'Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted'

Matthew 5:10

This is Holy Week, commemorating the period between the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem and his Last Supper with disciples, his crucifixion on the cross, and his resurrection as the son of God, our Lord and Savior. History’s greatest narrative.

It is also the week that NBA Star Jaden Ivey was fired by the Chicago Bulls for speaking out against the “unrighteous” policies of transgenderism.

‘Everything I preach is about Jesus Christ and they fired me. They say I'm crazy, that I'm a psychopath... God lets these things happen for a reason... When I entered the league, all I wanted was to win championships, get millions of dollars, get all those cars, that was all I wanted, until the Lord showed me. What good is it to gain the world and lose your soul?’

The most astonishing thing about this assertion is how many big league players rose to say Amen. In a culture that prizes Pride Month as a badge of woke ideology, Sam Hauser, Caris Levert, Dorian Finney-Smith— all said they stood with Ivey, that they would risk their fancy, fat contracts to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ironies were lost on no one. Said Pastor Andy Webb, “Things you can do and NOT get cut from the Chicago Bulls roster: ‘Punch a teammate in the face, causing multiple fractures; Get arrested for DUI at twice the legal limit; Head-butt a referee; Batter your spouse.’ Things that WILL get you cut: Call gay pride unrighteous.”

This was also the week Bishop Baron castigated the New York Times for its “absurd” denial that more 52,000 Nigerians have been killed for their belief in Jesus Christ.

‘I suppose the editors of the paper of record feel that it was just an odd coincidence that a purportedly “tribal” and “economically motivated” assault took place on Palm Sunday. Anyone who studies these murders, that have taken place over many decades, and fails to see an anti-religious pattern is blind.’

The NYT editors are parroting a narrative that makes Muslims not the perpetrators but victims too. Pope Leo has also embraced this storyline, framing the violence as involving terrorism, economic factors, and land disputes. He has pushed back against descriptions of it strictly as “genocide” targeting only Christians.

The anti-Christian movement is also influencing the NFL, which arguably began the politicization of sport, in 2016, after quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the US National Anthem. Then, the NFL backed the corrupt Black Lives Matter organization, and invited players to wear ‘End Racism’ labels on their helmets.

Now, the NFL is considering suspending Patriots RB TreVeyon for his recent Bible verse posts. And the league fined Saints linebacker Demario Davis over $7,000 for wearing a headband that read, “MAN OF GOD.”

These mega-wealthy sports leagues are saluting transgenderism, and dissing God, all because they don’t want to offend Muslims and non-believers. Theirs is a special kind of secular hypocrisy. “We have a zero tolerance policy for intolerance,” explained the league. Except when it is waged against Christians.

Our founding fathers knew better. In a letter to the officers of the Massachusetts Militia, President John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

There is more.

Turns out the war on Christians is also a war on free speech.

Canadian lawmakers recently enacted a bill that would criminalize the Bible. If signed into law, it would decree that quoting scripture on marriage, sin or God’s design for sexuality could be prosecuted as “willful promotion of hatred.”

In Finland, Päivi Räsänen, who served in Parliament for more than 30 years, was convicted of hate speech for writing a church pamphlet she wrote two decades ago.

And in Britain, teacher Enoch Burke has been fired, banned from school grounds and jailed, for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a trans student.

By week’s end, Jaden Ivey was said to be negotiating a one-year, $6.5 million contract with the LA Lakers. I was surprised at the outreach from a team in a city that has embraced transgenderism. In 2023, the LA Dodgers hosted an LGBTQ+ activist and performance group known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who wore nuns’ habits for their drag show, mocking religion, during the team’s annual Pride Night.

Easter is the the most powerful holiday in the Christian calendar. In the UK, King Charles, titular head of the Church of England, has decided not to issue an Easter message this year. During Lent he gave official Ramadan messages from the palace.

In 2023, thousands of Christian fans marched in protest at Dodgers’ Stadium. In 2026, like the Nigerians, we must protest too, fighting attacks on the Christian religion.

All Glory to God.