We know that much of this anti-Christian movement began with the initial Clinton administration under Bill Clinton, with the world spot-light shining on his "sex in the Oval Office antics" and with his "not-so-discrete hotel assignments" - followed by his exclamatory statement under oath, "It all depends upon what IS is" when questioned about his extramarital affairs.
Then it continued with the aberrant sexual revolution's unabated growth throughout the eight years of the Obama administration as our Christian faith has consistently been under attack. The Obama administration always sided with every possible unbiblical, aberrant sexual lifestyle - as he did his best to encourage, nurture, and force the homosexual lifestyle and abortion upon all Americans and American families. Under Obama the morals of our American society have gone into a dark abyss ofaberrant lifestyles.
On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, a group of about 150 Christian leaders gathered in Nashville, concurrent withthe annual conference of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
And, as we should always expect, the Liberal Left Lunacy groups, along with the Liberal Media, have gone in full attack mode.
USA Today wrote, and most other Liberal media more or less parroted this same rhetoric:
What Is The Nashville Statement And Why Are People Talking About It?
USA Today Network, Holly Meyer, USA TODAY NETWORK
Published 8:59 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2017
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/08/30/what-nashville-statement-and-why-people-talking-it/619009001/
"On the anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, Gallup polled how many LGBT couples are married today. The results: gay marriage is up 33% in the past year."
NASHVILLE — A coalition of conservative evangelical leaders laid out their beliefs on human sexuality, including opposition to same-sex marriage and fluid gender identity, in a new doctrinal statement. It's called the Nashville Statement and the national coalition says it's their response to an increasingly post-Christian Western culture - that thinks it can change God's design for humans.
Since it was released Tuesday morning, the Nashville Statement has received both praise for its clarity - and has been denounced as harmful to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
In recent years, attitudes toward those who identify as LGBT have shifted dramatically in the U.S. The Pew Research Center says the majority of Americans think society should accept homosexuality. A 2013 survey reported that 92% of LGBT adults said society accepted them more in this decade than they had in the previous one.
Bill Gray Note: This past decade is referring basically to the Obama years - when the LGBTQ agenda was forced down our throats. Let me give you another thought for consideration: If you go into a prison and poll the inmates - how many will say that we should accept their way of life and that they should not be punished for their crimes? If you poll 1000 adulterers - how many will say that we should just accept their actions as normal? I believe you get the point.
In the mid-1980s, I was asked by Ferranti International, a large English company, to do a nationwide survey of computer graphics users in America - to determine what features the newly proposed Ferranti computer graphics product should emphasize. Did I visit non-computer graphic users to get their opinions for this new product? Of course not, I went to the engineering leaders of companies I knew would be using computer graphics.
So, would not the same approach be used by pollsters wanting to know America's opinion on the LGBTQ issue? How many Conservative Christian churches and church members did the Pew Research Center visit for their poll? Enough said.
Here's what we know about the Nashville Statement:
What does it say?
The Nashville Statement lists 14 beliefs, which are referred to as articles. Each of the articles includes a statement of affirmation as well as a denial. They're not new. But they cover a range of topics from a prohibition on sex outside of marriage - to the connection between biological sex and gender identity.
Here's what article 10 says:
"WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism - and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness.
"WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which, otherwise faithful Christians, should agree to disagree."
Who put it together?
The Nashville Statement is the work of the The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The Louisville, KY - based group was formed in 1987.
The council's web site says it has helped several religious groups, including the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, promote "gospel-driven gender roles."
How did the Nashville Statement get its name?
"It's named after Nashville because a coalition of scholars, pastors, and other leaders finalized a draft of the statement in Nashville," said Denny Burk, president of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, in an e-mail.
The group met last week at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center during the annual conference for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The public policy arm of the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. hosted the coalition during their conference, which focused on parenting.
"There is a long Christian tradition of naming doctrinal statements after the places where they were drawn up: Council of Nicaea (325), Council of Constantinople (381), Council of Chalcedon (451), etc.," Burk said.
There's more recent examples too, including The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood's founding document.
Who signed the statement?
More than 150 conservative evangelicals from across the country are listed as initial signatories.
Among the signers who have been involved in national politics: James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs, CO, based Focus on the Family, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council in the District of Columbia.
Dobson and four others - Senior Pastor Ronnie Floyd of Cross Church, which has four campuses in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri - Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas - President Richard Land of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. - televangelist James Robison, founder of Fort Worth-based Life Outreach International - also are members of President Trump's evangelical advisory board.
Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention signed on, too: Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and Steve Gaines, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis.
Who doesn't like it?
The mayor of Nashville for one. Mayor Megan Barry (Liberal Democrat), who as a Metro councilwoman officiated some of the city's first same-sex marriages when they became legal in Tennessee, took issue with the statement's moniker. She called it "poorly named" in a Tuesday morning Tweet and said it "does not represent the inclusive values of the city (and) people of Nashville."
Several other Nashvillians echoed the mayor's thoughts. It's received opposition from across the country, including from Christian and religious leaders. What do the signers have to say in response?
Prominent conservative author David French took issue with Barry's statement in his Wednesday column for the National Review.
French, who lives in Maury County and signed the Nashville Statement, argued that Barry's comments are a "declaration of the state against the church" - not merely an argument for the "separation of church and state." He also points out that Barry is speaking against what some of the people in her city believe.
"Megan Barry is expected to have a position on civil rights and civil liberties. But that’s a far cry from stating that Biblical orthodoxy is incompatible with the 'inclusive values' of a city that’s located in the heart of the Bible Belt," French writes.
So, now that we have read the Liberal Left and the Liberal Media take on the Nashville Statement, let's look at the actual document and the people who have initially signed it to take a stand for Traditional Moral Values in America:
“Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us,
and not we ourselves…” -Psalm 100:3
Preamble:
Evangelical Christians at the dawn of the twenty-first century find themselves living in a period of historic transition. As Western culture has become increasingly post-Christian, it has embarked upon a massive revision of what it means to be a human being. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life.
Many deny that God created human beings for His glory, and that His good purposes for us include our personal and physical design as male and female. It is common to think that human identity as male and female is not part of God’s beautiful plan, but is, rather, an expression of an individual’s autonomous preferences. The pathway to full and lasting joy through God’s good design for His creatures is thus replaced by the path of shortsighted alternatives that, sooner or later, ruin human life and dishonor God.
This secular spirit of our age presents a great challenge to the Christian church. Will the church of the Lord Jesus Christ lose her biblical conviction, clarity, and courage, and blend into the spirit of the age? Or will she hold fast to the word of life, draw courage from Jesus, and unashamedly proclaim His way as the way of life? Will she maintain her clear, counter-cultural witness to a world that seems bent on ruin?
We are persuaded that faithfulness in our generation means declaring once again the true story of the world and of our place in it - particularly as male and female. Christian Scripture teaches that there is but one God who alone is Creator and Lord of all. To Him alone, every person owes glad-hearted thanksgiving, heart-felt praise, and total allegiance. This is the path not only of glorifying God, but of knowing ourselves.
To forget our Creator is to forget who we are, for He made us for Himself. And we cannot know ourselves truly without truly knowing Him who made us. We did not make ourselves. We are not our own. Our true identity, as male and female persons, is given by God. It is not only foolish, but hopeless, to try to make ourselves what God did not create us to be.
We believe that God’s design for His creation and His way of salvation serve to bring Him the greatest glory and bring us the greatest good. God’s good plan provides us with the greatest freedom. Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it in overflowing measure. He is for us and not against us. Therefore, in the hope of serving Christ’s church and witnessing publicly to the good purposes of God for human sexuality revealed in Christian Scripture, we offer the following affirmations and denials.
Article 1:
WE AFFIRM that God has designed marriage to be a covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union of one man and one woman, as husband and wife, and is meant to signify the covenant love between Christ and His bride, the church.
WE DENY that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous, or polyamorous relationship. We also deny that marriage is a mere human contract rather than a covenant made before God.
Article 2:
WE AFFIRM that God’s revealed will for all people is chastity outside of marriage - and fidelity within marriage.
WE DENY that any affections, desires, or commitments ever justify sexual intercourse before or outside marriage; nor do they justify any form of sexual immorality.
Article 3:
WE AFFIRM that God created Adam and Eve, the first human beings, in His own image, equal before God as persons, and distinct as male and female.
WE DENY that the divinely ordained differences between male and female render them unequal in dignity or worth.
Article 4:
WE AFFIRM that divinely ordained differences between male and female reflect God’s original creation design and are meant for human good and human flourishing.
WE DENY that such differences are a result of the Fall - or are a tragedy to be overcome.
Article 5:
WE AFFIRM that the differences between male and female reproductive structures are integral to God’s design for self-conception (self-identity) as male or female.
WE DENY that physical anomalies or psychological conditions nullify the God-appointed link between biological sex and self-conception(self-identity) as male or female.
Article 6:
WE AFFIRM that those born with a physical disorder of sex development are created in the image of God and have dignity and worth equal to all other image-bearers. They are acknowledged by our Lord Jesus in his words about “eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb.” With all others, they are welcome as faithful followers of Jesus Christ - and should embrace their biological sex insofar as it may be known.
WE DENY that ambiguities related to a person’s biological sex render one incapable of living a fruitful life in joyful obedience to Christ.
Article 7:
WE AFFIRM that self-conception(self-identity) as male or female should be defined by God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption as revealed in Scripture.
WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception(self-identity) is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption.
Article 8:
WE AFFIRM that people who experience sexual attraction for the same sex may live a rich and fruitful life pleasing to God through faith in Jesus Christ, as they, like all Christians, walk in purity of life.
WE DENY that sexual attraction for the same sex is part of the natural goodness of God’s original creation - or that it puts a person outside the hope of the Gospel.
Article 9:
WE AFFIRM that sin distorts sexual desires by directing them away from the marriage covenant and toward sexual immorality - a distortion that includes both heterosexual and homosexual immorality.
WE DENY that an enduring pattern of desire for sexual immorality - justifies sexually immoral behavior.
Article 10:
WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism - and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness.
WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which, otherwise faithful Christians, should agree to disagree.
Article 11:
WE AFFIRM our duty to speak the truth in love at all times, including when we speak to or about one another as male or female.
WE DENY any obligation to speak in such ways that dishonor God’s design of His image-bearers as male and female.
Article 12:
WE AFFIRM that the grace of God in Christ gives both merciful pardon and transforming power, and that this pardon and power enables a follower of Jesus to put to death sinful desires and to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
WE DENY that the grace of God in Christ is insufficient to forgive all sexual sins and to give power for holiness to every believer who feels drawn into sexual sin.
Article 13:
WE AFFIRM that the grace of God in Christ enables sinners to forsake transgender self-conceptions(self-identity) and by divine forbearance to accept the God-ordained link between one’s biological sex and one’s self-conception (self-identity) as male or female.
WE DENY that the grace of God in Christ sanctions self-conceptions(self-identity) that are at odds with God’s revealed will.
Article 14:
WE AFFIRM that Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners and that through Christ’s death and resurrection forgiveness of sins and eternal life are available to every person who repents of sin and trusts in Christ alone as Savior, Lord, and Supreme Treasure.
WE DENY that the Lord’s arm is too short to save or that any sinner is beyond his reach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
INITIAL SIGNATORIES: Institutional affiliation for identification purposes only
Denny Burk, President, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
John Piper, Founder & Teacher, Desiring God Chancellor, Bethlehem Seminary and College
James Dobson, Founder, Focus on the Family
Russell Moore, President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College
Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church President, The Master’s Seminary and College
Sam Allberry, Speaker & Apologist, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
R. C. Sproul, Founder & Chairman, Ligonier Ministries
Rosaria Butterfield, Author of "The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert"
Francis Chan, Author & Pastor, We Are Church
Marvin Olasky, Editor in Chief, World Magazine
Ligon Duncan, Chancellor & CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary
Steve Gaines, President, The Southern Baptist Convention, Pastor Bellevue Baptist Church
Andrew T. Walker, Director of Policy Studies, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
H. B. Charles, Jr., Pastor, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church
Christopher Yuan, Speaker & Author, Moody Bible Institute
Dennis Rainey, Founder & Former President, FamilyLife
Frank Page, President & CEO, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Former SBC President
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Author & Speaker, Revive Our Hearts
Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church
Alistair Begg, Reverend, Parkside Church
Heath Lambert, Executive Director, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors
Jerry A. Johnson, President & CEO, National Religious Broadcasters
Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church
Randy Alcorn, Director, Eternal Perspectives Ministries
Karen Swallow, Prior Professor of English, Liberty University
Matt Chandler, Pastor, The Village Church
Fred Luter, Senior Pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, Former SBC President
James MacDonald, Founder and Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Former SBC President
James Merritt, Pastor, Cross Pointe Church
Jack Graham, Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church
J. D. Greear, Pastor, The Summit Church
Darryl Delhousaye, President, Phoenix Seminary
Thomas White, President, Cedarville University
Bryant Wright, Senior Pastor, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Former SBC President
Don Sweeting, President, Colorado Christian University
Jeff Purswell, Director of Theology, Sovereign Grace Churches
Johnny Hunt, Pastor, FBC Woodstock Former, SBC President
Jason K. Allen, President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Erick-Woods Erickson, Editor in Chief, The Resurgent
Mark L. Bailey, President & Senior Professor of Bible Exposition, Dallas Theological Seminary
K. Erik Thoennes, Professor and Chair of Theology, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St. Ebbe’s Church (UK)
David French, Senior Writer, National Review
Paige Patterson, President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
R. Kent Hughes, Visiting Professor of Practical Theology, Evangelism and Culture, Westminster Theological Seminary
Jeff Iorg, President, Gateway Seminary
Sam Storms, Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bridgeway Church
Richard Land, President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Robert A. J. Gagnon, Scholar and Author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice
Samuel W. "Dub" Oliver, President, Union University
Ronnie Floyd, Senior Pastor, Cross Church Former President, Southern Baptist Convention
C. J. Mahaney, Senior Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville
Jason G. Duesing, Provost, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary & College
Matt Carter, Pastor of Preaching and Vision, The Austin Stone Church
Chuck Kelley, President, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Burk Parsons, Co-pastor, St. Andrew’s Chapel
Eric Teetsel, President, Family Policy Alliance of Kansas
Alastair Roberts, Scholar & Author of "Heirs Together: A Theology of the Sexes"
Kevin Ezell, President, North American Mission Board
Ray Ortlund, Pastor, Immanuel Church
O. S. Hawkins, President, GuideStone SBC
Thom S. Rainer, President & CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources
Michael Reeves, President and Professor of Theology, Union School of Theology (UK)
Todd Wagner, Pastor, Watermark Community Church
John M. Frame, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary
Randy Stinson, Senior VP for Academic Administration and Provost, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Thomas Schreiner, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
H. Wayne House, Academic Dean and Distinguished Research Professor, Faith International University
J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
Bruce Ware, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Michael Goeke, Associate Pastor, FBC San Francisco
Joel Belz, Founder, World Magazine, World News Group
Afshin Ziafat, Lead Pastor, Providence Church
Stephen Strang, Founder & CEO, Charisma Media
Christiana Holcomb, Legal Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Owen Strachan, Associate Professor of Christian Theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Anthony Kidd, Pastor of Preaching, Community of Faith Bible Church
James M. Hamilton, Jr., Professor of Biblical Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Bryan Carter, Senior Pastor, Concord Church
Chris Larson, President & CEO, Ligonier Ministries
Bruce Riley Ashford, Provost and Professor of Theology & Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Candi Finch, Assistant Professor of Theology in Women’s Studies, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Curtis Woods, Associate Executive Director, Kentucky Baptist Convention
Nathan Finn, Dean, School of Theology and Missions, Union University
James Robison, Founder & President, LIFE Outreach International Founder, Publisher "The Stream"
C. Ben Mitchell, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University
Darrell Bock, Senior Professor, Dallas Theological Seminary
David Mathis, Executive Editor, Desiring God
Ken Magnuson, Professor of Christian Ethics, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Daniel Heimbach, Senior Professor of Christian Ethics, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Hershael W. York, Professor of Christian Preaching, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Mary Mohler, Director, Seminary Wives Institute
Hunter Baker, Associate Professor, Union University
Dorothy Kelley Patterson, Professor of Theology in Women’s Studies, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Jim Shaddix, Professor of Expository Preaching, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
John N. Oswalt, Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary
Jack Deere, Author and Speaker, Grace Church
Juan R. Sanchez, Senior Pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church
Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Jonathan Leeman, Editorial Director, 9Marks
Mary A. Kassian, Author, Director, Girls Gone Wise
Mark Daniel Liederbach, Professor & Vice President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Matthew J. Hall, Dean of Boyce College & Senior VP of Academic Innovation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Micah Fries, Senior Pastor, Brainerd Baptist Church
Nathan Lino, Senior Pastor, Northeast Houston Baptist Church
Paul Weber, President & CEO, Family Policy Alliance
Bob Lepine, Vice President of Content, FamilyLife
Casey B. Hough, Senior Pastor, FBC Camden
Russell Shubin, Director, Salem Media Group
Allan Coppedge, Retired Professor of Theology, Asbury Theological Seminary
Daniel DeWitt, Director of the Center for Biblical Apologetics & Public Christianity, Cedarville University
Charlotte Akin, Homemaker, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Don Buckley, Physician, Spanish Trail Family Physicians
David Schrock, Pastor for Preaching and Theology, Occoquan Bible Church
E. Calvin Beisner, Founder & National Spokesman, Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
Donald A. Balasa, Adjunct Faculty, Trinity International University
Donna Thoennes, Adjunct Professor and homeschool mom, Biola University
James A. Borland, Professor of New Testament & Theology, Liberty University
Eric C. Redmond, Assistant Professor of Bible, Moody Bible Institute
Grant Castleberry, Pastor of Discipleship, Providence Church
Jose Abella, Lead Pastor, Providence Road Church
Phillip Bethancourt, Executive Vice President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Adam Greenway, Dean, Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, & Ministry, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Joy White, Homemaker & Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, Cedarville University
Gregory Wills, Dean, School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Katie McCoy, Assistant Professor of Theology in Women’s Studies, Scarborough College
Rhyne R. Putman, Associate Professor of Theology and Culture, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Barry Joslin, Professor of Christian Theology, Boyce College
Rhonda Kelley, President’s Wife, Adjunct Faculty, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Peter Jones, Executive Director, TruthXchange
Bryan Baise, Assistant Professor of Philosophy & Apologetics, Boyce College
Kenneth Keathley, Senior Professor of Theology, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Jeff Struecker, Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church
Rebecca Jones, Volunteer, TruthXchange
Evan Lenow, Associate Professor of Ethics, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Daniel Patterson, Vice President for Operations and Chief of Staff, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
David Talley, Professor of Old Testament, Biola University
Travis Wussow, VP for Public Policy, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Sean Perron, Chief of Staff, The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors
Michael L. Brown, President, FIRE School of Ministry
Keith Whitfield, Assistant Professor & Dean, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Jeffrey Riley, Professor of Ethics, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Dannah Gresh, Co-founder, Pure Freedom
Matt Damico, Associate Pastor of Worship, Kenwood Baptist Church
Colby Adams, Director of Communications, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Paul Felix, President, Los Angeles Bible Training School
Colin Smothers, Executive Director, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
And, while I will not be so presumptuous as to promote myself into the ranks of this learned and distinguished group - given the opportunity I would gladly add my name to this list of Conservative Christian believers who are taking a stand for the Biblical position on sexuality and marriage:
Bill Gray, Apologetic Writer, Bill & Dory Gray Christian Ministries
Do you stand with our Conservative Christian brethren who have boldly stepped forward, ignored the absolute certainty of Liberal stones, and have affixed their signatures to this historical document? I do. And I know that the God I worship also stands with these brave Christian Soldiers.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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