The Department of Justice is robbing Christians and other conservative people of our rights to believe as we choose and to be free to speak in pushing a politically correct emphasis for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) agenda, as I reported in my last Strang Report.
Via DOJ Pride, a group recognized by the DOJ and made up of its employees, the Department gave a directive that supervisors in the DOJ must affirm the LGBT values or “silence will be interpreted as disapproval.” Never before has the government gone this far. To me it’s as bad or worse than spying on journalists or the IRS targeting conservative groups. We must get out this word.
In investigating this, Mat Staver and Richard L. Mast of the Liberty Counsel have been a big help in providing the information I’m sharing here. The emphasis is not only on the DOJ, but throughout all federal agencies, including the FBI, CIA, Department of Agriculture, the Veterans Administration and more. If you read on and click on the links provided, I think you’ll be shocked—as I was—that the gay agenda is this deeply entrenched in the governmental bureaucracy. Right now, they can only order federal employees to do this and discriminate against people who don’t go along. But it’s not long until it applies to everyone in society unless we sound the alarm.
We Christians and good people of other faiths must be as vocal and vigilant to stand up for our First Amendment freedom of religion and freedom of speech rights as my fellow journalists are to protect their First Amendment freedom of the press rights.
In 2008-2009, the Obama Administration pushed for “diversity” to be defined to include LGBT and gender identification in all the agencies. The Veterans’ Administration apparently led the way—or at least takes credit for doing so.
This push also included the creation of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI). The premise is that “diversity” is not enough; “inclusion” must be a prominent factor as well. What exactly is “inclusion”? Open affirmation of homosexuality and gender identity. (Notice there is no mention of Christians or other people of faith.)
In 2008, ODI embarked on a groundbreaking effort to change the dialogue about diversity and inclusion in the public sector and usher in a new paradigm linked to organizational performance. This new paradigm championed two inextricably intertwined precepts: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is foundational to an effective diversity management program; and diversity and inclusion are essential to high performance in the 21st century. For example, the Veteran’s Administration bragged that the “VA remains unequivocally committed to ensuring equal opportunity in the workplace. We also understand that EEO is essential but not sufficient to create a high-performing organization in this millennium.”
In 2011, President Obama established a government-wide initiative, the 2011 Executive Order No. 13583, that directed individual agencies to develop their own diversity and inclusion strategic plans consistent with the government-wide plan, the agency’s overall strategic plan, human capital plan, applicable laws and Merit System Principles. The government-wide plan identifies three strategic goals—workforce diversity, workplace inclusion and sustainability—along with associated priorities. The guidance for agency-specific plans directs federal agencies to outline actions they will take to achieve the priorities identified in the government-wide plan.
It’s interesting to me that in all the materials I’ve read about the federal workforce reflecting the diversity of the population, I have not come across anything stating that conservative or religious people should be represented, even though a large plurality and maybe a majority of the population falls into this key demographic. It would appear that “diversity and inclusion” is really code for suppression and exclusion of traditional and religious values.
It appears that lip service only is being given to religious diversity. We have not seen the level of attention paid to religious diversity that has been paid to homosexual advocacy. There may be PowerPoints out there to that effect, but they have been given little fanfare compared to the red-carpet treatment that the homosexual agenda has received from this administration.
If you look at the links below, you’ll see that the various governmental agencies have articulated how this initiative applies to them. For example, “VA defines diversity in its broadest context to include all that makes us unique: race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability status, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, parental status, educational background, socioeconomic status, intellectual perspective, organizational level, and more. By doing so, we are able to harvest the full performance advantages our diversity offers. Inclusion is the means by which we harvest this talent. It is the deliberate effort to leverage diversity and empower all voices to contribute to the mission.”
(Notice again that despite the fact chaplains have been a part of the military since the Revolutionary War, there is no hint that the religious community is a part of this new diversity.)
Continue reading from the VA’s document: “The change in paradigm began by restructuring and renaming our office to reflect the more proactive mission of the new Office of Diversity and Inclusion. That same year, ODI set out to lead the development of VA’s first strategic plan for diversity and inclusion. In 2009, the VA Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan for FY 2009-2013 was published. The plan attracted the attention of other Federal agencies, as well as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM).”
A year later, OPM convened an interagency task force to develop the federal sector’s first Government-Wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, largely modeled after VA’s plan. This work culminated in President Obama issuing Executive Order 13583, which “establish[ed] a coordinated government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce.” That executive order is said to “designate the agency’s chief human capital officer to be responsible for enhancing employment and promotion opportunities within the agency, in collaboration with the agency’s director of equal employment opportunity and director of Diversity and Inclusion.”) (See it for yourself by clicking here)
Here are other very interesting links that will be eye-openers:
● USDA – see attachments (including PowerPoint) and links
● “A progress report on USDA’s cultural transformation”
● Brian Cammenker’s FBI/CIA material
● From FBI
Other links of interest on the “diversity/inclusion” material:
● OPM.Gov
● OPM.Gov/Inclusion Strategic Plan
What can you do? First you can become informed. Read these links. Do other research. Then we must tell our friends and bring this to the attention of those in authority.
In light of the IRS scandals and others, we’re currently seeing how the administration is trampling on rights. How can we stop them from not only trampling on our religious freedoms, but also from cramming down our throats a radical gay agenda that the majority of Americans do not accept?
Steve Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter at @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).
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