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Victorious NCAA national champion wrestler breathlessly underscores the importance of faith in post-match interview: ‘Christ’s resurrection is everything’

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Aaron Brooks is well on his way to realizing his goal of winning four NCAA titles. The 22-year-old secured his third straight national title over the weekend, wrestling in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Penn State University’s Nittany Lions in the NCAA championship wrestling finals.

Despite his success and athletic excellence, Brooks underscored in a post-match interview that he is under no illusions about what and who really matter.

“It’s all God,” he told ESPN. “It’s all for His glory.”

The Herald-Mail reported that Aaron Brooks first publicly expressed his intention to “win four NCAA titles” on Feb. 1, 2018.

In order to become the sixth three-time NCAA champion in Penn State’s history, Brooks first had to win Saturday by a 13-4 decision in round one against Matthew Waddell of Chattanooga; win by forfeit in round two against Will Feldkamp of Clarion; win by a 4-1 decision in the quarter-final against Kaleb Romero of Ohio State; and win by a 6-3 decision in the semi-final against Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State.

With former President Donald Trump looking on, Brooks ultimately scored two takedowns in a 7-2 decision over Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen in the finals, going 5-0 in Tulsa and ending the season with a 17-1 record — a 67-3 record overall.

In a post-match interview with ESPN, Brooks was asked whether his strong faith helped him “on a night like tonight.”

“It’s everything,” said the Big Ten champion. “Christ’s resurrection is everything. Not just His life, but His death and resurrection. You can only get that through Him, the Holy Spirit, only through Him — no false prophets, no Mohammad, no anyone else — only Jesus Christ Himself.”

Visibly taken aback by the young man’s confident declaration of faith, the reporter attempted to change the subject from theology to technique, saying, “Power and finesse: Your calling card.”

Before the reporter could formulate a question, Brooks interjected, saying, “The Holy Spirit. … Acts, chapter 1, verse 8.”

The Scriptural passage the champion referred to concerns power: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (King James Version).

“Power: Holy Spirit power,” continued Brooks. “That’s everything. That’s where it’s from.”

The reporter asked, “Where did the finesse come from?”

Brooks smiled and answered, “Holy Spirit as well.”

“And Mom and Dad, maybe?” said the reporter.

“A little bit of both, but all God,” said Brooks.

Brooks indicated that the purpose of his win on Saturday was to share his beliefs and execute God’s will: “He gives me this platform for this right here, to exalt Him. That’s all it’s for. When I’m suffering, cutting weight, away from my family, it’s all for Him. It’s all for His glory.”

In a post title chat with Penn State Athletics, Brooks said that wherever God calls him to go, “I’m ready to go.”

He noted that ahead of the tournament, he was reading 2 Timothy 2:3, which says, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

“Endure, endure, endure as a good soldier,” Brooks emphasized.

Brooks reportedly has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining.

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Sharks player refuses to wear LGBTQ-themed jersey because of his Christian faith, furious hockey writers lash out: ‘Absolutely a homophobe’

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An NHL player is facing backlash after refusing to wear an LGBTQ-themed jersey during Pride Night.

The San Jose Sharks hosted a Pride Night at the SAP Center during Saturday’s hockey game against the New York Islanders.

The Sharks announced that instead of “normal game content,” the professional hockey team would “offer information and facts about LGBTQIA+ topics.”

“Our hope is that this content will serve as a reminder that there are issues more important than goals, highlights, and wins,” the Sharks said.

“Hockey is not for everyone until everyone is comfortable playing, working, or being a fan of this incredible game,” the NHL team claimed.

The arena sold “Rainbow Roll” sushi rolls, rainbow popcorn, Pride-themed cocktails, Pride souvenir cups, and Pride t-shirts. The arena also featured “Pride-themed lighting” and “themed music throughout the night.”

The Sharks asked its players to wear an LGBTQ-themed jersey during the warm-ups before the game.

“During pregame warm-ups, Sharks players will wear jerseys with crest and patch artwork specific for Sharks Pride Night and designed by local artist Houyee Chow, a queer, biracial, multidisciplinary artist, and educator from San Jose,” the Sharks said.

The jersey featured the Sharks mascot painted pink inside of a heart with hockey sticks covered in tape with the colors of the rainbow LGBTQ flag, the progressive flag, and the transgender flag, along with the word “love.”

Sharks goalie James Reimer refused to wear the pride-themed jersey because of his religious beliefs.

“For all 13 years of my NHL career, I have been a Christian — not just in title, but in how I choose to live my life daily,” Reimer said in a statement. “I have a personal faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins and, in response, asks me to love everyone and follow him.”

“I have no hate in my heart for anyone, and I have always strived to treat everyone that I encounter with respect and kindness,” Reimer explained.

“In this specific instance, I am choosing not to endorse something that is counter to my personal convictions which are based on the Bible, the highest authority in my life,” the Sharks goalie concluded.

The Sharks issued their own statement on the situation.

“As we promote these standards, we also acknowledge and accept the rights of individuals to express themselves, including how or whether they choose to express their beliefs, regardless of the cause or topic,” the Sharks said. “As an organization, we will not waver in our support of the LGBTQIA+ community and continue to encourage others to engage in active allyship.”

Reimer was attacked online for opting not to wear the Pride Night jersey.

A hockey writer claimed that Reimer “looked like a clown” for his faith-based decision.

Another hockey writer vilified Reimer as “absolutely a homophobe.” The writer also alleged, “Here’s also what I believe, Jesus would unequivocally love and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. He’d be the first to wear a rainbow.”

A sports writer called the Sharks a “trash organization” for “even putting out this hateful statement,” and added that Reimer is “hiding behind the Bible to refuse to endorse gay people having rights and existing.”

A writer of a newsletter about sexism in sports lashed out at Reimer, “Under the umbrella of disingenuous bulls**t, you can f*** right off with this statement. If you truly believed the queer community is welcome in hockey, you’d wear the shirt. You do not get to have it both ways. Jesus is not impressed.”

Reimer joins fellow NHL player Ivan Provorov in declining to wear an LGBTQ-themed jersey during warm-ups. In January, Provorov refused to wear an LGBTQ-themed hockey jersey because it clashed with his Russian Orthodox religion.

Also in January, the New York Rangers nixed wearing rainbow-colored Pride jerseys before their game.

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Levin: They’re criminalizing prayer

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If you were told you could be arrested for silently praying, would you believe it?

Well, apparently, you should believe it. Because it’s happening right now in Great Britain — and with the way things are going, it could come to America too.

So, Mark Levin of “LevinTV” is shedding light on it.

“Earlier this week,” he begins, “the most pathetic, political, ideologically driven attorney general in American History, Merrick Garland … was questioned about the number of people they have prosecuted who have peacefully protested outside of abortion clinics versus the number of people they prosecuted for firebombing pregnancy centers.”

Apparently, Garland said they have a harder time prosecuting the fire-bombers because they occur at night when it’s harder to see them. Amazing.

Levin goes on to tell the story of Mark Houck, a preacher who was with his son in front of one of the abortion clinics. One of the people escorting a woman into the clinic had confronted his son and was getting aggressive with him.

So, Houck, like any good father would, pushed the man back from his son to protect him.

Houck was later sued, and the federal government got involved. He was charged with violating the FACE Act — which says that you’re not allowed to threaten people who are going into abortion clinics physically.

The case was thrown out, but good old Merrick Garland wouldn’t stand for it.

Levin says, “Mr. Garland still went after this gentleman, and they lost their case quickly in a jury trial in Philadelphia — where I don’t think the pro-life movement gets much colder there does it? So, this is a disgusting assault on free speech by the Biden administration.”

He then goes on to tell the story of a Catholic woman in Great Britain who was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic — just weeks after being acquitted for the same offense.

“Britain’s gone over the edge,” he says.

The woman has been praying outside that same abortion clinic for 20 years, 19 of which were never a problem.

The problem began when the U.K. passed new amendments to the Public Order Bill last year.

Levin says this sounds all too familiar.

He says, “Biden’s DOJ has been prosecuting people for something called the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances act. It prosecuted Mark Houck.”

He continues, “If the leftists continue to control our government, you can bet the FACE Act will make it illegal to silently pray one day … that’s what will happen.”



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Pew: Most Americans Have an Unfavorable View of Atheists

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While Americans hold a favorable view of most religious groups, they have a negative view of atheists, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center.

In its poll released on March 15, Pew found that nearly a quarter (24 percent) of Americans hold a very or somewhat unfavorable view of atheists, while just one in five (20 percent) hold a very or somewhat favorable view of non-believers.

“Atheists have negative feelings about Christian groups in the U.S., and the feeling tends to be mutual,” Pew noted in its poll released on March 15.

For their part, atheists feel “overwhelmingly negative” toward evangelical Christians, Pew found, with more than three quarters (79 percent) expressing unfavorable views, compared with only 3 percent who express positive views.

Atheists also are more negative than positive toward Catholics, mainline Protestants, Mormons, and Muslims, Pew revealed.

St. Paul, Minnesota, billboard saying that atheists also vote too. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty)

The new survey asked respondents whether their views toward various religious groups are very favorable, somewhat favorable, neither favorable nor unfavorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable; respondents also had the option of saying they “don’t know enough to say.”

Democrats tend to have a much more favorable view of atheists than Republicans. Among Democrats and Democrat leaners, 24 percent have a positive view of atheists while only 16 percent have a negative view. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, by contrast, a full 35 percent hold a negative view of atheists, while just 10 percent have a positive view of atheists.

The group that fared best overall were Jews, with thirty-five percent of poll respondents saying they have a somewhat or very favorable view of Jews, while a mere 6 percent said they had an unfavorable view. Fifty-eight percent of people said they had neither.

Protestants also had a net favorability rating of 20 points, and Catholics had a net favorability rating of 16 points.

The two religious groups with a net unfavorable rating were Muslims and Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints). Just 17 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Muslims, compared with 22 percent who have an unfavorable view.

Mormons received a net unfavorability rating of 10 points. Among all Americans, 25 percent have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Mormons, while 15 percent hold a very or somewhat negative view.

Only 43 percent of Americans personally know a Mormon, however, the smallest percentage of any group.

‘The Office’ star Rainn Wilson bucks Hollywood, calls out ‘anti-Christian bias’ infecting popular TV show

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Actor Rainn Wilson, best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on “The Office,” criticized Hollywood on Saturday for manifesting “anti-Christian bias.”

“I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood,” Wilson wrote on Twitter.

“As soon as the David character in ‘The Last of Us’ started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain. Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?” he added.

“The Last of Us” is a popular TV show set in post-apocalyptic America.

In a recent episode of the show’s first season, the character David, an apparent pastor, leads a group of cannibals who use the Bible as justification for their actions. The character later attempts to rape one of the show’s lead characters, a young girl named Ellie.

One review described David and the episode, saying:

The mild, friendly, cannibalistic pedophile preacher was more horrifying than any fungus. But while he was a spiritual leader wielding the word of God as a weapon, the show was not an indictment of organized religion or its followers. It was akin to a sermon entirely in line with the teachings of the Bible. Because Christianity warns about monsters exactly like David, false prophets with evil appetites who will lead others astray at the end of the world.

Interestingly, Wilson is not a Christian. He is actually a member of the Baháʼí Faith.

In line with the tenants of his faith, Wilson is not overtly partisan, but is instead an equal-opportunity critic.

Last November, for example, he changed his name on social media to raise awareness for climate change. Elsewhere, Wilson has explained that he is politically independent, having voted for Republican, Democratic, and Green candidates.

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