A former middle school art teacher in Texas has been accused of grooming and having inappropriate relationships with multiple students, according to authorities.

The Irving Police Department confirmed to KDFW-TV that 28-year-old Haley Krista Radabaugh was arrested in May, charged with child grooming.

‘I’ll tell you what. You send me a photo of you, and I’ll send you one of me.’

Police said Radabaugh was arrested a second time on July 3. She was charged with an improper relationship between an educator and a student.

Radabaugh was booked into the Denton County Jail and released July 4 after posting bond for the latest charge.

Texas Scorecard reported that Radabaugh was out of jail on bond when she was arrested on the second charge.

The charge of improper relationship between an educator and a student is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, according to Texas Scorecard.

Radabaugh had been an art teacher at Barbara Bush Middle School in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District.

KXAS-TV previously obtained the arrest warrant noting that multiple students at Barbara Bush Middle School told school officials in May that Radabaugh was having inappropriate relationships with minors.

The arrest warrant said students informed a school resource officer that Radabaugh “was known to be having inappropriate sexual conversations with at least three middle school students and providing drugs to students.”

KXAS reported that a 14-year-old boy told school officials that Radabaugh sent him sexually suggestive messages on Instagram; the station said Radabaugh wrote to the student, “There was a kid I crushed on hard before you.”

“I’ll tell you what. You send me a photo of you, and I’ll send you one of me,” Radabaugh said, according to KXAS.

The arrest warrant said Radabaugh also sent “a photo of what appears to be herself getting out of the shower,” which is described as being framed “mid-chest up” and appears to show her entire face.

Radabaugh called the boy “babe” and signed off the messages with “flirtatious kiss emojis,” according to the arrest warrant.

According to the arrest warrant, the alleged victim “described himself as being disgusted and losing sleep after the defendant messaged him.”

RELATED: ‘You stripped me of my innocence’: Ex-teacher accused of sexually abusing teen in classroom indicted on new child sex charges

The Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District told KDFW it could not share any information regarding the case because Radabaugh is a former employee, and there is an active police investigation.

A spokeswoman for the school district said, “While we are limited on what we can disclose, we are deeply distressed and disheartened by these incidents.”

Radabaugh is not listed on the staff directory for Barbara Bush Middle School.

The Irving Police Department informed KDFW that it would not release any additional details about the case because the alleged victims are juveniles, and it is an active investigation.

Citing online records, Texas Scorecard reported that the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD employed Radabaugh since the 2022-23 school year, and that she has held a Texas teaching certificate since 2021. The outlet noted that the Texas Education Agency is reviewing her teaching certification.

Texas Scorecard also reported that Radabaugh is the fourth Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD teacher to be charged with sex crimes this year.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Bad teacher, Teacher arrested, Teacher student sex scandal, Teacher sex scandal, Child sex crimes, Grooming, Crime, Texas 

Russian intelligence operatives have been quietly working out of Tokyo for years, using Japan as a channel to buy weapons components, dodge Western sanctions, and ship the material home to supply Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a New York Times investigation.

The stakes are staggering: Roughly 90% of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components, according to Ukrainian government estimates.

‘We have a sense of crisis about this situation.’

The investigation identifies a Russian military intelligence unit called the “20th Directorate” as the network behind the effort. Its Tokyo station is reportedly run out of an office for Russian state airline Aeroflot near the headquarters of Japan’s National Police Agency.

The alleged operative in charge, Maksim Filchenkov, is a veteran Russian intelligence officer using a cover job at Aeroflot — a tactic Russian spies have used since the Soviet era.

Tokyo’s response has been limited, despite its public support for Ukraine. “We have a sense of crisis about this situation,” said Akihisa Shiozaki, a lawmaker in Japan’s governing party.

Japan has not had a dedicated foreign intelligence agency in more than 80 years, as post-WWII restrictions left the work scattered across the police, military, and foreign ministry. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a noted Trump ally, is now racing to centralize it under one command to also counter China, which researchers say has built fake news sites disguised as Japanese-language outlets to spread pro-Beijing disinformation.

The U.S. and Australia have quietly advised Tokyo on the build-out, the Times reported, citing Japanese and other officials. So has Germany, itself in the middle of its own historic military rebuild and drawing on its foreign intelligence service’s decades of experience countering Russian intelligence in Europe.

RELATED: Bombshell report claims China is transforming old jets for new war

Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Getty Images

President Trump has repeatedly accused U.S. allies of not spending enough on their own defense and questioned whether America should defend smaller nations — pushing Japan to build its own intelligence capability rather than lean on Washington. Even so, U.S. officials have quietly offered input on Japan’s cyberdefense, industrial espionage, and screening of foreign investments and agents, according to the Times.

The State Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

According to the Times, Japan’s government wouldn’t confirm the talks directly, saying only that it “maintains close cooperation with counterparts in relevant countries on a regular basis.”

Opposition lawmakers warn the new agency risks reviving Imperial Japan’s wartime secret police, the Tokko, and eroding privacy rights.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​China, Japan, Prime minister, Russia, Ukraine war, Western sanctions, Politics 

Conor McGregor is many things, but boring has never been one of them. The wild years between his major bouts dissolved into a blur of court dates, shattered bus windows, and enough marching powder to send a bull elephant into cardiac orbit.

He lived like a man trying to out-party Hunter S. Thompson while trying to convince the world he was still an elite athlete. He posted midnight sparring videos from triple-decker superyachts. He littered social media with unhinged, deleted voice notes. Even so, millions of loyal fans believed that he had the capacity to regain his crown.

Joe Rogan provided live commentary, and his excitement was infectious. He confessed to wanting to believe the former champion could still produce magic.

Cold snap

The first real sign that the legend possessed limits came on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264. McGregor’s tibia snapped against Dustin Poirier with the crack of a dry branch, forcing the Dubliner into a prolonged competitive exile. He traded the daily grind of the gym for titanium rod rehabilitation sessions. That injury became the permanent line between the fighter he actually was and the myth he tried to preserve. The subsequent years became a parade of recovery updates and constant promises of a return.

A return did materialize, though it was destined to be short-lived. Saturday — five years on from that shin-splintering night in Las Vegas — McGregor made his return to the Octagon at UFC 329 inside the T-Mobile Arena.

His opponent was fellow MMA veteran Max Holloway, a man who had spent McGregor’s entire hiatus fighting the absolute best featherweights and lightweights on the planet. The arena held a rather eclectic crowd featuring Mike Tyson, Tucker Carlson, and Vince Vaughn, all paying thousands of dollars to witness what was marketed as the greatest resurrection since Lazarus.

Flicker of hope

The opening bars of the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” echoed through the arena. It was the perfect entrance music for the self-styled “Notorious” McGregor. Joe Rogan provided live commentary, and his excitement was infectious. He confessed to wanting to believe the former champion could still produce magic.

The Irish faithful, both in the stands and back home, shared that exact wish, desperately embracing the possibility of the greatest comeback in sporting history. We needed the Mac to conquer the improbable and completely rewrite the laws of the impossible.

But once the fight began, the delusion evaporated in just over 60 seconds. McGregor threw a heavy, wild kick, landed awkwardly on his right leg, and immediately lost his footing. Seconds later, he attempted a follow-up kick, only to wince in agony. The months of promotional hype and international press tours dissolved in an instant.

When the referee stepped in to call a halt to the misery, McGregor sat with his head buried in his hands. Bypassing the microphone entirely, he exited the cage in what felt like a permanent vanishing act.

RELATED: The sad decline of Conor McGregor

JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images

Off the cliff

McGregor recently celebrated his 38th birthday. He’s still a young man, but in the 155- to 170-pound divisions of mixed martial arts, 38 is a chronological cliff, where human reaction time slows just enough for elite 20-something killers to take your head off. History tracks a brutal, unbroken pattern of legend after legend refusing to accept this biological reality. The American B.J. Penn pushed past his prime into his late 30s, only to suffer a horrific seven-fight skid, looking slower and more vulnerable with every appearance.

The sport functions as a meat grinder with a marketing department. Tony Ferguson marched straight into his 40s on an agonizing eight-fight losing streak, transforming from the most feared lightweight on earth into a visual cautionary tale for the entire roster. The Brazilian superstar Anderson Silva lingered long enough to go 1-6 at the end of his UFC run, absorbing unneeded damage from athletes who used his name to build their own brands. The sport does not accommodate aging heroes.

Hit the showers

The financial machine will survive the loss of its favorite cash cow. McGregor completely transformed the UFC’s economic reality during his meteoric rise. He turned a niche combat sport into a multibillion-dollar mainstream industry through an unprecedented marketing capability that no fighter before or since has replicated.

In his competitive prime, his ability to predict the exact round of a knockout matched his technical precision inside the cage, forcing even his harshest critics to respect his execution and refer to him as Mystic Mac. He made the sport immensely profitable for the executives, generating hundreds of millions of dollars while single-handedly inventing the concept of the MMA “money fight.”

The knee injury at UFC 329 closes the door on any future athletic success inside the Octagon. There is no training regimen, experimental therapy, or medical procedure that can restore the fast-twitch reflexes and structural durability required to beat elite, hungry fighters. He leaves the sport as an incredibly wealthy promotional executive and a guaranteed Hall of Famer, but his time as a functional, successful competitor in the UFC has reached its absolute end.

​Conor mcgregor, Joe rogan, Max holloway, Mixed martial arts, Octagon, Tucker carlson, Ufc 264, Vince vaughn, Fight night 

Bigotry on the right is apparently in such short supply that leftists feel the continued need to fake it.

That appears to have been the case at San Jose State University where multiple buildings and public spaces on campus were vandalized over the past two years with graffiti that the school said contained “anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, racial and/or discriminatory slurs, as well as threats of violence against these groups and the entire campus community.”

‘These incidents have caused real harm.’

The Justice Department announced on Monday that 30-year-old Ziheng “Tony” Fang, a leftist graduate student at SJSU, was arrested on a federal charge of false information and hoaxes.

According to the complaint, Fang has a history of criticizing immigration enforcement and the MAGA movement on social media as well as of expressing support for immigrants and pro-Palestinian views, reported the Times of Israel.

The leftist not only showed an LGBT rainbow flag in his Threads profile but characterized himself on TikTok as “100% woke,” on Snapchat as an “activist,” and on Facebook as a “social justice activist,” according to the complaint.

The San Jose State University Police Department began receiving reports in October 2024 of racist graffiti that featured swastikas and racist commentary.

“In many instances, these messages included threats specifying a particular date that an attack was allegedly intended to take place and/or weapons and methods that would be used such as bombs, knives, and shooting,” said the Justice Department.

RELATED: Activists MELT DOWN over burning cross found in park — Asian man claiming he did it says it was an anti-Trump protest

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

One message that was discovered on Nov. 5, 2025, stated, “!WARNING! MASS BOMB NEXT WEEK!” along with “THIS IS A WHITE NATION”; “KILL ALL MUSLIMS + CHINKS”; “MAGA 2028”; and “KILL ZOHRAN.”

Investigators found Fang’s fingerprints on the paper on which these remarks were written, claimed the DOJ.

The DOJ said that another message that was discovered in a bathroom said, “Kill all Jews, Muslims, Chinks, and Mexicans.”

When speaking out against the incidents in March, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) claimed that additional hateful messages included “SJSU, Sorry, But for Allah 3/11 Will Be 9/11”; “Goal 5 Jews Min”; and “Make Osama Proud.”

According to the federal complaint, Fang was caught in surveillance footage entering and exiting restroom areas where the messages were discovered shortly thereafter, and allegedly accessed buildings in the days up to the discovery of the threatening messages in 16 of the 18 instances where key card access is required.

The graffiti — which appeared in numerous locations, including MacQuarrie Hall, the MLK Library, and in student housing, and kept appearing as recently as May 14, 2026 — not only prompted a police investigation and the campus DEI committee to host a “Campus Climate Forum” but resulted in additional bias training for staff and student leaders; the development of new programming from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; multiple university investigations; expanded surveillance; and additional police patrols on campus.

Citing the complaint, the DOJ noted that owing to the date-specific nature of the threats in some of the messages, some SJSU professors canceled their classes on the days on which attacks were supposedly going to take place.

The university and the SJSU Police Department announced on May 21 that following an investigation aided by the FBI, they had nabbed a suspect believed to be responsible for the various “hate-speech” incidents across campus.

SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson thanked university police and others who helped with the investigation and said of the months-long graffiti campaign, “These incidents have caused real harm across our campus.”

The suspect, Fang, was banned from campus and slapped with state charges of felony vandalism and felony publish threats.

Fang, whose race was listed as “Chinese” in the SJSU Police Department booking record, is currently in federal custody.

While the federal complaint charges Fang only in connection with the Nov. 5 message, the accompanying affidavit pins him as the suspect behind dozens of additional messages on campus, reported Mercury News.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​San jose state university, Chinese, Woke, California, Hoax, Hate crime, Politics 

Growing up in a military family, I learned what veterans’ advocacy looked like long before I understood the term.

My father served as general counsel for the California Department of Veterans Affairs. His work was not glamorous, and it rarely attracted public attention. It happened across conference tables, in legal offices, and through countless conversations with veterans trying to navigate an often overwhelming benefits system. He devoted years to helping people who had sacrificed for our country.

This should not be about a T-shirt that ignites a political firestorm on X. It should be about modern solutions that deliver victories for those who have already fought for us.

Watching him, I came to understand that advocacy is not measured by volume. It is measured by results.

California is home to the nation’s largest veteran population, and the cases my father handled reminded me that behind every dispute, delay, or bureaucratic error was a veteran who had fulfilled an obligation to this country.

Those veterans were not looking for political theater. They wanted someone who understood the system and was willing to fight on their behalf.

The most effective advocacy often happens out of sight. It requires drafting legislation that improves access to care, building coalitions around meaningful reforms, providing legal assistance to veterans who cannot afford it, and working with elected officials to remove unnecessary barriers to benefits.

These efforts rarely make headlines. They improve lives.

That is why some developments in the veterans’ advocacy world are so discouraging.

The recent controversy surrounding the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ “Honor the Contract” campaign illustrates how easily attention can shift away from veterans themselves. The campaign’s T-shirt depicted veterans facing a firing squad — an inflammatory image meant to make a political point about how Washington serves veterans.

Whatever message the organization hoped to communicate was lost in the controversy that followed.

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) was right to express concern that this kind of messaging lowers the standard of public discourse.

Veterans’ organizations should be among the country’s most respected civic institutions. They represent Americans who answered the nation’s call to serve, often at extraordinary personal cost.

RELATED: America First means taking care of our own, not another war

Stringer/Anadolu/Getty Images

That moral authority should be used to persuade and educate, not to contribute to the outrage politics already poisoning our national conversation.

The VFW’s campaign suggests a troubling disconnect from what veterans need out of Washington.

Healthy debate is essential for good government. Veterans’ organizations have every right to advocate forcefully for or against legislation. But there is a difference between forceful advocacy and deliberately provocative messaging.

One advances the conversation. The other distracts from it.

The backlog of veterans’ claims has dropped below 70,000 for the first time since 2020. That is progress. But tens of thousands of veterans are still waiting for answers.

They deserve more than symbolic fights and social media firestorms.

This should not be about a T-shirt that ignites a political firestorm on X. It should be about modern solutions that deliver victories for those who have already fought for us.

My father never chased headlines or put politics ahead of people. He spent long hours doing meticulous legal work with the quiet determination to solve problems many veterans could not solve alone.

That example has stayed with me because it reflects the highest ideals of public service.

Veterans’ organizations have accomplished extraordinary things throughout American history by operating according to those same standards. They should strive to uphold them and elevate public discourse rather than mirror its worst tendencies.

The men and women who fought for our country already answered the call to serve. Those who advocate on their behalf should return the favor by delivering results and staying focused on the work that helps veterans most.

​Department of veterans affairs, California, Mike bost, Veterans, Vfw, Veterans advocacy, Veterans of foreign wars, Honor the contract, Americans, Opinion & analysis 

A California restaurant sparked a heated debate after instituting a policy to charge parents who fail to control their unruly children.

Chez Xue is a Chinese restaurant in Foster City — approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco.

‘We are a casual restaurant, but we’re not a Chuck E. Cheese.’

Chez Xue has a policy that warns parents that they may be asked to leave the restaurant if their children are disobedient. The restaurant also cautioned that it will “hold parents financially liable for all damage caused by their children to restaurant property.”

Chez Xue said on the restaurant’s website: “Please control your children.”

“Chez Xue is a family-friendly restaurant,” the site said. “However, we are not a playground.”

“Please ensure children REMAIN SEATED at all times and be respectful of fellow guests and the dining environment,” the restaurant stated.

The notice declared, “Running around, shouting, making noise with utensils, etc. WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!”

“Guests not respecting this policy may be asked to leave,” the Chez Xue restaurant said.

The eatery warned, “We will hold parents financially liable for all damage caused by their children to restaurant property.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that the policy was instituted about a year ago when the restaurant’s owner, You You Xue, caught a customer changing a baby’s diaper on the top of a dining booth in the middle of the restaurant. After that incident, Xue knew he had to do something.

Xue, who does not have kids, got fed up with children “fooling around and basically trashing the place” while parents allowed their kids to be disorderly.

“We are a casual restaurant, but we’re not a Chuck E. Cheese,” Xue told the Los Angeles Times.

The policy recently went viral after a patron posted screenshots of the restaurant’s menu on the X social media platform.

The menu provided examples of “recent damages” caused by children at the restaurant.

In April 2025, parents were charged $327.03 because their child shattered a credit card machine when the kid picked it up and dropped it on the ground.

In December 2025, a kid used a utensil to carve drawings into a tabletop, and the parents were charged $109.38.

The restaurant charged a parent $5.47 after a child broke a teacup in January 2026.

RELATED: New California program demands proof of gayness for $633M in contracts — but a far darker reality lies beneath the hypocrisy

The internet was staunchly divided over the establishment’s policy.

One netizen wrote on X, “If your kids are smashing credit card machines and carving things into furniture, they don’t belong in restaurants. End of conversation.”

Someone else said, “On the one hand, yes, absolutely, please raise respectful kids. In support! On the other hand, kids will be kids, and ~$500/yr in damages feels like a reasonable cost of doing business as a family-friendly restaurant.”

Commenters were vocal on the restaurant’s Instagram page about the policy.

One person wrote, “BRAVO on your policy fining families for disruptive children.”

Another one said, “This is incredibly discouraging for people with children who have disabilities.”

Someone proclaimed, “GREAT POLICY!”

Users on the restaurant review website Yelp were divided on the new policy.

A commenter stated, “Coming on here because I am so happy that the owner is standing up to parents and making them be accountable for their parenting. This is a practice that needs to be serviced everywhere. We have all seen too many examples of parents not watching or caring what their children do! Kudos to you.”

Another person said, “Not a family restaurant! If you want to live in a kidless world, I guess this spot is for you. Don’t forget you were a kid once and I am sure your parents brought you to restaurants before.”

Someone added, “I hope more restaurants implement policies like this. The world and restaurant scene would be a much better place!”

Xue told the New York Post, “My staff, my servers were being forced to parent children on behalf of other parents. That’s not their job.”

Xue added, “Parenting has become so relaxed, and I know if I acted some ways these children are acting, I would have gotten my a** beat.”

“We don’t blame the kids — I’m very proud of the fact that this is an unpretentious restaurant where people can come with their whole families,” Xue explained. “It’s to remind this very small group of parents who are not doing their jobs: Please do your job so we can do ours.”

Xue noted that he takes no pleasure in having to confront parents who are not disciplining their kids.

“I don’t want to be put in that position,” Xue told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s so awkward to go up to a parent and say something so obvious.”

Xue told the Los Angeles Times that the general reaction to the policy has been overwhelmingly positive.

Xue revealed that the number of incidents “has fallen considerably to basically zero” since introducing the policy.

Xue stated, “We said the quiet part out loud. We said something that a lot of people are thinking, and we’ve come forward and spoken on behalf of other restaurants and on behalf of customers who have had a meal ruined by a loud child.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, San francisco, California, Parenting, Family, Politics, Restaurant 

After the shocking Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship, a Texas hospital is going viral for advertising childbirth packages for expectant mothers just miles from the U.S. border in Mexico.

“Here in Texas, you have these birth tourism hospitals openly advertising birth packages, and they’re not advertising to Texans,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales explains on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“They’re not like, ‘Hey, Texans, come to our birth center. We’re really, really gentle.’ They’re actually advertising to Mexicans in Mexico. You have Mission Regional Medical Center; it’s within miles of the border. It’s advertising birth packages on billboards in Mexico,” she continues.

The billboard Gonzales shows is all in Spanish and boasts $3,950 for a natural birth and $5,525 for a C-section. Even more disturbing, the website the billboard pointed Mexicans to was “havemybabyinTEXAS.com.”

The website was taken down after the billboard went viral.

President Trump also called out the Texas hospital, writing in a post on Truth Social: “Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with ‘Deliveries starting at $4,000.’ Likewise, similar signs going up all over our Country. Billions of Dollars will be illegally made by this SCAM, with Citizenship going to anyone willing to pay.”

Trump reiterated that “AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP IS NOT FOR SALE,” before warning that he will be asking for a “Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court.”

“This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision,” he added.

After it drew the ire of the president of the United States, Ross Patterson of the “Drinkin’ Bros” podcast called the number on the billboard to find it was still working.

“They went through the packages and everything else, and you can press five to see what the dollar amount is to come to America and have this baby. Now, after you press the number, it goes to an operator and it turned busy,” Patterson tells Gonzales.

“They took the website down for a little bit and then put it back up. The number is still working,” he says, though the website has been removed again.

“Yeah, it’s getting pretty bleak out here in Texas,” Sara adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Birthright citizenship, Mexico, Supreme court ruling, Us border, Texas hospital, Birth tourism, Pregnancy, Sara gonzales, Ross patterson, Sara gonzales unfiltered 

As I approached the pizza place, I heard someone talking over a loudspeaker. I assumed there was a protest going on. Or a Pride event.

A green-haired woman said: ‘Are you sure God is a He?’

But then I saw what it was: A street preacher was proselytizing and holding a big sign that read, “SINNERS REPENT! OR BURN IN HELL!”

Potty mouths repent!

I’d never seen one of these guys in the wild. Not in Portland. I’ve seen them on YouTube, where they often get into fights with people. Or sometimes, they get attacked.

As I got closer, I could read the large sign and its long list of hell-bound sinners:

PervertsFornicatorsHomosexualsAdulterersPotty mouthsDrunkardsThievesLiarsUsed car salesmen (yes, this was on the list)

The street preacher was a skinny, youngish guy (30?) with a trendy mustache. He wore a cap that said in big letters, “OBEY GOD.”

He was standing on the corner, just outside my pizzeria. At the moment I went inside, he was being yelled at by a short, angry, gray-haired man (50?). I didn’t hear what was being said. I went inside.

Once I had my slice, I sat by the window so I could further observe the adventures of the street preacher and his sign.

By then, the short, angry guy had left. What had he been yelling about? He was probably outraged that a street preacher would dare come plant himself in the middle of the liberal Hawthorne district. And it was June! It was still Pride Month!

We need to have a dialogue

Once the short, angry guy was gone, things calmed down. But other people continued to stop and gawk at the street preacher or engage him in conversation.

For a while, a young woman (25?) was questioning him. She wasn’t yelling, but she seemed pretty worked up.

The street preacher listened to her and seemed to consider what she was saying. I was surprised by how intelligent he looked. Also, he was a reasonably good-looking guy. He wasn’t the pot-bellied, crew-cut fanatic one might expect.

Does God exist?

By the time I finished my pizza slice, a new crowd of people had formed around the street preacher. I went outside and joined the group. I wanted to hear what people were saying.

A middle-aged man wearing cargo shorts and Teva sandals was asking the street preacher questions: If there’s a God, why are there wars? Why is there poverty and disease? And how could God send anyone to burn in hell for eternity? Doesn’t God forgive? Doesn’t He love everyone equally?

To me, these questions sounded like what a 14-year-old would ask. Which made me wonder to myself: “Is everyone in Portland 14?”

RELATED: What was the ‘alt-right’? ‘Whitepill’ clears up the media hysteria

Passage Publishing; Washington Post/Getty Images

What would Jesus do?

Another bystander joined in. He said that Christ didn’t go around denouncing people for their sexual preference. How could the street preacher carry a sign criticizing any people? Jesus would never do that.

The street preacher’s reply was something like: “The true God is a rigorous God. A righteous God. A God who does not tolerate sin. A God who does not excuse liars and perverts. God wants us to be godly. He wants us to live godly lives.”

A green-haired woman said: “Are you sure God is a He?”

The street preacher said: “God is our heavenly Father. He knows what is best for us. It is not our place to negotiate with Him. It is our place to obey Him.”

Classic liberal beliefs

That quieted the nonbelievers for a moment. But then other people chimed in. They espoused the classic liberal belief that “tolerance” and “acceptance” were always best. Who are we to judge?

But the street preacher stuck with his “rigorous” God idea. God had given us simple instructions. It was up to us to follow them. If you think you have a better plan than God … if you think you know better than God … well, good luck with that!

So who won the debate?

I don’t think anyone changed their minds during these discussions. But it was interesting to watch. People were respectful of each other at least. That was nice to see.

The main thing I took away from the debate was how poised the street preacher was. He was deep in enemy territory. But he never lost his cool. And he had clear and succinct responses to every question.

It was the Hawthorne atheists who couldn’t really articulate a coherent position. The best they could come up with was: “If God exists, why are people sad?”

Nor could the onlookers match the street preacher’s moral conviction. They were relativists. They couldn’t say what was “bad” or “good.” Anything could be “good,” if that’s what you were “into.”

Which worked fine in nonbinary, morally ambiguous Portland. But it wasn’t going to win an argument with this street preacher. Not today. Not even with the entire Hawthorne district backing you. This guy was taking on all comers. And he was not backing down.

​Jesus, Portland, Progressivism, Street preacher, Faith, Christianity, Blake’s progress