Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea, our chance to stop and sample some of the latest news.

Before we get going, one last bit on Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. Though he didn’t show it, J.D. Vance admitted afterward that he’d been nervous: “11” on a scale of 1 to 10, he posted on X. However, as the Daily Wire reports, Vance says  a prayer a priest friend sent to him, attributed to Thomas Aquinas, really helped.

Seems a good one for me to pray before I get typing. It says in part:

 O Ineffable Creator. Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips the goodness of Your blessing. Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech. May You guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to completion.

A friend asked me how nervous I was on a scale of 1 to 10. The answer? 11.

A priest friend sent me this prayer before I went on stage. I share it in the hopes someone will find it as meaningful as I did.

"O Ineffable Creator, who, from the treasures of Your wisdom, have…

— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 2, 2024

I wonder if Tim Walz’s prayer was, “Oh, God. Why didn’t she pick Josh Shapiro?”

Parents Sue School District

We mentioned this story the other day. A group of parents at Bow High School in New Hampshire were banned from their daughters’ school campus and soccer games after quietly protesting the fact that their daughters were being forced to compete against a male on the opposing team. The parents wore pink wristbands marked XX, but otherwise did not disrupt the game. Still, school officials had the police toss them out and subsequently banned them.

Those parents have now filed a lawsuit against the school district.

“Bow School District’s ban on demonstrations criticizing the decision to allow biological boys to play girls’ soccer — cloaked in the language of ‘disruption’ and ‘harassment’ — is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination,” the lawsuit states. “The First Amendment does not allow state-operated schools to become ‘enclaves of totalitarianism.”

Meanwhile, several players at another New Hampshire high school, Hillsboro-Deering, refused to take the field Tuesday against Kearsarge High, whose star player, Maele Jacques, is a biological male. Recognize the name? The six-foot tall Jacques is the girls state champion in the high jump.

“This isn’t about transgenderism,” Heather Thyng, mother of a Hillsboro-Deering player told NH Journal. “This is about biology for us and the increased physical risk when playing a full contact sport against the opposing sex.” 

Virginia School Board Pays $575,000 to Teacher Fired for Refusing to Use Transgender Student’s Pronouns

Former West Point High School French teacher Peter Vlaming was fired in 2018 for refusing to use the preferred pronoun of a transgender student. He sued, claiming the school violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and exercise of religion. On Monday, his lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom announced Vlaming had reached a settlement with the local school district. Administrators are paying him $575,000 and erasing the firing from his record.

Vlaming had tried to find middle ground, agreeing to address the student by his or her chosen name. However, according to the Washington Times, that was not enough for the student, the kid’s parents, or the school.

“I was wrongfully fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to only one perspective on gender identity — their preferred view,” Vlaming said in ADF’s announcement. “I loved teaching French and gracefully tried to accommodate every student in my class, but I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience.”

Judge Strikes Down California’s Draconian New “Disinformation” Law

A federal judge just blocked California’s new law prohibiting altered electronic communications (i.e., “deep fakes”). Christopher Kohls, known as “Mr. Reagan” on his YouTube channel, sued and successfully argued that the law made computer-generated parodies illegal. Senior U.S. District  Judge John Mendez issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday.

On Monday, The Babylon Bee filed a similar suit against the law – and a second California law that censors online content.  

“Our job is hard enough when our jokes keep coming true, as if they were prophecies,” said Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. “But it becomes significantly more difficult when self-serving politicians abuse their power to try and control public discourse and clamp down on comedy. Unfortunately for them, the First Amendment secures our right to tell jokes they don’t like.”

The hubbub started in July when Kohls released a parody video of Kamala Harris. If you haven’t seen it, watch now and understand why it sent Gov. Gavin Newsom into despotic panic and the radical California legislature into action. 

Kamala Harris Campaign Ad PARODY pic.twitter.com/5lBxvyTZ3o

— Mr Reagan 🇺🇸 (@MrReaganUSA) July 26, 2024

“Shana Tovah!” Rosh Hashanah

We began in prayer today, so let us end in prayer.

Sundown Tuesday brought the start of the Jewish New Year and the beginning of the High Holy Days. Obviously, this new year, 5785, comes amid high tension, as Israel battles the genocidal forces of Hamas and Hezbollah and weighs a response to the terrorist masters in Iran for this week’s ballistic missile attack.

Yet Rosh Hashanah is meant to be met with joy and hope for the year ahead.

Y’hi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Eloheinu v’Elohei
avoteinu v’imoteinu, shetchadesh aleinu shanah tovah um’tukah.

“May it be Your will, Eternal our God, that this be a good and sweet year for us.”

For our Jewish friends — and those of us grafted in — may it be so.

On the Stream Menu

As our 40-days fast for the nation continues, we have another in our series of prayer guides from Intercessors for America. This one is “Breaking Spells Against Trump.” If you didn’t know there are organized groups out there that cast literal spells against the former president. 

Meanwhile, Shane Idleman discusses the need for God’s power in “Has the Holy Spirit Been Kicked Out?”

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.