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Like a Tweet, Lose a Lease
Family Research Council ^ | June 10, 2020 | Tony Perkins

Posted on 06/11/2020 7:56:06 AM PDT by ibheath

Most people don't scroll through their Twitter feed thinking a few simple clicks will change their life. But for Birmingham Pastor Chris Hodges, who's been a friend of mine for years, a handful of "likes" were all it took to make the biggest church in Alabama homeless.

You can lose your lease a lot of ways -- if you fall behind on payments, abuse the property, or follow conservative media. Like most people Chris Hodges probably didn't think a quick tap of support for posts on Donald Trump or China's role in the coronavirus would amount to much of anything. Turns out, he was wrong. A local English teacher decided to catalogue Hodges's "likes" and share them with the press. Little did anyone know, it would be the beginning of the end of the church's services at two local high schools.

"I do not attend Church of the Highlands," teacher Jasmine Clisby said openly. And, she insisted, "I can't see into Pastor Chris Hodges's heart." But his support for what she considered "culturally insensitive" views is "troubling." "I would be upset if it comes off as me judging him," she said without a hint of irony. "I'm not saying he's a racist." But thanks to her smear campaign, the Birmingham Board of Education is.

On Tuesday night, members voted to abruptly terminate the church's lease -- ending a six-year relationship that brought the city almost a million dollars in revenue. Thanks to this ridiculous complaint, Parker and Woodlawn High Schools will no longer be home to a diverse congregation of 60,000. But unfortunately for the needy people of Alabama, that's just the beginning. Because of this manufactured controversy, the church's Christ Health Clinic will also be banned from operating, according to the Birmingham Housing Authority, who also decided Monday to ban volunteer workers.

"Commissioners agreed," their statement said, "that Pastor Hodges's views do not reflect those of [the Housing authority] and its residents... HABD and Campus of Hope staff will continue to work with other faith-based organizations in the community to identify resources that will replace the services that were provided." Starting immediately, the church is banned from the city's public housing communities. That means no more free COVID testing, no more free mentoring, health, or social service ministry -- all because Pastor Chris dared to do what millions of Americans do every day: engage on social media.

Even more incredibly, both councils went ahead with these mob tactics despite the pastor's sincere apologies -- which, in most people's opinion, weren't even necessary! (If supporting Donald Trump is now grounds for eviction, then America is about to have a lot of empty properties on its hands.) And yet, Pastor Hodges did the humble and gracious thing, telling his congregation -- and the community -- that he was sorry for any hurt he'd caused. He called it a mistake. He said he owned it. He pledged to never mindlessly scroll again and explained how he was trying to use his influence to heal the hurts of these difficult times.

None of that mattered to the mob, who not only ignored Pastor Chris' work in their neighborhoods but the church's standing in the minority community. At least a third of the Highlands' congregations are black and Hispanic. If anything, Hodges was respected for fighting for the disenfranchised, for preaching about healing and reconciliation. As recently as last Sunday, he called the city to mutual understanding, peace, and prayer. But in this "cancel culture," those 20 years of bridge-building don't matter to liberals bent on burning down any platform but their own.

And unfortunately for Birmingham, their intolerance doesn't just affect the Church of the Highlands. It affects thousands of hurting neighborhoods, who leaned on Church of the Highlands for help it couldn't get anywhere else. These are the same people the Left wants us to believe they care about: the children, minorities, and poor. But in the end, we know -- they'll always care about punishing Christians more. We've seen it in the adoption debate, the foster care debate, even the virus outreach. Now, to no one's surprise, they're willing to let Birmingham families suffer over a handful of "likes."

Imagine if we held everyone by that standard. If we combed through these public servants' accounts, what would we find? Political objectivity or the raging hatred and bitterness that's led to these baseless attacks? "I would love for you," Pastor Hodges urged, "to not just look at a microscopic zoom-in but look at the totality of 37 years of ministry and 19 years as a church. If you look at that, it will be abundantly clear that we value every person." Unfortunately for Birmingham and so many others, the Left cannot say the same.

Tony Perkins's Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: alabama; cancelculture; church; internet; racism; technotyranny; twitter
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1 posted on 06/11/2020 7:56:06 AM PDT by ibheath
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To: ibheath

We’ve lost, without a shot fired. This is so damn depressing.


2 posted on 06/11/2020 7:57:36 AM PDT by CatOwner
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To: CatOwner

We’ve lost, without a shot fired. This is so damn depressing.


I really don’t see it as losing. I see it as letting the enemy group in a killing field.


3 posted on 06/11/2020 8:03:10 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: CatOwner

Then make them lose their damn leases. Make the NFL go bankrupt. Etc. do it.


4 posted on 06/11/2020 8:03:14 AM PDT by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: cuban leaf

My only hope is that their victory is a Pyhrric one.


5 posted on 06/11/2020 8:03:49 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: ibheath

Janet Clisby must now be shamed into losing her job.


6 posted on 06/11/2020 8:03:57 AM PDT by bwest
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To: ibheath

His apology shows that he is not on our side.


7 posted on 06/11/2020 8:04:31 AM PDT by BDParrish ( Please correct me! I never learned anything from anybody who already agreed with me.)
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To: ibheath

Say WHAT??? That church paid over a million dollars in six years??? Almost $200,000 a year rent? What a bunch of chumps.


8 posted on 06/11/2020 8:05:38 AM PDT by Texas Eagle
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To: dfwgator

It most definitely is.

They are winning a lot of those lately. The House impeachment was one.


9 posted on 06/11/2020 8:06:07 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: ibheath

See, I really think apologizing is the biggest mistake possible, because it convinces them that they are right. Then they feel justified in doing anything they want to you. Never hand over moral authority to these people, it’s like giving children a gun.


10 posted on 06/11/2020 8:06:31 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady (The greatest wealth is to live content with little. -Plato)
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To: CatOwner; ibheath

So why doesn’t Jasmine Clisby pay a price for this?

Since when is she the arbiter of what is permissible and what is not?


11 posted on 06/11/2020 8:06:56 AM PDT by sauropod (Quarantine is when you restrict sick people, tyranny is when you restrict healthy people.)
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To: ibheath

This is religious discrimination and would not survive a lawsuit. It’s cut and dry.


12 posted on 06/11/2020 8:07:53 AM PDT by Persevero (I am afraid propriety has been set at naught. - Jane Austen)
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To: ibheath

So the problem appears to be using government property (i.e. schools) for their church services? I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.


13 posted on 06/11/2020 8:08:38 AM PDT by Sans-Culotte (With every passing day, I am a little bit gladder that Romney lost in 2012.)
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To: CatOwner

There is one way to fight back. Cut your cable tv.


14 posted on 06/11/2020 8:09:28 AM PDT by joshua c
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To: Williams

Cut your cable tv.


15 posted on 06/11/2020 8:09:54 AM PDT by joshua c
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To: ibheath

The takeaway? Stay off so-called “social” media sites. From their very inception, they have revealed themselves as being a useful tool of the world.


16 posted on 06/11/2020 8:10:24 AM PDT by loveliberty2 (`)
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To: dfwgator

“My only hope is that their victory is a Pyhrric one.”

They don’t care. A victory is a victory. They are what they accuse other. They are full of hate.


17 posted on 06/11/2020 8:11:09 AM PDT by alternatives? (Why have an army if there are no borders?)
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To: ibheath

Don’t rent your church space from Caesar and this can’t happen.


18 posted on 06/11/2020 8:12:21 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: ibheath

Come we pray Jesus. We are lost.


19 posted on 06/11/2020 8:12:40 AM PDT by Drango (1776 = 2020)
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To: Persevero
This is religious discrimination and would not survive a lawsuit. It’s cut and dry.

BLM obeisance and cancel culture is working it's way into the judiciary. The leftist mindset is already deeply entrenched there; it doesn't take much nudging for to it to embrace new progressive nitwittery.

20 posted on 06/11/2020 8:15:32 AM PDT by Spirochete (GOP: Gutless Old Party)
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