counsel people out of sexual bondage. Democrats had the backing. They had the governor’s support. All they needed was a vote.

But a vote never came. To everyone’s amazement, the bill’s author, Evan Low (D) pulled the measure at the last minute. The legislative session ended, and AB 2943 — a proposal that conservatives, churches, and counselors had thrown themselves into stopping — was dead. In interviews later, Low, who identifies as gay, said he’d had the chance to meet with some of California’s faith leaders, whose arguments about the long-term effects of the bill made him hesitate. “Some [liberals] would say this is crazy,” he admitted. “Why would you pause when you don’t need to, when you’re in the driver’s seat?” But, in his official statement, he explained:

“The best policy is not made in a vacuum and in order to advance the strongest piece of legislation, the bill requires additional time to allow for an inclusive process not hampered by legislative deadlines. With a hopeful eye toward the future, I share with you that, despite the support the bill received in the Assembly and Senate, I will not be sending AB 2943 to the Governor this year. I am committed to continuing to work towards creating a policy that best protects and celebrates the identities of LGBT Californians and a model for the nation to look towards.”

While Low did leave the door wide open for a future crackdown on sexual orientation change efforts (or SOCE), people across California can breathe a sigh of relief that, at least for now, therapists can still help patients find the kind of freedom that like Walt Heyer, Luis Ruiz, Kris Olsen, and countless others have. As Walt explains in the Federalist, if a ban like California’s had succeeded 30 years ago, he’d probably be dead.

“If [California’s] AB 2943 were in place back in the 1990s, most likely I would have died from suicide or — as this bill proposes — once I embraced my life as a trans-woman, I was sentenced for life.” He had access to two Christian psychotherapists who helped him walk away from his identity as Laura Jensen for good. “The bill’s authors want to make sure the gender-dysphoric people they claim to be ‘helping’ have no way out, even if that’s what they desperately want. Only an uncaring legislature would sign such a draconian bill into law.”

Although the threat to SOCE is still very real — not just on the West Coast, but everywhere — this victory is a testament to the impact Christians can have when the church decides to get involved. In one of the most radical states in the union, pastors, courageous people who used to identify as gay, and our friends at the California Family Council took a stand to protect our First Freedom — and won! Jonathan Keller, CFC’s president, reminded everyone that the only truly hurtful policy is to tell people who want help that they can’t have it.

“People of faith across California and around the nation care deeply about our family, friends, neighbors and coworkers who identify as LGBTQ,” Keller said. “AB 2943 would have tragically limited our ability to offer compassionate support related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and even to preach Jesus’ message of unconditional love and life transformation.”

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), this entire debate has been an object lesson for a lot of Christians as to just how far the Left is willing to go to lock people into a painful lifestyle. For now, we celebrate that the church in California is awake and engaged — and making a difference! Let’s hope believers in other states see their example and follow it.

Originally published here.

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Breaking News: Presidents Talk to Faith Leaders

Is meeting with evangelicals a crime? Americans United for Separation of Church and State seems to think so. In a desperate ploy to grab headlines (and donations), the group of secularists is calling out the Trump administration for meeting with faith leaders at the White House. But conservatives are curious: where was this outrage when Barack Obama was president?

The 44th president may not have met with the same pastors, or any who held conservative theological positions, but he certainly met with his share. Back when he was trying to pass Obamacare (and later when he was trying to keep it afloat), President Obama’s meeting rooms were packed with religious leaders. In fact, after he left the church of the controversial Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama was heralded by outlets like the New York Times for assembling a group of religious advisors to take his place. The evangelical pastors who occasionally meet with President Trump and give informal input are engaged in the same conversations that President Obama was with pastors. The only difference is that President Trump is reaching out to conservatives — not liberals. Where was Americans United for those eight years?

In an exclusive interview with the Washington Post, organization president Rachel Laser gave a surprisingly honest answer for their frustration. “We are tired of watching him give unprecedented access and influence to one religious group.” At least Laser — unlike a lot of the president’s opposition — is willing to admit that the real source of their outrage: orthodox Christianity. Like a lot of people on the other side, she’s had a real wake-up call under President Trump, especially after Obama took America so far to the Left. After that, any course correction would have prompted a reaction, but this administration’s success — rolling back decades of radicalism – has sent Trump’s opponents into hysterics.

As for Americans United complaint, which was sent to White House Counsel Donald McGahn, the Office of Public Liaison, the General Services Administration, and Johnnie Moore. “The truth is,” Johnnie told the Post, “there actually isn’t a board. This is slang language that has carried over from the campaign into the administration. There is no formal faith advisory board of any sort at the White House… It is hard to shut something down that doesn’t exist!”

To most conservatives, the idea that a few meetings with religious leaders would somehow violate the Federal Advisory Committee Act is laughable. I don’t remember Americans United complaining when President Obama created an entire “spiritual cabinet.” (Maybe it didn’t make such a compelling fundraising email?) Either way, it’s time the other side learned: the rules don’t change when the president does.

Originally published here.

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.