Who Is Devon Archer?

I do not usually name potential felons as VIPs, but I am making an exception this week by selecting Devon Archer for my weekly VIP. Sentenced to a year in prison for another matter, Archer testified today to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee behind closed doors. Archer is a former best friend or “brother” as well as business associate of Hunter Biden.

Archer’s testimony that then-Vice President Joe Biden communicated more than 20 times – in person or on speakerphone – with Hunter Biden foreign business associates. This testimony directly contradicts what Joe Biden told Americans on numerous occasions that he did not discuss Hunter’s business. Fred Lucas posted an article in The Daily Signal about Archer’s testimony. 

Archer said the then-vice president brought the most value to “the brand,” particularly in a deal with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, where Hunter Biden was a board member, according to the committee, which released a series of tweets after the testimony.

Archer’s testimony was a clear contradiction of the president’s repeated claims that he never communicated with his son about international business deals.

“Devon Archer’s testimony today confirms Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved,” House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a public statement. “Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.”

Archer reportedly told the committee that Hunter Biden was pressured by Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky and Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi put pressure on Hunter to obtain help from the United States to get rid of an investigation. Hunter called his father, Vice President Joe Biden, in December 2015, and Joe Biden flew to Ukraine to order the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma. Joe Biden told Ukraine officials that they would not receive a billion dollars unless Shokin was fired. We know these details because Joe Biden bragged about it because there is a video of him bragging about it.

Archer reportedly testified to the committee, “Burisma would have gone out of business if ‘the brand’ had not been attached to it.” He also testified that involvement by Biden family members intimidated other people from messing legally with Burisma.

Ukraine and Burisma was not the only topic discussed by Archer. He told the committee that “then-Vice President Joe Biden had coffee in Beijing with Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR, another one of Hunter Biden’s business ventures in China, and later wrote a letter to recommend Li’s daughter for college.

France is also involved because Vice President “Biden also dialed into a dinner in Paris with his son and executives of a French energy company.”

Russia was involved also. “In 2014, the then-vice president attended a business dinner with Hunter Biden and his associates at Café Milano in Washington, D.C. Elena Baturina, a Russian businesswoman who is the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, attended the dinner. However, Baturina did not receive public sanctions from the Biden administration when other Russians were sanctioned.

Archer did the United States of America a huge favor when he testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the Biden business. He had firsthand information about the above-mentioned meetings and telephone calls because he was at the side of Hunter Biden when conducting Biden business. He was in hiding prior to his appearance before the committee. I suppose that he was hiding because he feared for his life.

Are Parental Rights Being Violated?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is gender-affirming care for children and its constitutionality. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing last week on the topic “The Dangers and Due Process Violations of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Children.” The hearing exposed how children are being abused by adults who seek to coerce them to make decisions that are life-altering and medically questionable.

Sarah Parshall Perry published an article in The Daily Signal about the hearing, which she thought began unusually. In a podcast, “Dr. Blair Peters, a self-described ‘queer surgeon’ at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, explained that in the field of ‘gender medicine,’ they are ‘just kind of learning and figuring out what works.” He continued by saying, “We know almost nothing about these outcomes.” 

Ranking Democratic member Rep. Mary Scanlon (D-Pa.) blamed Republicans of trying to “motivate right-wing voters” and impose “ultra-conservative and religious views” on other Americans. Perry reminded her readers that “no parent has a constitutional right to injure their own children.”

She seems to have also forgotten that the federal government and every state and territory have child welfare laws on the books that recognize the appropriateness of government intervention when minor children are being subjected to physical, and in some cases, emotional harm by their custodial parents or guardians.

In fact, a federal appellate court that then included the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg held in 2007 that medical care of any kind is not a constitutional right….

In fact, a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6^th Circuit, when the court was considering such a state ban out of Tennessee, … held that the state law did not violate either parents’ constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their children or constitutional protections that require all individuals to be treated equally regardless of sex. Some have posited that this case may now be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Next up, the 11^th Circuit will hear a constitutional challenge to Florida’s gender-affirming medicine ban for minors. In a previous case, Adams v. St. Johns County School Board, that court determined that a school’s sex-segregated bathroom policy was not a violation of the Constitution because (just as the Tennessee ban does) it treated all students equally, regardless of sex.

Finding that the law that restricted “transgender” students’ access to bathrooms that corresponded to their biological sex to be constitutional, it may well reach the same conclusion as the 6^th Circuit when considering a law on transgender minors’ access to invasive medical treatments.

Witnesses at the hearing included Paula Scanlan, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer, who was “forced to change and shower alongside a 6’4” male swimmer with male genitalia 18 times per week.” The female swimmers were offered psychological “reeducation services” to help them deal with the situation.

Another witness was Chloe Cole, “a young woman who once believed herself to be a boy but has since ‘detransitioned.’ At the age of 15, Cole had a double mastectomy and other “medical interventions” to “treat” her gender dysphoria. She claims to be a victim of the “biggest medical scandal in America” and that her parents were coerced into signing a consent form with the question, “Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living [transgender] son?”

Additional violations of parents’ rights are also occurring in school districts that are hiding from parents the social gender transitions of their children and the use of their children’s “preferred pronouns.”

What’s clear from Thursday’s hearing is that the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children is indeed being violated. But those violations are not occurring when states protect minors from getting experimental “gender-affirming” treatments. The violations are transpiring in blue states that are cutting parents out of the equation altogether.

What Does It Mean to You to Be a Child of God?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Acts 16-21 and a lesson titled “The Lord Had Called Us for to Preach the Gospel.” This is the counsel given prior to the lesson: “As you read about Paul’s efforts to preach the gospel, the Spirit may prompt you with thoughts or feelings. Write these promptings down, and make plans to act on them.” The lesson was then introduced with the following paragraph.

Among the Lord’s final words to His Apostles was the commandment “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). While the Apostles didn’t quite make it to all nations, Acts 16-21 does show that Paul and his companions did make remarkable progress in establishing the Church. They taught, baptized, and conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost. They performed miracles, even raising a man from the dead, and foretold the Great Apostasy (Acts 20:7-12, 28-31). And the work they started continues with living Apostles today, along with devoted disciples like you, who are helping fulfill the Savior’s commission in ways Paul never could have imagined. Perhaps you are aware of people who do not know their Heavenly Father or His gospel. Perhaps you have felt that your “spirit was stirred in [you]” to share with them what you know about Him (Acts 17:16). If you follow Paul’s example of humility and boldness in sharing the gospel, you may find someone “whose heart the Lord [has] opened” (Acts 16:14).

The principle for discussion tonight is “We are the offspring of God” (Acts 17:16-34). The scripture block for this week covers Paul’s second and third missionary journeys. While in Athens, Paul found people with diverse opinions and religious views. They were always seeking “to hear some new thing,” and what Paul had to offer was definitely new to them (see Acts 17:19-21).

The Athenians worshipped many gods. However, they desired to acknowledge all the gods, so they included a god that they called “the unknown God” (Acts 17:23). They believed that the gods were powers or forces, not living, personal beings, and certainly not our Father. Here are the words directly from the scriptures:

16 ¶ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

22 ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Paul emphasized that the “Unknown God” was the father of the human race. This was a brand-new idea to the Athenians because their other gods were made from gold, silver, or stone. Being a child of God is much different than being just one of His creations. Understanding this truth should help us to see ourselves and others in a different light. We are all children of God, and He loves each one of us. We should be careful about how we treat ourselves or other people. The following information comes from the Come Follow Me lesson for Sunday School. 

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” shares eternal truths about our relationship to God: “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

President Dallin H. Oaks spoke of the importance of seeing ourselves first and foremost as spiritual children of God:

“Be careful how you characterize yourself. Don’t characterize or define yourself by some temporary quality. The only single quality that should characterize us is that we are a son or daughter of God. That fact transcends all other characteristics, including race, occupation, physical characteristics, honors, or even religious affiliation. …

“We have our agency, and we can choose any characteristic to define us. But we need to know that when we choose to define ourselves or to present ourselves by some characteristic that is temporary or trivial in eternal terms, we de-emphasize what is most important about us, and we overemphasize what is relatively unimportant. This can lead us down the wrong path and hinder our eternal progress” (“Be Wise” [Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional, Nov. 7, 2006], byui.edu). [As quoted in Come Follow Me – For Sunday School, 2023].

 

How Can Communities and Nations Eradicate Sex Trafficking?

Families, communities, and nations are stronger when they are alert to the dark practices that take place in the shadows of our society. One such practice started as a trickle but has now become a plague of shocking proportions. It was fully exposed in the movie “Sound of Silence.” Armstrong Williams wrote the following about the “pandemic of sex trafficking and child sex trafficking.” 

In the hushed corners of our society, a sinister industry flourishes, largely hidden and unspoken of. It’s an issue so shocking and perplexing that people tend to ignore it when brought to light. This is the pandemic of sex trafficking and child sex trafficking. One might presume that in a civilized, developed nation like the United States, such a crime would be promptly detected, prosecuted, and eradicated. Yet, this is far from the truth.

Sex trafficking thrives within our borders, and its true extent remains largely unknown. Prosecutors seldom uncover the crimes of traffickers, and sometimes, alarmingly, they choose to overlook them.

Consider the notorious case of Jeffrey Epstein. Despite a substantial federal investigation revealing enough evidence to put him behind bars for several lifetimes, Epstein was barely punished. Instead of dismantling a major human sex trafficking network that would have likely taken down numerous high-profile celebrities and politicians, Epstein received a minor penalty, serving only 13 months in county jail, with the privilege of leaving for work six days a week.

In the United States, nearly 17,000 people are trafficked annually. And that’s all we know of. Estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services suggest this number could range from 240,000 to 325,000.

Each person trafficked represents a terrified, captive individual forced into a life of exploitation. They are sold from one person to another; their tales are unique, compelling, and tragic.

Parents must understand that we live in an evil world where predators seek our children and teenagers to enslave them in the world of sex trafficking. Communities can help by shedding sunlight on the sex trafficking industry. It must be exposed in all its darkness for normal people to understand that it is in our communities or is potentially there. The United States can severely limit sex traffickers by closing its borders. Parents, communities, and nations must work together to eradicate the evil practice of sex trafficking.

Does Texas Have the Authority to Protect Its Borders?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns sovereignty of states and nations. Every single state of the fifty states in the United States of America are supposed to be sovereign with the power and authority to protect their residents. In addition, the United States is a sovereign nation with the responsibility to secure its borders and to protect its citizens from invasion by foreigners.

Article IV Section 4 states: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.” (Emphasis added.” 

Yet, the federal government refuses to close the borders and protect against invasion. Estimates are that seven million illegal immigrants have crossed our borders since Joe Biden became President of the United States.

The Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has tried several ways to secure the Texas border with Mexico and spent several million (billion?) dollars doing so. Abbott’s latest attempt to secure the border was to use floating barriers in the Rio Grande River. Abbott is doing the job that Biden should be doing. However, the Department of Justice recently announced that it is suing Abbott for using the floating barriers. Abbott response to the lawsuit was, “I’ll see you in court, Mr. President.” Cal Thomas wrote of the irony of the lawsuit. 

There are 29 established ports of entry along the Texas border. Any migrant with a credible asylum claim can be legally processed at any one of them. In total, there are 110 Border Patrol checkpoints along the border, a border which the United Nations declared last year is the “deadliest land crossing in the world.”

Laughably, the Department of Justice claims in its lawsuit filing that Abbott had ordered the “unlawful construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande River” and says the barrier might impede the federal government’s “official duties.”

One might reasonably believe that the most important of the government’s “official duties” would be to enforce the law, if only to deter the importation of the deadly drug fentanyl. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were “106,699 drug-involved overdose deaths reported in the U.S. in 2021…. Synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) were the main driver of drug overdose deaths with a nearly 7.5-fold increase from 2015 to 2021.”

The first obligation of any president is to protect the lives of American citizens, whether from threats by a foreign power, or threats from the power that comes from people and drugs pouring across the border. In refusing to do this, the president has violated his oath of office in which he solemnly swore to “faithfully execute” his duties.

I agree with Thomas that “faithfully execute” his duties means that a President should uphold the laws of the land. Biden and his administration are breaking the laws rather than upholding them. Every President takes the following oath of office: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Biden is obviously not keeping this oath because he is not protecting Americans from the invasion of illegal immigrants who are cross our border. 

When Should Impeachment Take Place?

The word impeachment was seldom heard historically, but it is heard more often these days. The House of Representatives has impeached only three Presidents of the United States, but none of them were convicted by the Senate. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1866, and Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998. Donald Trump was impeached in 2019 and again in 2021, the only POTUS to be impeached twice. Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached in 1974.

Trump’s first impeachment came from a telephone conversation with Ukraine President Zelenskyy about rumored corruption by Joe Biden. Now, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy signaled that he is open to a possible impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden over corruption in Ukraine. Was Trump wrongly impeached?

McCarthy indicated in an interview with Fox News that questions about the Biden corruption are “rising to the level of impeachment inquiry.” In an article in the Deseret News, D. Hunter Schwarz wrote the following: 

McCarthy said the Bidens were allegedly paid bribes by foreign businesses and referenced IRS whistleblowers who accused the Justice Department of interfering in an investigation into Hunter Biden, who said he would plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges last month.

“We only followed where the information has taken us, but this is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed,” McCarthy said….

An impeachment inquiry is a first step to potentially remove a U.S. president from office. When launched by a House Speaker, an inquiry allows a committee to investigate alleged wrongdoing. If the committee votes for articles of impeachment, the House can vote whether or not to impeach and the Senate can then vote whether or not to convict and remove from office.

McCarthy accused Biden of weaponizing government to “benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight,” which he called “something that we have not seen since Richard Nixon.”

McCarthy expressed the obvious: none of the Biden family corruption would be known if Republicans did not have the majority in the House. He also indicated that Republicans only went from the information led them. However, McCarthy is not yet ready to launch an impeachment inquiry because he does not want to use impeachment for “political purposes.”

Republicans have bank records collaborating Biden money laundering, and they have heard testimony from whistle blowers testifying of other evidence of corruption. Evidence continues to mount against the Biden crime family, so I would not be surprised to hear of the start to impeachment hearings.

I am totally against impeachment being used for political purposes. However, the Constitution lays out the conditions when impeachment should be used. Article II, Section 4: “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

If the whistleblowers told the truth in their testimonies before Congress and if the bank records prove money from Russia, China, Ukraine, Romania, and other nations was being laundered by the Biden family, it is possible that Joe Biden is guilty of bribery and deserves to be impeached. I support Republicans taking plenty of time to gather all the evidence before impeaching Biden.

How Do We Stop Automatic Birthright Citizenship for Illegal Alien Babies?

Politicians are finally on the same page as everyday Americans as to American birthright citizenship. Section I of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

According to this site, the Fourteenth Amendment was written and ratified to solve a problem concerning former African American slaves, not people entering the United States illegally.

Following the Civil War, Congress submitted to the states three amendments as part of its Reconstruction program to guarantee equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens. A major provision of the 14 Amendment was to grant citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States,” thereby granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people.

Legislation has finally been put forward to change the thinking about what the Fourteen Amendment says. Obviously, Republican Rep. Matt Gaeta (R-Florida), sponsor of the bill, wants to push back against the prevailing idea that a baby born on U.S. soil automatically becomes an American citizen regardless of the citizenship status of its parent(s).

“Birthright citizenship has been grossly and blatantly misapplied for decades, recently becoming a loophole for illegal aliens to fraudulently abuse our immigration system. My legislation recognizes that American citizenship is a privilege – not an automatic right to be co-opted by illegal aliens” Gaetz said, according to a press release.

Alex Nitzberg at The Blaze emphasized that the Fourteenth Amendment is not the only document the specifies the requirements for becoming an American citizen. “The Immigration and Nationality Act likewise stipulates that “a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” qualifies as an American citizen. 

According to Nitzberg, Gaetz is not attempting to amend the Fourteen Amendment. However, he does seek to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by stipulating that “the term ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ means, with respect to a person born in the United States, that the person was born to a parent who is, at the time of the person’s birth,” any of the following: “a national of the United States,” “a refugee,” “an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence,” or “an alien performing active service in the armed forces.”

In addition to Gaetz, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have both indicated that they intend to act against the idea of automatic birthright citizenship for babies born to people who are in American illegally.

“We will take action to end the idea that the children of illegal aliens are entitled to birthright citizenship if they are born in the United States,” DeSantis’ website states.

“Dangling the prize of citizenship to the future offspring of illegal immigrants is a major driver of illegal migration. It is also inconsistent with the original understanding of 14^th Amendment, and we will force the courts and Congress to finally address this failed policy.”

Trump explained his avenue for acting against the automatic birthright citizenship concept. He “would sign an executive order informing ‘federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law … the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship.”

Who Is Jason Aldean?

 My VIP for this week is Jason Aldean, a country music singer who refused to capitulate to the cancel culture promoted by the Left. He proved that the way to deal with the people who are intent on destroying history, art, statues, or people who do not support their ideology. His “crime” was to praise small towns in his music and to highlight the dysfunction and crime of the big cities.

In an article published at The Daily Signal, Jarrett Stepman shared some of the lyrics from Aldean’s song, “Try That in a Small Town.” 

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk,

Carjack an old lady at a red light,

Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store.

Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like….

Well, try that in a small town.

See how far ya make it down the road.

Around here, we take care of our own.

You cross that line, it won’t take long

For you to find out. I recommend you don’t

Try that in a small town.

Although most clear-thinking Americans understand that Aldean was referencing the increasing crime and lawbreaking in big cities – most of which are not governed by conservatives. Aldean dared to show clips of crimes from recent years – the BLM riots for one. The Left tried to make Aldean disappear. Instead, Aldean did not apologize nor did he back down. In addition, his song shot to number one on iTunes.

“In the past 24 hours, I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a son that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean tweeted in response on Tuesday. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”

He added that the song “refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.”

Stepman reminded his readers that there are people in our nation who care only about political and cultural power, and they will destroy any individual or organization that seeks to oppose them. They are pushing corporations to denounce their opponents, but Americans have drawn a red line, which they will not cross.

Bud Light has not done so well since they sought to appease the power seekers. Beer drinkers decided to spend their money on assorted brands of beer other than Bud Light. The film “Sound of Freedom” has earned more than $100 million despite all the negative things said about it. Aldean stood strong against the power mob, and his song shot to the top. However, he will be slung to the side by both the Left and conservatives if he caves.

Stepman concluded his article by noting that nothing is gained by bowing to the power mob. “And when a man stands against the mob, we need to make sure great and powerful forces will come to his aid.” He ended with “’Try that in a small town’ should be the new ‘come and take it’ response to attempts at cancellation by our noxious cultural elites.”

Is Affirmative Action Dead?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is racial preferences for admission to college. On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled on a vote of 6-3 that the 14^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not permit “affirmative action” and other race-preferential systems of discrimination for admission to college. Chief Justice John Roberts shared his opinion that white and Asian students were directly discriminated against under affirmative action.

The Biden administration does not agree. According to Tony Kinnett, the Biden administration claims that the court’s ruling “limited a vital tool that many institutions of higher education and post-secondary institutions have used for decades to help create vibrant, diverse campus communities.” 

Kinnett also reported that President Joe Biden claimed that no students were discriminated against by affirmative action. “Many people wrongly believe that affirmative action allows unqualified students – unqualified students – to be admitted ahead of qualified students. This is not – this is not how college admissions work.” Kinnett calls Biden’s statement “objectively false” and explained why.

Several class-action lawsuits reveal that universities like Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (the two defendants in the Supreme Court case) accepted “black and brown” students with lower standardized test scores while limiting the number of Asian students who could enter, regardless of the Asian students’ test scores.

Affirmative action allowed university admissions offices to limit students with higher test scores in the name of “racial equity and diversity” by suggesting that a student’s skin color had more value than merit did.

GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, outlined the chances of students’ admission based on color if they applied to Harvard University before the court’s ruling…:

At Harvard, an Asian applicant with academics in the top 10% has a 12.7% chance of getting in. But with the same grades and test scores, a black student has a 56.1% chance. In fact, race is determinative for at least 45% of black and Hispanic applicants to Harvard.

The Biden administration is attempting to work around this court ruling just he is also working to find a way for student loans to be paid by taxpayers. Biden does not care who is treated unfairly because he is just interested in getting votes.

How Does Heavenly Father Teach His Children?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Acts 10-15 in a lesson titled “The Words of God Grew and Multiplied.” The lesson was preceded by these words of counsel: “Read Acts 10-15 carefully, allowing time for the Spirit to prompt you with thoughts and feelings. What is there for you to learn in these chapters?” The lesson was introduced by this paragraph: 

During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ often challenged people’s long-held traditions and beliefs. This didn’t stop after He ascended into heaven, as He continued to guide His Church by revelation. For example, during Jesus’s life His disciples preached the gospel only to fellow Jews. But soon after the Savior died and Peter became the leader of the Church on earth, Jesus Christ revealed to Peter that the time was right for the gospel to be preached to non-Jews. The idea of sharing the gospel with Gentiles doesn’t seem surprising today, so what’s the lesson in this account for us? Perhaps one lesson is that in both the ancient and modern Church, a loving Savior guides His chosen leaders (see Amos 3:7; Doctrine and Covenants 1:38). Continuing revelation is a vistal sign of the true and living Church of Jesus Christ. Like Peter, we must be willing to accept continuing revelation and live “by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), including “all that [He] has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the “many great and important things” He will yet reveal “pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Articles of Faith 1:9).

The principle for discussion today is found in Acts 10; 11:1-18; 15: “Heavenly Father teaches me line upon line through revelation.” Acts 10 tells of two visions. The first vision came about 3:00 in the afternoon to “Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,” in Caesarea (Acts 10:1-3). Cornelius was a “devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2).

In the vision, an angel told Cornelius that God had heard his prayers and knew of his almsgiving (Acts 10:2). The angel also told Cornelius to “send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do” (Acts 10:5-6). After the angel left, Cornelius “called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually” and told them what had happened and sent them to Joppa (Acts 10:7-8).

As the men of Cornelius were traveling, Peter was upon the housetop praying while lunch was being prepared. He saw heaven open, and a vessel (something like a sheet) tied at the corners coming down. In the vessel, there “were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air” (Acts 10:11). Peter was told to kill the animals and to eat them even though they were considered to be “unclean” or not acceptable for Jews to eat. Peter refused, saying that he had never eaten common or unclean meat. The voice came a second time, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15). The same thing happened a third time, and then the vessel was raised back into heaven.

While Peter was wondering if he had actually seen the animals and heard the voice, the men sent by Cornelius arrived at Simon’s house and asked for Simon Peter. The Spirit said to Peter, “Behold three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them” (Acts 10:19-20).

Peter went downstairs and presented himself to the men and asked why they were there. They told him of the vision seen by Cornelius. Peter invited the men to come into the house for the night, and they left for Caesarea on the morrow. Peter and several men from Joppa accompanied them. Long story short, Peter taught the gospel to Cornelius and his household, and they were baptized and received the Holy Ghost.

Other Church leaders is Jerusalem heard that the gospel of Jesus Christ was taken to the Gentiles, and they did not receive the news well. When Peter returned to Jerusalem, he told his story of receiving the vision three times and being told to go with the men to Cornelius. When he finished telling his experiences, the men were satisfied.

Even though Jesus Christ no longer lives on earth, He continues to direct His Church through His prophets and apostles. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke in the April 2020 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the topic “The Blessing of Continuing Revelation to Prophets and Personal Revelation to Guide Our Lives.” 

Today I will speak on continuing revelation to prophets and continuing personal revelation to guide our lives….

We were blessed this morning to hear our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, deliver a profound bicentennial proclamation to the world with respect to the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This seminal declaration by President Nelson has made it clear that the Church of Jesus Christ owes its origin, existence, and direction for the future to the principle of continuous revelation. The new proclamation represents a loving Father’s communication to His children.

In an earlier day, President Spencer W. Kimball expressed the feelings I have today. He stated: “Of all things, that … we should be most grateful [for] is that the heavens are indeed open and that the restored church of Jesus Christ is founded upon the rock of revelation. Continuous revelation is indeed the very lifeblood of the gospel of the living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Just as Jesus Christ speaks to the leaders of His Church in all ages, He also speaks to individuals. Although He may appear to prophets, He usually speaks to regular people through the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost speaks to an individual, He does so by sending thoughts into our minds and feelings into our hearts. Sometimes, messages come in dreams. Whenever I have received messages in dreams, I understood that the dream was different from normal dreams.