Hillsborough County

June 14, 2016

Opposition Statement to Hillsborough County School Board’s “Gender Identity” Proposal

school boardDear Hillsdale family and friends,

I took the opportunity to go to today’s Hillsborough County School Board Meeting and once again voice my opposition to President Obama’s recent edict [i.e. executive order] forcing public schools to incorporate “gender identity” in their policies for restrooms, showers, and locker rooms.  

The purpose of the President’s order, combined with the strong-arm tactics of the Department of Justice and Department of Education, is to force public schools to allow “boys who self-identify as girls” and “girls who self-identify as boys” to go to the restrooms, locker rooms and showers of the gender opposite their biological sex [i.e. sex stated on their birth certificate].  

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the White House Brady Press Briefing Room in Washington. Obama is slated Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, to finalize a set of new executive actions tightening the nation’s gun laws. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The breadth of this policy will force schools that have overnight trips to afford accommodations that will allow boys and girls to share the same room if one or the other “self-identifies” with the opposite sex [let’s be honest, we are all thinking, “What could possibly go wrong”].  

The President has threatened to deny federal funds to public schools that do not comply, beginning with financial cuts in meal programs that will primarily hurt students from lower economic households.

The following is the statement I read in front of the school board on behalf of the Hillsdale family [given the a number of pastor’s in attendance, I was brief in my statement].

“I am Travis Smith, the Senior Pastor of Hillsdale Baptist Church in Northwest Tampa’s Citrus Park area.

I am here to voice the concerns and opposition of my congregation to your scheduled “Transgender” vote on June 28 and the moral and spiritual dilemma you are forcing upon our children.

Adding “gender expression” to your nondiscriminatory policy defies the laws of nature, is biologically unscientific, and demands we all set aside common sense. [I confess,  I ad-libbed here, “I cannot believe we are even having this discussion.”]

This school board is charged with overseeing the education of our youth and not attacking the sensibilities of parents who expect our school system to be engaged in education and not radical militant social change.

This pastor and the members of Hillsdale Baptist Church will not forget how you vote on June 28.”

spiritual minutementI ask two things of my readers in closing:

  • Pray for the school board to refuse to bow under the heavy hand of the President, the DOE, DOJ, and not bend with the foul winds of political correctness.
  • Plan to attend the school board meeting, Tuesday, June 28, at 3:00 PM.

Your patriot parson,

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

June 13, 2016

“The Wrong Side of History”

wrong side of historyI am not sure who coined the term, but I have engaged with a few radical, left-wing, immoralists who, after arguing in favor of non-traditional, anti-family, and anti-God morality (i.e. legalized “gay marriage” or the new political lightning rod, “Transgender” rights) attempt to shut down all discussion with the “fait accompli”, “You are on the wrong side of history”.

President Obama, his administration, liberal activists and the media, all purveyors of a “new morality”, have defended their immoralists’ positions arguing conservatives who adhere to Biblical morality and traditional family values are “on the wrong side of history”.Obama

Writer for the New York Post, Jonah Goldberg, observed in a March 21, 2014 article titled, “The pathetic ‘wrong side of history’ plea” that, “In domestic politics, people (mostly liberals) tend to say, ‘You’re on the wrong side of history’ about social issues that are breaking their way. It’s a handy phrase, loosely translated as, ‘You’re going to lose eventually, so why don’t you give up now?’”

Goldberg continued in the same article noting the “wrong side of history” argument is Marxist in origin and was employed by Karl Marx to argue “that opposition to the inevitability of socialism was anti-intellectual and anti-scientific”.

I find Goldberg’s observation insightful because that is exactly the argument purveyors of immorality make as they dare anyone to challenge their campaign for the abnormal under the guise of “civil rights” regardless how depraved or unnatural their cause (i.e. giving a status of normalcy to “boys self-identifying as girls or girls self-identifying as boys).

Who empowered liberals to become arbiters of the right or the wrong side of history?   Who appointed the President and his liberal consortium to become authorities in matters of morality?

No, I am not intimidated by a liberal’s assertion, “You are on the wrong side of history”.   My concern is not a progressive antagonist’s interpretation of history past, but the history I am living and legacy my generation will inevitably leave as its history lesson.

BibleChristian friend, the author of “His-Story” is the God of Eternity; Sovereign, Righteous, Holy, Just and my Savior.  I have no interest in being on the “right side” of an immoralist’s view of history.  I am on the side of the Author of “His-Story” Who has said, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

June 10, 2016

Showdown, Downtown: June 28 Hillsborough County School Board Meeting

gay indoctrinationNotice to Citizens and Parents with Children in Hillsborough County Public Schools:

On June 28, the Hillsborough County School Board will be voting to add a policy for “Gender Expression”, extending civil rights protections to Transsexuals who demand the right to use restrooms, showers, and locker rooms of the sex they “self-identify” with and not their biological sex at birth.  This new policy, if passed, will extend to all public school students and staff in Hillsborough County.

Several years ago the school board put “sexual orientation” into its policies and, unfortunately, parents and moral conservatives were not mustered in time to confront it.  The school board is once again planning to push into the arena of perversity if fathers, mothers, students, and adherents of morality and virtue do not hold them accountable.

From experience, the liberal establishment will probably bus and fly in “militant immoralists” (many of whom are professional, paid advocates for the liberal left who have no citizenship or investment in our community).   These professional agitators of immorality come under the guise of “civil rights” and justice; however, their end is to intimidate citizens and stoke the fires of “political correctness”.school board

I have heard some school board members and county staff members are sowing disinformation regarding the purpose of the policy vote on June 28.  Please do not be deluded. There are some who will have you believe this issue is about “bullying” and the civil rights of .03% of the population who profess to be Transgender.  This is not about Transsexuals feelings or the delusion of “self-identity”; this is about the civil rights of 99.97% of your sons and daughters who have the right to privacy and security in restrooms, showers, locker rooms, overnight field trips, and classrooms.

There are school board members on record pushing the new policies for Transgenders at the sacrifice of your children’s right to privacy and security.  School board member Cindy Stuart [phone # (813) 272-4045] was quoted in the Tampa Bay Times, April 5, 2016, proposing the ”expanded policies”.   April Griffin [phone #(813) 272-4045], chairwoman of the school board, has said, “Our principals are craving information on how to deal with this situation [i.e. Transgender rights]”.  [Note – The Tampa Bay Times article cites a recent situation where a girl transitioning to be a boy wanted to run for homecoming king].

I encourage you to call and write each school board member and express your opposition to a policy for Transgenders that will permit boys to invade girls’ restrooms and girls to invade boys’ restrooms.  Be kind and respectful, but ask where they stand on the policy and do not be mislead by evasive answers or responses.

board meetingThe main school board office phone number is (813) 272-4045 and the fax number is (813) 272-4022].

You can find the names, phone numbers and email addresses of school board members at http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/doc/list/school-board/board-members/97-418/

Finally, nothing speaks louder than you physically showing up at the school board meeting and taking your stand against a policy that will have terrible moral ramifications for our children, families and schools (a meeting is scheduled for this Tuesday, June 14, but the Transgender policy vote is June 28).

Your patriot parson,

Travis D. Smith

http://www.spiritualminutemen.net

patriotparson@gmail.com

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

June 9, 2016

BATHROOM CHANGING TABLES FOR ADULTS “SELF-IDENTIFYING” AS INFANTS AND TODDLERS

adult baby

I have discovered a whole new “civil rights group” that needs special coddling and care…Adults who “self-identify” as infants and toddlers.

For far too long, we have taken for granted the plight of adults who act like spoiled rotten, self-indulgent, narcissistic children and believe the world owes them and should cater to their whims.  Regardless of how tripe, ridiculous, and inane their beliefs and demands, Americans can no longer ignore, nor slight the perceived rights of this segment of society (their number could be as high as .03%, meaning 99.97% of our neighbors need to be punished, mocked and scorned for their dismissive attitude toward adults who self-identify as infants).

Some will attack this commentary, dismissing my concerns and attacking me as foolish, silly and sick.  Some will demean me for suggesting we protect and offer civil rights protection to this new group of “self-identifying adult infants”!  adult high chairI know you are out there and I want you to know that, because you disagree with me, you are ignorant, bigoted, prejudiced, hateful, and have no concept of what it means to “love thy neighbor”!  You live in your little bubble world where you expect adults to act like adults.  You have no right to criticize my concerns, especially since some of you do not know and have never met an adult who self-identifies as an infant or toddler (of course, parents and college professors who know college millennials demanding “safe-spaces” may identify similar infantile characteristics in them).

I am demanding sensitivity to my new civil rights group.   They have a right for their cries to be heard.  They have the right to be treated as normal and their demands to be fed from giant baby bottles and have super-sized adult-diaper changing tables installed in public buildings, mall restrooms, showers and locker rooms must be accommodated.

For those sensitive to the plight of adults who “self-identify as infants and toddlers”, I invite you to join me in the following demands.

1) I propose diaper changing tables for adults who self-identify as infants be installed in all restrooms of public buildings, including public schools and shopping malls.

2) I propose that shopping mall playgrounds no longer slight and deny the civil rights of adults who self-identify as toddlers.  They have the right to run, jump and play on frogs, hamburgers, and hot dogs.  For far too long, shopping malls have been allowed to discriminate against children taller than 42 inches!playground

3) I propose that adults who self-identify as toddlers and children be given special protections under federal law, including the provision of adult car seats, restaurant high chairs, and strollers.

4) I further propose that adults who self-identify as infants and toddlers not be discriminated against for employment or housing.  Dirty diaper or not, it is mean and discriminatory to judge people by their appearance or delusion!

Finally, I am calling for President Obama, the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, to stand up for the disenfranchised self-identifying adult infants and toddlers.  I am asking adult diaper changing tableTARGET, Marshalls, Ross, and other retailers to stop discriminating against adults who self-identify as infants and toddlers and install adult diaper changing tables immediately!

Who will join my cause? Who will stand up for America’s newest minority civil rights group and demand that adult diaper changing tables be installed in America’s public bathrooms?

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

  • A note from the author: This satirical commentary is not meant to be a slight of those who, for medical and physical reasons, wear adult incontinence products.
May 25, 2016

An invitation to read: “The Transgender Wars”

Eagle - Freedom Isn't FreeA note to those who follow my irregular posts for this Spiritual Minutemen blog:

As a patriot pastor, the lines of the spiritual and political cross when societal morality, traditional marriage, and family are under assault by liberal elitists, media hate mongers, government entities, and politicians whose agenda is to erode moral values in the absence of their own moral compass.

The President’s decision to throw our nation into a sewer of moral morass and assail our children in public schools with his accommodation of Transgender demands at the sacrifice of our daughters might appease the LGBTQ crowd, but is morally reprehensible to Americans who value the security and privacy of the fairer sex–our daughters, wives and mothers.

I invite you to read an article I wrote today on my Heart of a Shepherd blog that is titled, The Transgender Wars: A Covert Asulat on Femininity.heart of a shepherd

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

 

 

May 18, 2016

A Moral Lecture from Sir “Lady” Elton John

Elton John in 1977It’s always good to wake up in the morning and realize a moral lecture from the arbiter of morality, none other than Sir Elton John (or, given the Transgender discussion, should that be “Lady Elton John) is waiting for you to ponder.
The LGBTQ community wants to characterize the “Gender-Identity” debate (I can’t believe we are even having this discussion) under the heading of compassion and understanding when it is neither.
This debate is nothing short of a battle for the morality of our nation, the innocence of our children, common sense and decency in public places; something woefully lacking in this diatribe against family values and human sexuality.
April 23, 2016

“The Coming Storm”

Sign of the EndThis Sunday morning Hillsdale Baptist Church will begin an eschatological series titled “The Signs of the Second Coming of Christ and the End of the World”.  Our focus for the next several weeks will be Matthew 24-25, a passage of scripture traditionally referred to as “The Olivet Discourse”.  This Sunday morning’s message is titled, “The Coming Storm” and is an introduction for our prophetic study of the last days.

My friend, the parallel between the LORD’s prophetic description of the signs that would mark His Second Coming and end of the world and world events unfolding in our day is undeniable. There is a revolution underway in our world, a growing spirit of rebellion, a hatred of law and authority, a vacuum of leadership, and an abandonment of moral principles that precipitates the cry of the world for peace.coming storm

Sadly, the church, the very institution God entrusted with the one and only answer for sin and guilt, Jesus Christ, is compromised, tainted by sin and its testimony marred by eroding convictions.  My friend, the Bible still has the answer for hope and God’s call to His people to be holy is unchanged.

I invite you to join us at Hillsdale this Sunday as we look at our world through the prism of God’s revelation!

March 1, 2016

Marco Rubio’s Betrayal and the Gang of 8

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. pauses while speaking during a technology roundtable at the Switch Innovation Center, Friday, May 29, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. pauses while speaking during a technology roundtable at the Switch Innovation Center, Friday, May 29, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

He lied!  There is no other way to describe Marco Rubio’s betrayal of the conservative cause in America.  I had an opportunity of having dinner with Marco Rubio several years ago when he was running for the US Senate against Rhino, former FL governor, Charlie Crist (who has since declared himself to be a Democrat).  Rubio is in person what he appears to be on TV, smart, charming, and passionate in his speeches on American exceptionalism and patriotism.  The stump speech you hear him deliver today in his political rallies was already polished and ready for PrimeTime.

That night, every point of his speech was right on target for courting the conservatives who would propel him to the US Senate and ultimately the national spotlight, including our shared views on illegal immigration.  We trusted him.  We backed him. We set our hopes on his promises; after all, he was one of the darlings of the Tea Party movement.

However, Marco Rubio lied!  I called his Washington and local office the day his participation and sponsorship of the “Gang of 8” bill was announced and left the message, “I hope Marco enjoys his tenure in Washington, DC, because I will do everything I can to oppose him going to Washington for a second term.” [I have wondered if that is the reason he is running for president, because he may well not have won a second term for the Senate after he betrayed FL conservatives].

Someone might object and say, “Aren’t Christians suppose to be willing to forgive?”  Absolutely, but Marco has never confessed to the conservatives who put him in office that he was WRONG…that he BETRAYED us…that he put his political future ahead of those who sent him to Washington and, in his words, “Restore American Exceptionalism”!Marco Rubio and the Gang of 8

If Marco Rubio wants to know why his moment to be President is being lost to one he calls a “Con Artist”, he need only look into his heart and the “Gang of 8” who surround him in his betrayal of American conservatives.

Marco, do something radical for yourself and the conservatives who believed you…be a man and stand up and say, “I WAS WRONG!”  It may be too late to salvage your run for president, but not too late to restore your honor.

Patriot Parson

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

February 12, 2016

Charities enriched by federal dollars for illegals

no rights for illegalsThis is a brief follow-up to my observation that pseudo-religious organizations are enriching themselves as puppets of the federal government in the resettlement of illegal aliens across the USA.  

I am attaching a list of “charities” who are cooperating with the federal government in the resettlement of illegals, many of whom are not only aliens to our culture, but enemies of our liberties and democracy.

chairitiesWhether blinded by a sincere, but misguided spirit of charity that fails to see the societal cancer they are resettling into our towns and cities, or covetous of the millions of dollars the federal government and its agencies are doling out, the end result is the same.  Make no mistake; the human trafficking of illegals into our communities is enriching Catholic, Lutheran, and Jewish charities.

America’s towns, especially rural communities, appear to be the target of much of the resettlement efforts.  These small communities will forever lose their identity, become more economically depressed than they already are, as public school systems, social services, and welfare programs become overwhelmed by a population that will not only fail to assimilate into our culture, but pays no taxes, is undereducated, and brings no skills for gainful employment.kids learning to kill

These circumstances will inevitably contribute to a spirit of resentment and lawlessness that will make victims of us all and leave our sons and daughters scarred by a rising tide of physical violence that we are witnessing in Europe.

* For my own defense, I am not against legal immigration. Some of the finest citizens I know, many who are my dearest friends, are legal immigrants and citizens who passionately love this nation. Many have served in our military and share my conviction that what is happening to our nation is devastating and demoralizing.

Resettlement Centers – Immigration

Copyright 2016 – Travis D. Smith

July 16, 2014

It is a tragic day in Tampa as Hillsborough County moves one step closer to government intolerance of those who hold Biblical moral convictions.

Hillsborough County CommissionersI am attaching an article from the Tampa Tribune Online – [http://tbo.com/news/politics/hillsborough-approves-amendment-to-human-rights-ordinance-20140716/] reporting that the Hillsborough County Commissioners [5 of whom are Republicans] voted unanimously today to have an amendment added to the County Human Rights Ordinance giving Lesbians, Homosexuals, Bisexuals and Transgenders a Civil Rights status that validates their claim they are “born that way” and their proclivity to immorality and depravity is their right. 

What does this mean? I am not a lawyer, but it is my understanding the following are the legal, moral and spiritual ramifications:
 
1) This decision will give Hillsborough County government, lawmakers and prosecutors a heavy hand to punish any private contractors of faith who disagree with the county commissioners embrace of sodomy and believe it is morally wrong. 
 
2) The county will force contractors and private businesses to accept their moral judgment or be excluded from county contracts. In a very real sense–bow to the government mandate and deny your faith or die as a business/corporation in Hillsborough County.
 
3) If the amendment passes a final hearing and vote, private businesses in Hillsborough County who choose to exercise their conviction that sodomy is morally wrong and refuse service will be potential targets for lawsuits.  
 
Lawsuits across the nation have already been filed against caterers, bakers and photographers who refused to participate or perform a service for “Gay Marriages” because they hold the conviction “Gay Marriage” is morally gay cakewrong. In some instances, based on a Human Rights Ordinance similar to the one the county is considering, private Christian-owned enterprises have lost in court and been given the ultimatum to comply to the government mandate or close your business.
 
Make no mistake, the Hillsborough County Commissioners are taking the path that government can and will trump the religious rights and liberties of the citizens who elected them. Should your religious convictions run contrary to political correctness you have a choice–Bow to the government’s will or Burn the bridge that gives you the right to exercise your personal religious convictions in Hillsborough County!
 
I close with God’s Words:
 
Isaiah 5:20 – “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

A Patriot Parson