Some members of the current Resistance Movement are becoming more violent. We see the violence on university campuses and in rallies in major cities. But it is worth remembering that much of this started even before the election of Donald Trump.

For example, the Occupy Wall Street movement began to protest what progressives believed must change in the financial industry. John Nolte writing in Breitbart.com kept a running tally of the rap sheet on these protesters. At last count he listed a total of 417 arrests or other offenses.

Pollster Douglas Schoen found that 52 percent of the Occupy protesters had “participated in a political movement before.” He also found that nearly a third (31%) said they would “support violence to advance their agenda.”

We have also seen this in environmental protests. Take the North Dakota pipeline protests. Law enforcement officials collected 41 pages of social media posts written against the police officers that had to confront the demonstrators. These had the names, addresses, and pictures of the officers with threats to “make their family pay.”

Earlier this month police in Tennessee charged a woman with felony reckless endangerment after she came after Republican member of Congress and attacked his car. An Obamacare supporter in North Dakota physically accosted a Republican member of Congress.

One writer in the Huffington Post argued that elected officials (especially Republicans) should “be hounded by protestors everywhere, especially in public—in restaurants, in shopping centers, in their districts, and yes, on the public property outside their homes and apartments, in Washington and back in their home states.”

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was accosted in an Apple store. Omarosa Manigault was accosted while shopping at a northern Virginia mall. We need leaders on both sides of the aisle to call for an end to the violence and call for everyone to practice civility.

Was an ABC sitcom cancelled due to Hollywood politics? Some viewers think so and started an online petition calling for a boycott of ABC. Two weeks ago, ABC News announced they were cutting Tim Allen’s show, “The Last Man Standing.” He responded with a short Twitter announcement: “Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years.”

Some viewers point to the show’s cancellation as a “clear victim of an attack on conservatives.” On the surface it would seem that this family comedy about a man who has strong conservative opinions about politics and culture got the axe because of those views. The show has been a mainstay on ABC’s Friday schedule. It had an average of about 6 million viewers. That is more than the ABC shows “black-ish” and “Shark Tank.” It is more than the ABC show, “The Goldbergs,” which just scored a two-year renewal for a fifth and sixth season. It is also worth mentioning the “The Last Man Standing” has also done very well in syndication.

The network contends that money was the issue. Each year, apparently, there was wrangling over the license fee for the program between ABC and 20th Century Fox TV. Also, the fee is higher than for other programs because of the salary that Tim Allen receives for the show.

Money might be the reason, or money might be the excuse. I don’t really know, but it does remind me of the comments we heard from department stores that dropped the Ivanka Trump line of fashions. Was it the lack of profitability of her fashion line or the fact that executives of these stores hated her father? It’s hard to tell.

Some speculate that the show might move to Fox TV since 20th Century Fox TV already owns the show. It might also end up on Hallmark or Netflix. That might be a better fit for a show that makes conservative comments that doesn’t go over so well with Hollywood executives.

Today is Memorial Day. For many Americans, it is merely a day off. For others it marks the start of summer. But hopefully for many of you, it is a day to honor those who fought for our freedom and especially for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Sure we can enjoy our picnics and go for a walk or go for a swim. But we should take some time to put up a flag, make a banner, and perhaps participate in a parade honoring our military.

Certainly those in the military feel more loved than the vets who returned from the Vietnam War. But it wouldn’t hurt to thank those who have served our country and to make them feel appreciated. We will never be able to repay them enough for their service.

What else can we do? If you visit a few websites, you will find all sorts of suggestions. Here are a few to consider. Participate in a “National Moment of Remembrance” at 3 PM today. Pause, listen to taps, and reflect. I was in London’s Heathrow airport on Veterans’ Day. When time came to stop and reflect, the airport was absolutely quiet for a minute or so. I was impressed. We can learn something from the British and their reverence for their war dead.

You might encourage your friends, neighbors and family to visit cemeteries and perhaps even place flags on the graves. I have been to military cemeteries in Hawaii and the Philippines and have seen what is done there. We need to do the same back home.

Those of you who live near the nation’s capitol might visit one of the memorials for the Vietnam Veterans, the World War II veterans, or the Korean War Veterans.

I will let you consider what you might do to make this day special. The point is to make this day special. Too often we come to think about it as nothing more than a Monday holiday or the kick off for summer. It should mean so much more for us.

Raising the minimum wage effectively eliminates entry-level jobs. That is conclusion of most academic studies. And the greatest negative impact is on teenage unemployment.

That is why Larry Elder wrote to Jane Fonda before she went to Detroit to campaign for a higher minimum wage. He quoted from economist David Neumark who examined all of the major academic minimum-wage studies from the previous two decades. Of these more than 100 studies, 85 percent found that minimum-wage laws destroy jobs and cause workers to lose jobs.

Larry Elder didn’t mention the other few studies that did not show this, but I will. David Neumark and his colleagues even went back and examined one study sometimes cited by proponents of minimum wage. They raised serious question about the research methods that were used and the conclusions that were drawn.

Teen unemployment has been above 20 percent for years, and it has been above 30 percent for black teenagers. Larry Elder says: “Believe it or not, before minimum-wage laws took effect, a black teenager was actually more likely to have a job than a white teen.”
When he was alive economist Milton Friedman called the minimum wage law “one of the most, if not the most, anti-black laws on the statute books.” He explained: “The do-gooders believe that by passing a law saying that nobody gets less than $2 an hour or $2.50 an hour, or whatever the minimum wage is, you are helping poor people who need the money. You are doing nothing of the kind. What you are doing is to assure that people whose skills are not sufficient to justify that kind of a wage will be unemployed.”

There are many things we can and should do to help black teenagers in Detroit get jobs. But increasing that minimum wage is not the way to do it.

We all know what happens when a Christian business promotes traditional marriage or fails to endorse same-sex marriage. Bakers, florists, photographers, and others have been fined and often put out of business. But would you believe this might happen to a company in the meat industry?

Maggie Gallagher tells the story of a Christian family that runs the West Michigan Beef Company that they say they run for “the glory of God.” The owner saw various newspaper and magazine articles in their break room celebrating gay marriage. So he printed off an article explaining why gay marriage was against God’s will and put the essay with the other magazines.

Unfortunately for him, the Obama administration’s secretary of agriculture had issued an “Anti-Harassment Policy Statement.” One of the USDA inspectors spotted the offending article and decided to take action. They told the owner that he must remove the article or they would withdraw all USDA meat inspectors. That would effectively shut down his business.

Now remember that the USDA meat inspectors are there to guaranteed the health and safety of the workers and the consumers. They aren’t empowered to become the speech police for the federal government. That is why Maggie Gallagher says that Congress needs to investigate this situation because things have become confused. Possibly to cover their earlier action, the USDA sent a letter to the meat company talking about a possible violation of humane slaughtering even though there doesn’t seem to be a major violation. Is there really a problem, or is this merely regulatory revenge?

Last year I wrote a commentary about the list of vocations Christians might have to avoid. A few of them are: baker, florist, photographer, pharmacist, innkeeper, and country clerk. Let’s hope we don’t have to add owner of a meat company to that growing list.

In an important case involving religious liberty, a Kentucky court ruled that a print shop does not have to make gay pride T-shirts. The dispute arose a number of years ago when the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization asked Hands on Originals to make T-shirts with the name and logo of a pride festival. Blaine Adamson said he refused to print the shirts because it violated his business policy of not printing messages that endorse a position in conflict with his convictions.

Although he referred the homosexual group to another printing company to fulfill the order, the LGBT advocates filed the complaint with the county human rights commission. The commission argued that he was discriminating against the homosexual group.

Mr. Adamson offered examples of other orders he refused. These included one that used an offensive word and another that was a depiction of Jesus dressed as a pirate. It is also worth mentioning that he regularly does business with the LGBT community and even employs homosexuals. Nevertheless, the lower court said he was in violation of the local “fairness” ordinance.

This appeals court ruling is encouraging. We wouldn’t demand that a print shop owned by a vegetarian should be forced to print flyers for the cattleman’s association. We shouldn’t force a print shop owned by an African-American to print posters for a white supremacist group. But we rarely hear about such conflicts for two reasons.

First, if a print shop declined to print something, the customer would merely go to another shop and not even bother to file a complaint. Second, most customers would probably avoid a print shop that might object to their message. That is the difference. In many of these cases, LGBT members specifically target Christian printers, bakers, florists, and photographers in order to create a problem and then report it to the local or state human rights organization.

I’m encouraged that common sense has broken out at least in one court in this country.

The World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians was held earlier this month in Washington, D.C. More than 600 victims and advocates from 130 countries gathered to raise awareness of the plight of persecuted Christians.

Franklin Graham said that he “spent time this week with two men whose brothers were among the Coptic Christians marched out on the beach in Libya and viciously beheaded by ISIS for refusing to deny Christ.” Some were surprise to hear the story of one of the men who actually was from Chad and had NOT been a Christian prior to the day of his beheading. As the terrorists gave each Christian a choice to deny Jesus or die, they came to this man from Chad. He answered, “Their God is my God.” He was moved by the faith of these Christians and chose to die with them.

Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the summit. He observed, “The reality is, across the wider world, the Christian faith is under siege. Throughout the world, no people of faith today face greater hostility or hatred than the followers of Christ.” He also added that he believed “ISIS is guilty of nothing short of genocide against people of Christian faith and it is time people called it by name.”

During the summit’s final session, the organizers put forth a declaration that called for all believers to declare their allegiance with those who suffer for Christ’s name. They pledged to promote awareness of persecuted Christians as well as pray and urge other believers to pray for those being persecuted. It also called for churches and individual Christians to provide practical assistance to the persecuted church.

There was also a call for believers to follow the biblical mandate to comfort and edify one another. That includes proclamation evangelism spoken boldly without compromise. Let’s all consider what we can do to encourage persecuted believers around the world.

Tomorrow in theaters throughout America will be the film, “In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem” produced by CBN. June 5 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1967 six-day-war in Israel. This film is an accurate depiction of what took place and will help tell the story that few people in America know about that battle.

Arab nations surrounding Israel had a battle plan to wipe Israel off the map. The young Jewish nation was out manned and outgunned. Not only did Israel survive, the troops moved into Jerusalem and even occupied the Golan Heights.

Production for the film took about a year to complete. Gordon Robertson was in studio with me to promote the film and talked about the various permissions they had to receive from the Israeli government to shoot in the actual places where the battles took place. The arms and uniforms are authentic or reproductions. Some of the most pivotal battle scenes were shot at Ammunition Hill. The film is told through the compelling stories of the Israeli paratroopers.

One of the most memorable scenes shows a woman who gives a flag to the battalion commander. She explains that she brought the flag to him because it flew in the old city before they left in 1948. She wanted him to hang the flag on the city once again.

In the last 50 years, archaeologists have uncovered some of history’s most important archaeological finds in and an around Jerusalem. These discoveries were only possible because Israel was able to occupy the city after the six-day-war.

There are some dark stories in the film. There were Israeli deaths and causalities. People were injured both physically and mentally. But the movie does try to provide light in the midst of the dark reality.
Michael Medved calls it, “One of the best, most moving films I’ve seen this year, and a fitting 50-year commemoration of a crucial turning point in world history.” I hope you go to a theater tomorrow to see it.