Though Billy Graham said he founded Christianity Today in 1956 to offer a conservative alternative to the liberal Christian Century, his magazine has developed a reputation for trending toward the Left, with its editorial staff making donations to Democrats. Despite that, Christianity Today has always claimed it maintains a pro-life ethic.

But financial records unearthed after Christian publisher Canon Press offered to buy the magazine call that commitment into question, showing that it is being heavily funded by a massive left-wing organization that spends millions to support the nation’s leading abortion advocate, Planned Parenthood.

Since 2022, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has become a major patron of Christianity Today, donating well over $1,000,000 to the outlet, records show. Included in the contributions is $400,000 for general operating support, $75,000 to develop a mobile app, and $600,000 to cover U.S. elections. This makes Hewlett one of the magazine’s top disclosed donors, even though the NGO’s extensive abortion backing makes it a strange bedfellow for a Christian publication.  

As dark money watchdog groups like Influence Watch have noted, since its founding in 1967, Hewlett has continuously supported Planned Parenthood, eventually becoming its second largest private funder in the United States. Between 2000 and 2023, Hewlett granted Planned Parenthood over $100 million. After the 2022 Dobbs decision ended the constitutional right to abortion, Hewlett announced it was redoubling its efforts to ensure access in states that were moving to restrict the procedure, revealing that its board had approved a 30% increase in its annual budget earmarked for “reproductive equity work.” In particular, this funding would “strengthen support for state and local organizations focused primarily on abortion care.”

The announcement also noted that the goal of the reproductive equity funding would be to “back promising organizations to craft and test new narratives [and] access larger audiences,” perhaps explaining its interest in funding Christianity Today starting in November 2022, a few months after the Dobbs decision was handed down. 

Since Hewlett’s backing began, Christianity Today has published several articles challenging the traditional definition of pro-life as a commitment to protect the lives of babies in the womb, instead suggesting it should be expanded to include racial injustice and new federal entitlements like paid family leave.

Many pro-life activists have warned that expanding the definition of “pro-life” in this way minimizes the unique horror of killing preborn babies. Seth Gruber, founder of the White Rose Resistance, believes that liberals have slowly and intentionally changed the definition of “pro-life” in order to mute the effectiveness of the movement.

“All the other extensions of justice that progressives insist are pro-life issues already have dedicated organizations and funding that outstrips that of the pro-life movement considerably,” Gruber told The Daily Wire. “And yet, they insist that we divert our scarce resources from stopping the legal murder of babies toward helping people that it’s not legal to murder before we’re ‘really pro-life.’ The Left have taken huge advantage of this redefinition in order to smuggle in radical socialist priorities, all under the label of ‘pro-life.’ Leftists know that the best way to get naive Christians to jump on their bandwagon is to label their agenda as either a gospel issue or a pro-life issue. But he who fights everywhere fights nowhere.”

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Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore and news editor Marvin Olasky did not respond to inquiries into whether the magazine sees any moral inconsistency in partnering with a well-known abortion supporter.

In the past five years, Christianity Today has increasingly relied on donations rather than subscriptions for income, IRS filings show. In 2020, only about 20% of revenues came from grants and donations. Today, it’s more than half. The Lilly Endowment, founded by the Eli Lilly family of pharmaceutical fame, is another major backer, granting the magazine $8 million since 2016 for initiatives ranging from a “national storytelling grant” to developing tools for preachers. 

Hayden Ludwig, Executive Director of Research at Restoration America, has spent more than a decade researching dark money networks. He says major grants like Hewlett’s “act like a siren song – they can hook a grantee on Hewlett money and gradually reorient them around a ‘progressive’ agenda to keep the spigot open.”

“It’s absolutely troubling that Christianity Today would go hunting for grants from an undeniably leftist mega-funder with an anti-Christian axe to grind,” Ludwig told The Daily Wire. “But I can’t say I’m surprised, unfortunately, because bankrolling ‘conservative’ groups is the Hewlett Foundation’s m.o. as part of a larger strategy to infiltrate and undermine the Right. It’s sad to see a giant of Evangelical thought transform into just another pawn for the secular Left.”

Canon Press, which is known for its growing conservative publishing arm, made a $10 million bid to buy Christianity Today on September 29, highlighting its desire to restore the publication to Graham’s original intention. In their offer, they cited the evangelistic model of Charlie Kirk.

“[He] carried the torch of Christianity Today’s founder, Billy Graham, as a global evangelist, and it is his legacy that we see the future of Christianity Today,” the publisher said.

Canon Press founding partner, Aaron Rench, told The Daily Wire that under Canon’s ownership, the outlet’s reliance on the secular grant money that could be playing a role in reshaping its editorial outlook would stop. 

“When you look at CT’s financials, it is not the media side of the business that is growing, it’s the grants and giving, basically the NGO side, which almost doubled from 2022 to 2023,” Rench said. “The Hewlett Foundation is one such NGO, and they tout their 50-year commitment to promoting abortion services as well as efforts to support the transgender movement. So in a successful acquisition with new leadership, the Hewlett Foundation will not think of CT as a partner, nor will their funds be accepted by the new CT administration.”

Rench said Canon’s aim would be to restructure Christianity Today under explicitly Christian stewardship, severing or refusing secular funding that can be ideologically corrosive. Added Rench, “Christianity Today has lost the path and purpose of its founder, and we are dead serious about acquiring it and pushing it forward in the courageous spirit of Charlie Kirk.”

In the early morning hours of May 3, 2025, a 30-year-old man named Alexander Devonte Dickey parked a stolen vehicle on the side of the road on Cypress Street in Columbia, South Carolina. He then broke into a home and stole several items, including a firearm, car keys, and a wallet. Dickey then entered the unlocked door of another nearby home, where he encountered a 22-year-old aspiring teacher from North Carolina named Logan Federico, who was in town visiting friends. After dragging Federico out of bed, Dickey pressed his firearm up to her ribcage, and shot her to death. He also stole several items from the home, including credit cards.

Authorities didn’t respond to the home until nearly noon the next day, when Federico’s body was discovered. By that point, Dickey had used his stolen credit cards to purchase numerous items in West Columbia. He also stole another vehicle, committed arson, and so on. Watch:

Credit: @LawAndCrime/YouTube.com

The media describes this murder as “random,” but of course, there was nothing “random” about it. For one thing, interracial homicides like this are overwhelmingly committed by black criminals against white victims. And of course, this murder was the predictable and intended result of a judicial system that exists, not to punish violent felons, but to unleash them on unsuspecting, law-abiding Americans.

Take a look at the mugshots that “Alexander Devonte Dickey” managed to assemble in just 30 years on this Earth.

Screenshot: WIS 10, Columbia, SC

The local news station WIS News 10 took a close look at Dickey’s rap sheet.

Here’s what they found:

In total, Dickey faced nearly 40 charges within the past decade, with many of the counts ultimately dismissed. While the criminal pattern dates back to 2013, his first conviction came the following year. He was only sentenced in eight cases that involved charges such as robbery, drug possession, and larceny. In 2023, records show Dickey pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary. While he was sentenced to five years, he was given credit for over 410 days already served. Dickey was also placed on probation, which was set to end next month, but it was shortened ‘for compliance.’

In one of his first run-ins with the law, back in 2014, Dickey was arrested for repeatedly breaking into parked cars, as well as driving a stolen car. And then, over the next decade, he would repeatedly commit similar crimes, without spending any significant period of time in prison.

The article goes on to explain that, for some reason, prosecutors claim that they weren’t aware of Dickey’s rap sheet when they prosecuted him in 2023. They suggest there was a paperwork error with his fingerprints that prevented them from accessing information about his prior crimes. But even if that’s true — and it probably isn’t — it doesn’t matter. He clearly should’ve been imprisoned for life, many times over. The very first time someone robs several cars and then steals one, he forfeits his freedom. Believe it or not, that law is already on the books in South Carolina. The maximum penalty for two counts of first-degree burglary is life imprisonment.

Quoting directly from South Carolina’s penal code: 

Burglary in the first degree is a felony punishable by life imprisonment. The court, in its discretion, may sentence the defendant to a term of not less than fifteen years.

That sentence should’ve been handed down, immediately. Normal, functioning members of society do not commit these crimes. You cannot rehabilitate anyone who does. And even if you can theoretically rehabilitate them, it’s not worth the risk to the general public. Critics will object and say, “Are we really going to just give up on people like this?” The answer is yes, we should. Once you have demonstrated that you have no interest in being a part of civilized society, we should give up on you. You can spend the rest of your life locked in a cage like an animal. It is not our responsibility to help you or give you another chance or try to domesticate you like some feral cat. We’re done with you. Goodbye forever. That should be the approach. If it were the approach, this criminal never would have had the opportunity to murder this young woman. The time for “discretion” is over. Any judge who abuses this “discretion” to release violent criminals like this should be held liable for the murders that inevitably result.

Until now, there really hasn’t been much popular support for a change like this. That’s because Logan Federico’s murder, as utterly horrifying as it is, is similar to murders that occur every day in this country. What makes the murder of  Logan Federico different, from a practical perspective, is that — for the first time in memory — the family of the victim isn’t resorting to Leftist platitudes in response. They’re not urging everyone to “come together,” or preaching about “unity” and “keeping politics out of it.” We saw something like that after the killing of Austin Metcalf. As thousands of Leftists — primarily black people — danced on Austin Metcalf’s grave, the father insisted that it wasn’t a racial issue, that one kid had just made a poor decision, and that he should be forgiven. That’s not to disparage the father in that case. It’s difficult to imagine being in his position. But his response, if adopted on a societal and systemic level, is how you get more violence.

That’s not happening this time.

Instead, the family of Logan Federico — particularly her father, Stephen Federico, is pledging to devote the rest of his life to changing the laws that allowed Alexander Devonte Dickey to murder his daughter. He’s not letting the left-wing narrative take hold, even for a moment. He’s a big part of the reason why, the other day, lawmakers in Charlotte, North Carolina, met for a hearing on violent crime. Here’s what Stephen had to say. Watch:

NEW: Father of 22-year-old woman who was brutally killed by a career criminal, absolutely unleashes during a House hearing against soft-on-crime policies.

“[He] dragged her out of bed naked, forced on her knees with her hands over her head … BANG! Dead. Gone.”

“Why? Because… pic.twitter.com/JuQzIgSNmx

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 29, 2025

Credit: @CollinRugg/X.com

This is righteous anger. And it’s exactly what we need to see. He’s enraged because he feels that the system essentially chose the violent thug who murdered his daughter over his daughter. It swapped one for the other. And he’s right.

You’ll see a lot of theories online about why, when someone is killed in a very preventable homicide, the family members of the victim usually don’t have this reaction. We usually don’t see them enraged like this, even though they must be enraged, and should be. Some people will tell you that, in the past, government agents spoke to the victims’ families and coached them on what to say. But the more likely explanation is that, for many generations — in no small part because of the rhetoric of both parties — it’s been considered impolite and bigoted to point out the truth. You’re not supposed to talk about the fact that homicides are both preventable and predictable, for the same reason you’re not supposed to talk about crime statistics, or practice pattern recognition when you’re out for a walk late at night.

As this hearing in Charlotte demonstrated, that dam has now broken. Witness after witness exposed the degree to which Democrats have deliberately allowed violent criminals to terrorize entire communities.

Here’s one more of these statements. It’s from Justice Campbell, a police officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. His life has also been changed forever by one of these violent career thugs. Watch:

Credit: Forbes Breaking News/YouTube.com

Confronted with testimony like this, it’s abundantly clear that Democrats have no idea what to do. Without total narrative control, they are in very serious trouble. In particular, there are now so many victims of violent crime, as a result of Democrats’ policies, that Democrats can’t even keep them straight anymore. So many victims are now coming forward that they can’t keep track of the whole roster.

It’s gotten so bad that, at this hearing in Charlotte, one Democrat representative — a woman named Deborah Ross — appeared to confuse Logan Federico with Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee who was murdered on the light rail car several weeks ago.

Stephen Federico had to correct Deborah Ross, mid-statement. Watch:

Credit: Forbes Breaking News/YouTube.com

So there’s a hearing to discuss victims of violent crime.  There are three key witnesses, none of whom were killed by anyone suffering from a mental illness. And Logan Federico’s picture, along with her father, was directly in front of Deborah Ross when she made her statement.

Credit: House Committee On The Judiciary

And yet, despite all of these cues, Deborah Ross apparently thought she was looking at Iryna Zarutska. She starts talking about mental health issues, which have no relevance to the murder of Logan Federico, or any of the other witnesses in front of her. And Stephen Federico wasn’t going to stand for that.

Nor should anyone. If you look at the media coverage of this case, you’ll find a lot of excuses for why Alexander Devonte Dickey was constantly being let out of jail. 

Here’s just one example, from Law & Crime:

Credit: @LawAndCrime/YouTube.com

The analysts talk about the law as if it’s something we can’t immediately change. It’s just a fact of life, we’re told, that criminals can repeatedly commit acts of violence without receiving mandatory life imprisonment or the death penalty. As we discussed earlier, that’s not even true in South Carolina. This guy could’ve been sentenced to life a long time ago. But to the extent this is true anywhere else, that law needs to change.

Instead of engaging with any of this, Democrats will say that, in reality, the solution is spending more tax money on shelters and mental health treatment. That’s what happened at the hearing in Charlotte. And there was a viral post on X to the same effect. It racked up several million views. In reference to the murder of Iryna Zarutska — who again, was stabbed on the light rail car, by an apparently schizophrenic black man who said “I got that white girl” as he walked away —  the person wrote the following.

The right has zero solution to this. Paranoid schizophrenic violent outbursts require an integrated care system to ensure he has access to and is taking his medication. They just defunded school lunches. They won’t fund this.

This is the framing that the Left has settled upon. They apparently believed that, unless we fund school lunches and daycare for schizophrenics, then we simply have no conceivable way of stopping innocent women like Iryna Zarutska from having their throats slit on the subway. We’re completely powerless.

But there actually is a pretty clear solution, one that most people on the Right would endorse. As I said on X, my solution to violent, criminal sociopathic lunatics is to convict them in a court of law and then kill them. That is my solution. Kill them. Sometimes violence is the answer. It’s the answer here. Legal, constitutional violence, used against convicted criminals, and administered by the state. That kind of violence. But violence all the same. This solution would have saved Iryna’s life. It would save hundreds of lives every year. Believe it or not, you can just kill the worst and most dangerous people. This solution has been deployed to great effect by almost every civilized society on Earth for thousands of years. We can deploy it again.

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What this hearing in Charlotte demonstrates is that, for the first time since the crime crackdown of the 1990s, there’s a real popular will for punishing degenerates and violent criminals as harshly as possible. Now we need to start handing out those punishments. And in doing so, like Stephen Federico, we should be unapologetic and forceful. That is the fight that this righteously angry father has just devoted his life to. And every single American — people who don’t want their daughters to be executed as they sleep — should join him.