My recent USA Today column discusses how the Democrats have suddenly discovered God in elections after recruiting various far-left ministers to run on faith-based anti-Trump messages. I discussed how Divinity Schools have shown the same trend as other departments in higher education with a radical shift to the left. That was evident in a controversy this week at Point Loma Nazarene University, where Dean of Students Jason Cha told student leaders that identifying as being “in Christ alone” is a sign of “white privilege.”
Dean Cha is an example of the resumes that draw appointments and presentations in higher education. According to The College Fix, Cha’s 2023 dissertation at Azusa Pacific University was titled “Raging Waters of Whiteness: Addressing White Evangelical Racism in Higher Education.” His scholarship draws on critical pedagogy, incorporating “critical race theory, critical white studies, and evangelical postcolonial studies.”
Roughly three years later, he was made Dean of Students at PLNU.
As discussed in the USA Today column, the same pedagogy is evident in the crop of progressive proselytizing in the midterm elections. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico has declared that “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.” His church leaders at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church admit that most of its members are likely agnostic or atheist.
Other Democratic minister-candidates have similar far-left views of religion, including Iowa’s Lutheran minister-turned-candidate Sarah Trone Garriott, who is under attack for participating in a Satanic wedding.
They are part of a movement of “resistance preaching” to organize far-left ministers to use religious pitches to support a blue wave. Harvard actually selected an atheist as its head “chaplain” a few years ago.
Critics of Cha posted an Instagram post revealing the alleged statement to students as part of the fall leadership training.
Cha has long been an outspoken critic of what he views as “white privilege” in religion and the need to prioritize “racial justice,” including past presentations on “Whiteness as Witness: Re-conceptualizing Diversity in Christian Higher Education.”
Asked for a comment on the controversy, Lora Fleming, associate vice president of communications and public affairs at PLNU, defended the statement, noting that the university’s commitment to “confront racism, love our neighbors, and seek justice is not separate from our Christian discipleship. It flows from it.”
The school has been under fire over the shift to the far left in faculty appointments, a familiar story in higher education.
The university was previously under fire over reports that it has held such sessions as “decolonizing yoga” and refused to recognize a Turning Point USA chapter.
Critics also pointed to a prior controversy involving a poet brought to campus to share a view of Jesus as “agnostic and horny” and an “erotic lover.”
As will not come as much of a surprise to readers of this blog, I do not support calls to bar such views or to remove faculty who publish radical values. Higher education relies on academic freedom and free speech to maintain vibrant intellectual environments.
The problem is that, while claiming such protections for diverse viewpoints, today’s faculty have engaged in open bias and intolerance in hiring faculty. The faculty and administrators in control of higher education are the most intolerant and orthodox in generations. They have purged departments of conservatives and libertarians while creating an ideological echo chamber.
This is a private university, so it depends on donors and alumni to change the culture by withholding support.
At state schools, I have also opposed efforts to dictate curriculum and class content. I have encouraged state legislatures to tie further public subsidies to real, substantial changes that create intellectual diversity among faculty.
If we are to protect these bastions of free speech, legislatures will need to play a more active role in addressing the exclusion of both faculty candidates and speakers on public campuses. Too many faculty members still view citizens as a captive audience expected to keep funding their departments, while excluding conservative or dissenting views held by many, if not most, citizens in a given state.
If faculty members want to maintain echo chambers for their own viewpoints, they should seek private donors to sustain such intolerance and orthodoxy.
Legislatures can demand evidence that schools maintain intellectually diverse faculty when determining the level of continued support from citizens. Otherwise, it is ridiculous to expect the public to subsidize their ideological echo chambers.
For a school established as “a simple Bible college,” it now seems determined to be something quite different. What that is remains a matter of faith best left to the faculty, the students, and the alumni.
As for Dean Cha, the faculty of Point Loma Nazarene University has every right to pick their leadership, and donors have every right to base their contributions on those choices.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
When a certain type of individual lacks real challenges in life, they invent them. And, as noted, some cater to those folks to enhance their own positions.
It’s important that private higher education (along with the rest of the philanthropic sector) receive disbursements from public treasuries only in these circumstances:
==
(1) They were awarded a government contract consequent to a sealed bid and the contract was for something other than ‘consulting’.
==
(2) They’re a hands-on service provider, do not launder donations, and have boots on the ground the government does not in an emergency situation.
==
(3) A customer carrying a publicly financed insurance policy has chosen them to provide the services covered by the policy.
==
(4) A customer issued a government voucher issued per statutory law which is to be used to finance a service of the sort the agency provides makes use of said voucher to pay for services.
==
(5) The agency itself was injured in a natural disaster and is eligible for an indemnity per statutory law.
==
(6) The agency paid property taxes to local governments and is due re-imbursement by state governments per statutory law.
==
Let’s offer as well that bar the central bank, governments should not be in the lending business. Neither should governments provide venture capital, nor guarantee or co-sign loans, nor erect corporations to buy promissory notes, nor issue mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities, nor distribute or vend insurance policies which cover anything beyond medical care, long term care, flood damage, and crop failures.
==
Other than provide episodic disaster relief, it’s difficult to imagine a sensible government providing a financial pipeline from the treasury to this schools coffers.
I scanned all the comments so farand didn’t fall asleep.
G’night.
Katie Zechariah: OMG! Kalshi and other online betting sites are taking bets on whether she will beat Scaramucci’s 11 day record.
Before she took any questions from media she violated the Hatch Act at least 4 times.
Trump has said that his administration is supposed to be “straight out of central casting”. Let’s see how Zechariah meets this standard: 1. bleached: check. 2. Ultra high heeled pumps: check; 3. Only calls on MAGA media that give her softball questions: check: 4. Unable or unwilling to answer substantive questions, like whether the US is sharing intel with Ukraine —which has Ukraine worried because Trump is purchasing diesel fuel from Russia —which is illegal—“I’ll have to get back to you on that”; 5. Willing to lie: check. Has said that she is a lawyer. There is no evidence that she ever took or passed the bar exam in any state. If you have never been licensed to practice law, you can’t claim to be an attorney. Today, when pressed, she claimed that she was admitted to the bar in China and that she practiced transactional law in China. However, China only allows Chinese nationals to take the bar exam. 6. Gushes over Trump while ignoring the issues Americans care about like the illegal diesel purchase from Russia, which will use the money to bomb Ukraine, which is our ally: check. Her prepared statement was pure political propaganda. “Energy and excitement” for the midterms —which she attributed to Trump and his rallies. She has it backwards—there is energy and excitement to vote out Republicans because of Trump.
Zecharias’s performance was beyond pathetic.
LOSER ANON. CRY MORE!
There is one big thing that Trump and his MAGA media totally ignore: the purpose of the White House Press Secretary is to inform the American people about the issues and to make the White House and President accountable by answering questions. The press are the representatives of the American people. The Press Secretary’s salary is paid by taxpayers. The Hatch Act forbids using a press conference for political purposes.
Trump chooses his Press Secretaries on the basis of whether they will do and say whatever they are told to do and say— how they look and their loyalty to him— not their competence, knowledge of the issues or anything resembling a commitment to answer even the toughest questions so as to be accountable to the American people. He commands his Press Secretary to be his personal cheerleader— to defend him, to dodge questions from non- MAGA media and to even attack mainstream media and perform for the disciples by being disrespectful and snarky when mainstream media presses for the truth, which is their job.
Trump expects his Press Secretary to lie if necessary to spread the message he wants—instead of being accountable to the American people. Karoline Leavitt, wearing the cross of Jesus, lied every time she was at the podium.
This has been the pattern starting with Sean Spicer —who stood at the podium and lied about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd being larger than Obama’s— easily disproven by photos— so he started his short tenure lying because that’s what Trump wanted. It’s just gotten worse and worse over time. For Trump, it’s all just a reality show in which he is the star, playing the role of a powerful authoritarian who rules the world, who can do whatever he wants and who is accountable to no one. That’s what the rallies are all about— the same old routine.
Zacharias’s speech today is the worst ever—I’ve seen a high school student do a better job reading a book report than her performance today, but she was performing for an audience of one.
Then bet against her you coward. KJP needed a huge binder to answer questions. She said anything to protect Biden. She lied daily!! “Biden ran circles around us” “I couldn’t keep up with him” On day one reporters attacked Katie Zacharia!!
KJP informed the American people about the issues and made the White House and President accountable by answering questions???? HA HA HA HA DF ANON!!!
KJP’S D.E.I. JOB WAS THE WORST EVER!!!
HEY DF ANON– IT IS Zacharia. If you can’t spell her name correctly then you ARE FULL OF SH*T!!
1. bleached: check.
You people focus on skin color and hair color. You care about non-substance because you are people of non-substance. You are truly pathetic.
Trump prefers females who bleach their hair that fake, unnatural shade of pastel yellow, to wear very high heels, who will do whatever they are told, including lying, and to lack anything resembling substance. Zachariah can’t even tell the truth about being an attorney, something that is easily checked.
Look how many women have left the administration in less than 2 years: Guilfoyle, Bondi, Noem, the former head of the Labor Department. And none of them is uniquely incompetent—- there are plenty of men who are also incompetent and lie—Hegseth and Blanche and others. The DOJ has become a national embarrassment.
Did Jen Psaki ever begin a press conference with a political speech praising Biden or lie about being a lawyer?
Yes -daily praised Biden.
Zachari did her first press conference in less than 24hrs after starting the job – the norm is 14 days.
Trump has selected incredibly attractive and intelligent female press secretaries – I thought democrats were in favor of women in positions of power.
After either of the to nit with Biden Press secretaries – if this is a bad day for Zachari , it would be a great day for either of them.
No one violated the hatch act – do we have to constantly get this lunatic BS from the left.
In what world do you think the Press secretary should be answering questions about national security issues that are unresolved.
I keep hearing from the left that Ukraine does not need US intelligence.
Fine, then lets cut it off. Ukraine is a European problem NOT as US interest.
No the diesel deal is not illegal. It is also not locked in place which is a major reason that the press secretary should not be addressing it.
I hope that Ukraine defeats Russia – or more accurately I hope that a somewhat favorable peace deal is struck soon. As much as I would like Putin to lose badly, Far more dangerous that Russia defeating Ukraine would be an impending major defeat for a global nuclear power at its own border. Biden NEVER should have started this war.
Regardless, this was needs to stop. Biden did nothing to stop it. He was prepared to fight Russia to the very last Ukrainian. Trump has been trying to stop it – albeit unsuccessfully so far. That said the left seems to miss that the Iran conflict is by far the most damaging thing the US can do to russia. Iran supplied (past teanse) 40% of Russias munitions. Now they do not.
Zacharia is a graduate of Pepperdine law school and has worked for the law school and is currently on the deans counsel. This is typical left wing B$
Passing the bar is a requirement to appear in the courts of a specific state. Often, but not universally, passing the bar in one state will allow you to appear in court in another. Your earnings are higher and your value to a law firm is generally higher if you can appear in court. You can clerk for a federal judge without passing the bar anywhere.
In fact you can generally clerk for any judge and in many states you can be a district magistrate.
Myriads of positions as a lawyer do not require you to pass the bad.
Zacharia says she passed the bar. Left wing nuts say she did not. How often were you correct in the past ?
The collusion delusion ? The Hunter Biden Laptop ? Anything about Covid ? Biden’s competence ?
I beleive it was ABC that had to pull and correct a story claiming that the Trump family was making Billions off defense contracts – when it turns out they have a miniscule – less than 1% stake in a multibillion dollar firm that has a small number of defense contracts.
Typical left wing nut garbage.
But we have idiots – even here claiming the Trump’s are making millions off of defence contracts – they are not.
There are not even on the boards of these companies.
Except for Sarah Huckabee and Sean Spicer.
Once again – Trump’s polling hs been in a narrow range with no trend for all of 2026.
I have no idea whether there is real energy in this election – Democrats had better hope not. Historically the out of power party ins midterms BECAUSE turnout is low, and low turnout favors the out of power party.
But since Democrats have flooded elections with fraudulent mailin voting that analysis is more complex.
Currently turnout for most of the Primaries has been LOW. Polls in Democrat primaries have been off 10 even 20 pts. Early mailin ballot receipts are LOW so far – and that is very bad news for democrats.
While low turnout overall is good for the out of power party – low mailin voting turnout is uniquely bad for democrats. Republicans vote on election day.
The same polling that claimes that 71% of democrats are excited to vote, also claims that 71% of republicans are excited to vote. And Trump’s base is showing incredibly strong support.
We will not know for certain until the election, but based on the current polling and current mailin voting numbers I would suggests democrats are in trouble.
The media was claiming Trump was losing in 2024 on election day, until the returns started coming in.
For the past 2 decades nearly all pre-election polls understate Republcans by 3-5pct – occasionally even 8pct.
There are also credible claims that pollsters are being skewed by polling primarily college towns.
Regardless, we are not going to know until election day what is really going on.
If you add 3pts to the GOP in the polls – Republican will win every senate race except GA, NH and OH.
I do expect a 3-5pt polling error, but it will not spread evenly accross the country – so we will have to see how it actually plays out.
Regardless so far mailin ballot returns in states that are already accepting mailin ballots are LOW.
Next over the past 2 decades Republicans have been significantly out registering voters compared to democrats.
Most “swing states” now have majorities of registered republicans. The GOP was able to win swing states BEFORE they had a registration advantage.
“If you have never been licensed to practice law, you can’t claim to be an attorney.”
But according to the Left, if you have never been licensed to practice *medicine*, you can still claim to be a doctor. (El-Sayed)
ANTIFA terrorist Kyle Wagner whines in prison that he deserves freedom. What a wuss. Man up, bruh! File this under FOFA*
(* = Flunkies Of Fake Authority)
😂
Kyle Wagner, Applicant v. United States
TO THE HONORABLE BRETT KAVANAUGH, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT AND CIRCUIT JUSTICE FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT:
Pursuant to Rule 23 of this Court and the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, Applicant Kyle Wagner respectfully requests that this Court stay the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit….
Oct 13 2026
Application (26A446) for stay presented to Justice Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is denied.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a446.html
Gee the left loves stereotyping. I guess Reggie White was correct.. Blacks have the gift of athletics and have sports privledge, Hispanics have the gift of family and can live 15 in one house so have family privledge, Asians have the gift of technology, can turn a wristwatch into a TV so have technology privledge. What whites have the gift of organization so have organization privledge. Seems the good professor is a serious racist.