The Chicago Bulls recently cut guard Jaden Ivey for "conduct detrimental to the team."
Last month, he posted a video on Instagram that cited his Christian faith and criticized the NBA for celebrating "Pride Month."
"The world can proclaim LGBTQ. They proclaim Pride Month in the NBA to celebrate unrighteousness," he said during the video stream.
In a series of Instagram live posts that followed, Ivey gave his thoughts on being waived by the Bulls.
"This is lying. They're lying, saying my conduct is detrimental to the team. That's a lie," he insisted. "All I'm preaching about is Jesus Christ, and they waived me. They gonna try to stop me, but I'm not. I'm going to keep speaking the truth."
Ivey's contract is guaranteed, so he will be paid $10 million for the season. Still, he had only played four games with his new team, and there are no guarantees he has not been put on a blacklist or that he will be picked up by another team.
In Michigan, Democrat state Rep. Karen Whitsett (pictured right) has announced she is stepping away from political office after seven years. Citing abortion and LGBTQ policies, she says her Christian faith no longer aligns with today's Democratic Party, which has betrayed her faith.
"It's impossible to remain a faithful follower of Jesus Christ while staying in the Democratic Party as it exists today," she summarized. "I'm not a cosigner of crazy."
Gary Bauer of American Values says it is refreshing to see such boldness.
"My heart leapt when I saw the professional athlete literally talking about unrighteousness and righteousness," he says of Ivey.
He has always heard athletes and celebrities mention God in passing or as an add-on at the beginning or end of an interview, but Bauer says it increasingly feels like the real thing.
"What a trip we've taken," he observes. "We went from being told that we had to be tolerant to being now forced to bend a knee and celebrate things that many faiths teach are an inappropriate way to live."
Bauer is glad to see more believers are refusing to be, in Rep. Whitsett's words, "backed into a corner."
