Transhumanism And The Imagination

From Berean Research:

C. S. Carmichael of Sacred Sandwich has written an exposé on Transhumanism that is an important read.  Carmichael gives the definition right off the bat (so we won’t) and reveals the reasons we should feel uneasy about some of the things science has accomplished in the field of artificial intelligence.  It is mind blowing stuff, brethren.  He begins with Scripture:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. – Isaiah 55:8

“You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.” – Yahweh, Psalm 50:21

“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man…” – Paul, Romans 1:22-23

Since many people in America today, including some Christians, clamor for all things fantastical in their personal search for augmented meaning, instead of resting in God’s pure word and the attending Holy Spirit to guide their spiritual understanding, it would be prudent for thoughtful believers to consider this current pathway of metaphysical delights, its brash direction, and where it will eventually end. Indeed, the signposts on this broad road have already been erected, if only Christians enthralled with inventive speculations would stop and see the illumined markers of its ultimate destination: Transhumanism.

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Why Evangelicals Are Still Backing Roy Moore

Boston Globe has the story:

Allegations that Roy Moore sexually assaulted teenage girls decades ago have turned many Republicans against their party’s Senate candidate in Alabama, but one bloc of conservative leaders is standing by their man: evangelicals.

It is the latest example of a shift in attitude among Christian conservatives, who polls show are increasingly willing to overlook sexual misbehavior if a political leader is firmly committed to opposing abortion, gay marriage, and transgender rights.

In today’s hyperpartisan environment, ideology trumps personal transgressions for these religious leaders, who years ago called on President Clinton to resign over his liaisons with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

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Evangelical Republican lawmaker resigns after being caught having sex with another man in his office

According to Wisconsin Gazette:

An Ohio state lawmaker who won his office with strong support from the religious right has resigned after being caught having “inappropriate conduct with another man” in his official office.

State Rep. Wes Goodman, 33, was a rising star among evangelical Christian voters. He opposed same-sex marriage and a woman’s right to choose whether to give birth.

He’s married and has a daughter.

The Lord’s rest

7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. 10 “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. 11 “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.” Psalms 95:7-11 (NASB) 

In last night’s post, “There are only two groups of people in the world; there are Christians, the elect, and everyone else”, we looked at Hebrews 3:7-19, which is the first part of the writer of Hebrews’ exposition of Psalms 95:7-11. This part of Psalms 95, a song of praise, is a call for professors of faith to not harden their hearts like the Israelites in the Exodus, but to believe and obey God and, therefore, enter into His rest. In last night’s post I used Hebrews 3:7-11 to contrast those who have faith from those who do not. Those with the faith that saves, πιστις, believe God and obey Him. These will enter into God’s rest. On the other hand, those in unbelief, απιστιας, do not believe God and, therefore, disobey Him. I used this contrast in an attempt to show how the Emergent form of “Christianity” is not Christianity at all because it is based entirely in απιστιας. This is true because its leaders attack God’s Truth as absolute truth. In fact, they elevate uncertainty about everything as a virtue and attempt to say that certainty about anything is arrogance in action. View article →

There are only two groups of people in the world; there are Christians, the elect, and everyone else

21 Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel, 22 Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation. Psalms 78:21-22 (NASB) 

There are only two groups of people in the world. There are Christians, the elect, and everyone else, the non-elect. What separates them? What is the difference? It is not that different streams of faith, which are all equal and going to the same place. No, that is what the Emergents are selling, but that is most definitely not what God’s Word explicitly says. No, the difference between those in Christ and everyone else is that the former are possessors of faith, which is the Greek word πίστις, which is transliterated as pistis. It and it’s many grammatical forms are translated as “assurance,” “faith,” ”belief,” et cetera throughout the New Testament. Before we define “unbelief,” let us define biblical faith, πιστις, so that we can see very clearly what marks the true believer from the false professor. View article →

Hillsong’s Carl Lentz Tells Christians Labeling Him a Coward: ‘You and I Know a Different Jesus’

From Berean Research:

“Hillsong is seen as this hip, progressive church that’s drawn huge millennial crowds, but it’s still evangelical,” co-host of “The View” Sara Haines stated to Cark Lentz. “So, where do you stand on social issues that young people are particularly passionate about, like gay marriage [and] abortion? Like, how do you address those types of things?” His response:  “God is the judge.” Lenz went on to say that he’d prefer to know a person’s name and beliefs before making a determination as to whether or not they have sinned.  Christians reacted with anger about the way in which Carl Lentz represented Christ and His church. When given an opportunity to contend earnestly for the Christian faith (Jude 1:3) he failed miserably. Some called him a coward.

Well, the pastor took umbrage at all the criticism he was receiving and responded by saying that Christians who have issues with his comments follow a different Jesus.

Churchwatch Central, a blog that has reported on Hillsong Church for a number of years, makes the case that it is actually Hillsong that follows a very…different…Jesus.  Now listen as CWC presents the evidence:

Celebrity pastor Carl Lentz with his pal “bad boy” mega star Justin Bieber

Brian Houston says that Hillsong started with his father Frank Houston back in 1977, known then as Christian Life Center. In 2014, a Royal Commission discovered that the founder Frank Houston was a serial pedophile and had his crimes covered up by his son, Brian Houston from as early as 1999 (see evidence of Royal Commission Case 18 – specifically Brian Houston’s correspondence with Barbara Taylor, AOG Executive and victim AHA).

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Black and Hispanic Democrats Break from Whites on Transgender Beliefs

According to CNSNews:

In its latest poll, Pew surveyed on transgenderism views of a nationally representative panel of randomly selected 4,573 U.S. adults recruited from landline and cellphone random-digit-dial (RDD) surveys between Aug. 8 and Sept. 28, 2017.

A majority (54%) of all Americans said that whether a person is a man or a woman is determined by “the sex they were assigned at birth,” while 44% said “it can be different.”

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Former Google Exec Says Artificial Intelligence is ‘God,’ Creates New Religion

The following story from CBN News is posted for informational and research purposes and not as an endorsement of the site.

Artificial intelligence is already disrupting employment, recreation, the economy–and now religion.

A former Google executive is so inspired by artificial intelligence, that he’s creating its first church. Anthony Levandowski says AI should be seen as a God because it’s smarter than any human being.

“It’s not a god in the sense that it makes lightning or causes hurricanes. But if there is something a billion times smarter than the smartest human, what else are you going to call it,” Levandowski told Wired.

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The 5 Tests of False Doctrine

“It is our sacred responsibility to examine every doctrine to determine if it is true or false,” says Tim Challies. “But how can we distinguish sound doctrine from false? How can we distinguish teachers of truth from teachers of error? Today I have a new video blog for you [vlog], and one that deals with this pressing topic: I offer five tests that can be applied to any doctrine. I hope you find it helpful!”  Tim now offers his viewers a vlog. We have a choice to either watch the video or read the transcript.

Transcript

Wherever you find true doctrine you’ll soon find a challenge by false doctrine. The question is: how can you tell the two apart? … In this video we are considering the 5 tests of true and false doctrine. These are 5 tests we can apply to any doctrine at all to know whether it’s genuine or whether it’s fraudulent.

The first test is the test of origin. Sound doctrine originates with God. False doctrines originates from someone or something created by God. So when Paul wrote to the church in Galatia he said: “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12, ESV). Even Jesus himself insisted, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16, ESV). Both Paul and Jesus insisted that what they taught had its origin with God himself.

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Wage the Good Warfare

Fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18b-19).

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul says of himself, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul is speaking the words of a man who is about to leave the battle of life. But here in 1 Timothy is Paul’s word to this young Christian, probably in his early or mid-twenties, who is being left to do a very dangerous and demanding work in Ephesus. The apostle tells him to fight the good fight.

The fundamental nature of Christianity is that it is a warfare in which we are all involved; and there is no exit until the end. The moment you began your Christian life, by faith in Jesus Christ, you entered a lifelong battle. And this struggle is not intended to be easy. Many Christians today forget that. Spread around somewhat by a lot of misleading teaching is a widespread attitude today that when you become a Christian, God begins working for you, so everything has to work out the way you want it to. People are being taught that they are in the will of God because bridges appear mysteriously across the chasms of life. Rubbish! If that is the sign of being in God’s will, then Paul was out of God’s will most of his life. He knew he was in a battle, and he tells Timothy that he too is going to be in a battle.

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The Nashville ‘Megachurch’ that embraced gay marriage two years ago has cratered

Denny Burk, Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, reminds us that what happened is a “sad but predictable result of a pastor who leads a church to apostatize from the Christian faith. Walking away from Jesus is not a catalyst for church growth. On the contrary, it is the catalyst for church death.” Burk begins his piece with a video that can be viewed on his page. Following is his perspective on this situation:

Two years ago TIME magazine highlighted an evangelical “megachurch” whose pastor had led the congregation to affirm gay marriage and to welcome LGBT persons as full members of the church (see the sermon announcement above from two years ago). The story made quite a splash at the time, even though many pointed out that the church wasn’t really a megachurch and could hardly be seen as a bellwether of things to come.

Yesterday, the website “Juicy Ecumenism” reported that the church has cratered over the last two years. From the report:

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What You Need to Tell Your Local Public School Officials About Children and Mindfulness Meditation

From Berean Research:

In a piece we posted by Pam Frost titled  The Interface of Medieval Mysticism and Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation we wrote in the intro:

What is the goal of mysticism? According to [Pam] Frost, “the goal is ‘to alter one’s perception of reality, redefining the self, the world, and the Divine according to mystical intuitions of Universal Consciousness as Ultimate Reality. Thus mysticism serves as the basis for a collective spirituality that transcends religious distinctions and is therefore the force behind the growing interfaith movement in which ‘Christian’ mysticism plays an important role.”

Research shows that there are dangers associated with mindfulness and meditation. We’re posting a piece by Lighthouse Trails (LHT) that includes a list of some of those dangers. Now to the obvious question: Why are public schools teaching children to do something that can cause them harm? Two examples are visual hallucinations and psychotic depression — and there are many more dangers listed.

LHT has put together an outline of how to address this issue with school officials:

Today we received a call from a concerned woman who found out that a local public school was about to introduce mindfulness meditation to children at the school. She called the school and has been granted a 5-minute time slot at an upcoming school meeting to explain why the school should not teach mindfulness meditation to children. During our phone conversation with the concerned woman, we developed a short outline of how to address this issue with school officials. Meditation (and Yoga) will soon be practiced in most public schools in America. …

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What Does Russell Moore and These Leftist God-Haters Have in Common? More Than You Might Expect…

According to Pulpit & Pen News:

Vice, which is among the top one hundred websites in America, ran an article about “The Woke Young People Trying to Make Christianity Cool Again.”  The term, Woke, is urban slang originating with the pop-culture film, The Matrix, and refers to someone who has been awakened to the important cultural realities around them (for those of you not hip enough to dig their jive). Highlighted in the article are five up-and-coming “Christian” leaders who are breaking stereotypes about evangelicals not being bleeding heart, gay-affirming, environmentalist Marxists.

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To the ones who love God, He works all things together for their good according to His purpose

28 And we know that to the ones who love God, He works all things together for their good according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

In last night’s post, God’s purpose in our discouragement, I shared a great deal of how God had used my circumstances over the last several years, in and out of the fires of tribulation, to transform me according to His will. I shared how this should be an encouragement for us not a discouragement. In this post, we will look at some of those “circumstances” in greater detail. View article →

Three Bad Arguments against Life Beginning at Conception

In a piece over at Stand to Reason, Amy K. Hall lists three ways pro-aborts use to try and convince us that life doesn’t begin at conception and that embryonic humans are not valuable human beings. Anyone who has a heart will find their reasoning both infuriating and horrifying. Hall writes:

A recent article on Romper argues “3 Ways Science Proves Life Doesn’t Begin at Conception,” and the arguments are not good ones. To begin with, the author is not actually arguing that embryonic humans are not alive (this is clear, since she also argues we should be allowed to kill them). Rather, she’s arguing that these reasons prove embryonic human beings are not valuablehuman life.

To test whether her reasons prove embryonic human beings are not valuable—i.e., 1) many embryos die, 2) many embryos have genetic abnormalities, and 3) embryos can’t survive without receiving sustenance from another human being—I’ve slightly adjusted the words of the three points in her article in order to apply her value-determining principles to newborns. Since we’re not used to hearing these arguments made about newborns, you’ll hear them with fresh ears, which should provide some clarity. See if you find them convincing.

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Who is Rodney Howard-Browne? Meet the Holy Ghost Bartender

Pulpit & Pen News examines the teaching of New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) wingnut Rodney Howard-Browne:

There’s a reason you need to know Rodney Howard- Browne. That reason will be made known soon. In the meantime, we bring you this short expose’ on Browne so that you can be apprised of this dangerous enemy of Christ.

Brown is the pastor of The River at Tampa Bay and is head of a parachurch ministry called revival Ministries International. He is from South Africa, came to the United States in 1987, and currently lives in Florida.  Browne received notoriety in 1999 when revivals he was hosting in upstate New York spread to Canada. He was involved in the Lakeland Revival and the Toronto Blessing. Browne is best known as the “Holy Ghost Bartender” because the manifestations of demonic power that emanate from his services causes the congregation – and Browne himself – to appear drunken. Also associated with Browne are fits of “Holy laughter,” in which people laugh uncontrollably. Although the laughter and drunkenness manifestation did not begin with Browne (Hagin also engaged in such chicanery), it is the most prominent feature of his ministry. First, a video from the proto-laughing-drunk, Kenneth Hagin.

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What is The ‘Vision of the Waves’?

From Churchwatch Central:

While traveling in the Bahamas in 1956 as part of a gospel quartet, NAR Apostle Loren Cunningham claimed to receive a vision from God. It is often known as the ‘Vision of the Waves’.

Not only did this vision help launch his YWAM movement, it inspired many Charismatic/NARismatic leaders to try and get a vision from God to do similar mission work. Below is a video of Loren Cunningham talking about this vision – but also notice his theology.

Right from the beginning, we can say whatever gave him this vision was not of God but most likely from Satan himself. The reason for this claim is the false NAR gospel, the false NAR Jesus and the NAR mantras that accompany his theology in the remaining part of the second video.

We will be referring back to this vision in future articles. In the mean time, we hope you find the video and transcript below informative.

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God’s purpose in our discouragement

23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Genesis 40:23 (NASB)

My natural tendency is to heartily participate in self-pity, outrage, and unforgiveness thereby opening doors in my heart that Satan enters causing me to become discouraged. When this happens to me, I find that my circumstances drive me to become very negative and impatient. I suppose that this is one of my besetting sins which clings closely to me, ready to cut in on me causing me to drop out of the race God has set before me to run with endurance. (Hebrews 12:1-2) My sense of joy that strengthens me as I run this race comes from looking unto Jesus. My focus has dropped from Him to me and my circumstances. When this happens the slide into self-absorption is very quick. I suddenly find myself in this ugly spiritually flat mood whose fuel seems to be anger. I have often pondered how this happens. Prior to my personal restoration in 2004-2005 I was probably in this mood or mode the majority of the time. Since then, however, these falls into this dark ditch have been rare enough so that when I find myself there I am very surprised. Now, I implore the Lord and ask why this has happened. Why am I so full of joy on Tuesday and so fleshly and down on Wednesday? View article →

Texas defends dismemberment abortion ban

Does it matter that womb babies don’t receive a humane death? Clearly it doesn’t matter to abortion mill and seller of harvested body parts Planned Parenthood, as you will see in Samantha Gobba’s story over at World. She writes:

Should abortionists be allowed to end the life of an unborn baby by pulling it apart, or should they remove it piecemeal only after its heart has stopped beating?

The answer, at least in Texas, depends on the outcome of a trial concluded last week over a new state law banning dismemberment abortions. The law, passed in June, requires abortionists to use other methods besides dismemberment—such as clipping the umbilical cord or injecting digoxin or potassium chloride to stop the baby’s heart—before removing it from its mother’s womb.

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Lessons From a Scandal of Hollywood Sized Proportions

It’s hard to imagine anyone who watches the news not knowing about the accusations of sexual harassment, and in some cases rape, against Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman and several other heavy-hitters who work in the entertainment industry. Jordan Standridge of The Cripplegate challenges Christians to learn from these situations and think through how we can stop these kind of things from happening. To that end, Standridge lays out three key issues with King David at the time of his sin with Bathsheba that will help us in our fight against sin and temptation. He writes:

We keep getting flooded with story after story of people who knew the Harvey Weinsteins and Kevin Spaceys of the world were up to no good, and yet no one seemed to have the courage to say anything. A quick look at all the scandals in the Roman Catholic church or the Penn State situation shows that this problem is pervasive throughout, not only America but the entire world.

As we keep seeing these people be exposed for their gross sin, we can’t help but be reminded of another man, one more near and dear to our hearts as believers, and the incredibly shocking sin that he did which is exposed in the Bible.

It’s fascinating to think about how easily David’s sin could have been prevented.

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Related: Hollywood’s Plunge Into the Bottomless Pit

Australians Vote in Favor of Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ in Nationwide Postal Survey

Christian News reports:

Australians have voted emphatically in support of same-sex marriage, paving the way for parliament to legalize homosexual unions before the end of the year.

Some 61.6 percent of the more than 12 million people who took part in the government-run postal survey backed same-sex “marriage,” with 38.4 percent against, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced on Wednesday. While the voluntary survey doesn’t legally bind parliament, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the public “overwhelmingly” backed changing the law and urged lawmakers to respect the outcome.

“We must respect the voice of the people,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra. “We asked them for their opinion and they have given it to us. It is unequivocal. It is overwhelming.”

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Boldness is not insolence

7 Of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God having been given to me according to the working of his power. 8 To me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given to the gentiles to preach the unsearchable wealth of Christ 9 and to enlighten all men as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages in God, the one who created all things 10 that it might be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies through the Church the many faceted wisdom of God 11 according to the plan of the ages, which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord 12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him. 13 Therefore, I ask you not to despair concerning my afflictions for you, which is for your glory. Ephesians 3:7-13 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

If you have been reading our last several posts then you know that God has had me focusing quite a bit on humility contrasted with pride. Pride in Christians is never right. However, if we are honest, we must all agree that that there is a growing disrespect for God in today’s various teachings on prayer along with current expressions in contemporary worship. My brethren, these things are products of pride! While boldness does mean that those who are truly in Christ need not have any inhibitions as they come before God, they must still never forget that God is God. To treat God as if he is a “buddy,” to bring him down to our level in any way, is truly blasphemous. It is insolence in action to do any other than respect and worship God as he deserves. He is not our “buddy” or “pal,” but our heavenly Father and our God. What does it mean to come before him in boldness while not being insolent? View article →

Perry Noble Uses Filthy Hollywood PR Guy to Threaten P&P With Legal Action; Takes Article Offline

Before we get to the Pulpit & Pen story, Berean Research reports that there have been some significant developments in Perry Noble’s threat to bring legal action against P&P.  The Christian community should be made aware of what’s going on, as this is very troubling. Berean Research informs us that,

This is a developing story. Whatever your opinion on the elements of the article, the most disturbing of all is the idea that anyone could remove a blogger’s post from his or her site without that blogger or site owner knowing. Updates will be posted here.

Now to P&P’s report:

That’s a first. A post we published about Perry Noble threatening us with legal action completely disappeared from our website. It has also been taken down from Church Watch Central, a site that also ran the story. We reached out to Church Watch Central, and they were told that we (that is, Pulpit & Pen) removed the article because they brought legal action against us and we agreed it was erroneous. That did not happen. Not only did they not bring legal action (they only threatened it), we did not take the article down. Frederick’s outfit lied. The article they threatened us about, in fact, is still up online.   View article →

Related: Has Facebook Become the New Confessional?

ABC, NBC, CBS Confronted with ‘Alarming’ Proof of Bias by House Media Fairness Caucus

CNSNews reports:

The Media Research Center-documented “depth of bias” by broadcast networks is putting the nation’s very democracy at risk, the leaders of the House Media Fairness Caucus said in letters to the presidents of ABC, CBS and NBC News Thursday, rebuking their lack of coverage of the Russian Uranium One scandal.

In their letter, Caucus co-chairmen Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Alex Mooney (R-WV) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) detail how “The Hill reported that Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, a role critical to the sale of Uranium One to the Russian state-controlled firm Rosatom. The House Intelligence Committee, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, opened an investigation into this deal.”

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Cross-Dressing ‘Queer Role Models’ Read to Toddlers to Stop ‘Hate Crimes’

In the UK grown men dressed as caricatures of women that are commonly called street walkers are being brought into nursery schools as “queer role models” for two and three-year-olds. Breitbart reports that “In The Times, veteran journalist Janice Turner said children in Britain are being ‘sacrificed’ to appease the transgender lobby, pointing to the huge rise in children attending clinics for “gender identity issues.”

In October we reported that in this country a very scary looking drag queen dressed as a “Killer Klown from Outer Space” recently read to children at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library for “LGBTQ History Month.”

A few months ago we reported that the Canadian parents of an 8-year-old boy encouraged their young son, who goes by the name of “Lactatia,” to become a drag queen. During an interview the boy said that if one’s parents will not allow them to be a drag queen, “you need new parents.”

Now to Breitbart’s story on what recently happened in the UK:

Drag Queen Story Time (DQST) holds sessions at taxpayer-funded schools, community centres, and libraries at which children learn songs about “transgender” teddy bears, as cross-dressers teach about homophobia, misogyny, and racism, and read books which promote ‘queer’ and LGBT lifestyles.

The project  — which nursery bosses say will help children “see people who defy rigid gender restrictions”  — is to hold sessions at seven nurseries run by the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) over the winter, which if successful will be rolled out across all the foundation’s 37 sites, the Mail on Sunday reports.

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