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Nearly Four in 10 Young Adults Say They Are LGBTQ, Christian University Study Finds

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In one of the largest estimations of how many people identify as non-heterosexual, a 120-page study from a Christian University reveals nearly four in ten young adults count themselves as LGBTQ.

Religion and culture researcher, evangelical pollster, and now professor at Arizona Christian University in Phoenix, George Barna‘s Cultural Research Center has just published a report focused on Millennials.

Among its findings: 39% of those 18-24 identify as LGBTQ, and 25% of those 25-37 do as well. Overall, “nearly one-third of the Millennial cohort (30 percent) describes itself as LGBTQ.” Barna says that represents “roughly three times the proportion identified among the combined older adults of the nation.”

One-third of Millennials say they believe in God.

40 percent identify as liberal or progressive, just 29 percent as conservative.

“A record-breaking 40 percent of young adults fit the ‘Don’ts’ category,” says Barna, which he defines as “People who don’t know if God exists, don’t care if God exists, or don’t believe that He exists.”

There are more statistical surprises in Barna’s report.

The largest groups who identify as LGBTQ are those he lists as “no college” (34%), and live in the Midwest (35%).

And while 38% have no religion, more than one in four (28%) are Born-Again Christian, and 30% have children under the age of 18.

Last month Barna, as Right Wing Watch’s Peter Montgomery reported, “told religious-right activists at the Family Research Council’s ‘Pray Vote Stand’ summit … that it is their duty to try to indoctrinate other people’s children into a ‘biblical worldview.'”

So it’s not surprising Barna’s report includes a good deal of non-statistical editorializing.

On the increasing number of people who identify as LGBTQ he says: “Given the moral and political implications of such an identity, that self-characterization alone raises a range of emotional challenges.”

Related: Conservative Christian Pollster Calls for Imprinting a Biblical Worldview on Kids 15 to 18 Months Old

“Challenges to our mental health are to be expected,” Barna continues. “After all, most adults – and especially younger adults – now believe there is no absolute moral truth. A minority accept the Bible as a true and reliable guide for determining right and wrong. Only one-third of Millennials say they choose to always respect God and other people. No wonder young adults are feeling anxious, depressed and unsafe. Their own attitudes and those of other Americans have created an environment that cannot help but produce such feelings. Without any anchors for truth, emotions, decision-making, relational boundaries, or purpose, a sense of anomie and disconnectedness is only natural.”

Barna, who is also a senior research fellow at the Family Research Council’s Center for Christian Ethics and Biblical Worldview, (FRC appears on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups) doesn’t hold the rest of society, certainly not anti-LGBTQ hate groups or anti-LGBTQ faith-based groups, including conservative houses of worship, responsible for any of that.

Image via Shutterstock

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Lindsey Graham Admonished by Senate Ethics Committee

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U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been formally admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for violating ethics rules and standards by repeatedly soliciting campaign donations during an interview at the Capitol.

The bipartisan committee issued Graham a Public Letter of Admonition after the South Carolina Republican solicited donations for Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker.

“Based upon all available information, the Committee concluded that on November 30, 2022, you conducted a media interview with Fox News in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building and that your interview was slightly over nine minutes, with over four minutes devoted to a discussion of the 2022 senatorial run-off election in Georgia. The Committee further concluded that during your discussion of the senatorial run-off election, you directly solicited campaign contributions on behalf of Mr. Walker’s campaign committee, www.teamherschel.com, five separate times.”

The letter notes that Sen. Graham had previously violated the same standards when he solicited campaign donations in a federal building in October of 2020, but said it was an “unplanned media interview.” When a reporter had asked him about fundraising, Graham “directly solicited campaign contributions” for his re-election campaign.

READ MORE: Watch: GOP Lawmaker Orders Grieving Parkland Parents Removed From ‘ATF Overreach’ Hearing

The Committee noted “mitigating” circumstances and did not cite him for that violation.

“The public must feel confident that Members use public resources only for official actions in the best interests of the United States, not for partisan political activity,” the letter concludes. “Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby admonished.”

CNN’s Manu Raju posted the letter to social media.

You can read the letter below or at this link.

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‘Repercussions’: Biden White House Warns Uganda ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill Could Force US to Cancel $950 Million in Annual Aid

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The Biden administration may cancel the $950 million in annual assistance the U.S. provides to Uganda if President Yoweri Museveni signs into law its latest “Kill the Gays” bill, which calls for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and between ten and 20 years in prison for other LGBTQ “acts.”

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Wednesday made clear if Uganda further criminalizes homosexuality and the LGBTQ community there could be “repercussions that we would have to take.”

“That would be really unfortunate because so much of the economic assistance that we provide Uganda is health assistance,” Admiral Kirby said at a White House press briefing.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters Wednesday the Biden administration has “grave concerns” over the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), and “increasing violence targeting LGBTQIA+ persons.”

READ MORE: Florida GOP Lawmaker Who Wrote ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Facing Up to 35 Years After Pleading Guilty in COVID Fraud Case

“If the AHA is signed into law and enacted, it would impinge upon universal human rights, jeopardize progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, deter tourism and invest in Uganda and damage Uganda’s international reputation,” Jean-Pierre warned. “The bill is one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQI+ laws in the world.”

Kirby and Jean-Pierre’s remarks came on the same day as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” legislation, saying it “would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

“The United States provides more than $950 million in aid to Uganda each year, according to the State Department. The money supports development and health care measures, such as combating HIV/AIDS,” Courthouse News reported Wednesday. “Uganda is already among 30 African countries that ban same-sex relations. The new proposal would broaden penalties and appears to be the first to outlaw identifying as LGBTQ+, according to Human Rights Watch.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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‘Going Full Fascist’: Morning Joe Blasts Trump’s Latest ‘Dehumanizing’ Attack on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg

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Days after he wrongly claimed he would be arrested and urged his supporters to “protest,” Donald Trump unleashed a vicious and antisemitic attack against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and philanthropist and donor George Soros, leading “Morning Joe” Scarborough on MSNBC to declare the ex-president has gone “full fascist” and even “full Nazi.”

“I mean he’s just going full Nazi here, full fascist,” Scarborough said Thursday morning, just minutes after Trump’s remarks posted on social media.

“You’re doing the whole Jewish international banker thing and and dehumanizing him as an ‘animal,’ calling him an ‘animal,'” Scarborough said.

“That’s ugly,” Mika Brzezinski added.

“And that’s like like straight out of the playbook. Yeah, that’s really that’s really ugly. Yeah, it’s really interesting to see exactly what’s happened with Bragg. He hasn’t taken the bait.”

READ MORE: Trump Lawyer’s ‘Critical Evidence’ Will Help DOJ Make Decision to Charge ‘Without Significant Delay’: Former Prosecutor

Thursday morning, in an all-caps rant, Trump called District Attorney Bragg a “Soros backed animal who just doesn’t care about right or wrong no matter how many people are hurt.”

Scarborough was not being hyperbolic when he said Trump had gone “full Nazi.”

“This is no legal system, this is the Gestapo, this is Russia and China, but worse. Disgraceful!”

The Gestapo were Adolf Hitler’s Nazi secret police.

In a separate post Thursday morning, after his attack on Bragg, Trump again appeared to telegraph a call for violence, writing: “Everybody knows I’m 100% innocent, including Bragg, but he doesn’t care. He is just carrying out the plans of the radical left lunatics. Our country is being destroyed, as they tell us to be peaceful!”

It is possible the grand jury, which is meeting Thursday, could vote on an indictment of Trump. Some say any potential vote would not come before next week.

READ MORE: ‘National Security Implications’: Former DOJ Official Speculates on Ruling Ordering Trump Attorney to Hand Over Docs

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