The 3 - November 12, 2017

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, including a story out of a California university, where a victory for free speech has occurred.  Also, there is good news out of Congress, as lawmakers in both chambers have restored the tax credit for adoptive families.  And, one week after the tragic shooting in a Texas church, worshippers gathered at the site this weekend, and earlier in the week, Vice-President Pence attended a memorial service.

3 - Free speech upheld at Fresno State

There has been a recent victory in the battle over free speech at Fresno State University in California.  According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the conflict stemmed from an incident last April. Fresno State Students for Life had, according to the ADF website, "received permission to chalk positive, life-affirming messages on the sidewalks leading to the university’s library." On the morning of May 2, as the pro-lifers finished up in "chalking these messages," a professor named Gregory Thatcher "confronted them—falsely alleging they could not chalk messages near the library and could only express themselves in the so-called 'free speech area,' which the university had actually eliminated almost two years earlier.

After threatening to remove the messages, the professor gathered some students together to "erase and deface" the messages. The club president reminded Thatcher that Students for Life had the university's permission, and he "walked over to one of the pro-life messages and began erasing it himself, erroneously claiming that he was exercising his free speech rights and that 'college campuses are not free speech areas.'"

With ADF's assistance, SFL filed a lawsuit, and a Federal court has issued an order, agreed upon by those involved, that the professor will "pay $17,000 and undergo First Amendment training by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys" as part of the settlement. ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox stated, "Today’s college students will be tomorrow’s legislators, judges, educators, and voters. That’s why it’s so important that university professors model the First Amendment values they are supposed to be teaching to students, and why it should disturb everyone that Dr. Thatcher and many other university officials across the country are communicating to a generation that the Constitution doesn’t matter...”

2 - Adoption tax credit back in tax reform package

Congress is considering action to reform the tax system in America.  This includes streamlining the number of tax brackets and eliminating some of the deductions that taxpayers can receive, in favor of increasing the standard deduction, a topic covered on the website of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. One such deduction that had originally been eliminated is what is known as the adoption tax credit, which provides relief for families who have adopted children and incurred the costs thereof.

This week, it was announced, according to the Family Policy Alliance website, that the credit had been placed back in the House and Senate versions. The site states, according to Autumn Leva, Director of Policy & Communication for the Alliance:

Earlier this week, we told you that the Adoption Tax Credit – which has helped vast numbers of children find “forever homes” – had been eliminated in the GOP tax-cut bill. We asked you to speak up to Congress, and you did! Your response through the Family Policy Alliance Action Center was part of a national outpouring that encouraged Rep. Kevin Brady, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, to restore the Adoption Tax Credit. What’s more, the Senate legislation that was just introduced also includes the credit.

You can hear a conversation with Stuart Shepard, Executive Producer for Creative Communications for Family Policy Alliance, including information on this development, here.

One further tax reform note: the ECFA has expressed concern that the rise in the standard deduction, based on the House version, could reduce charitable giving.  Its site says:

In an effort to drastically simplify the tax code, one of the most significant proposed changes in the bill would be to double the standard deduction (plus eliminate or reduce several other current deductions) so that only an estimated 5% of Americans would continue to itemize their tax deductions. Studies have shown that, with so few Americans itemizing deductions, this could lead to a decrease in giving to nonprofits of over $13 billion each year.

For those reasons, ECFA and other nonprofits in the Charitable Giving Coalition have supported a “universal” deduction (above-the-line) so that all taxpayers would have an incentive to give and support the good work of nonprofits regardless of whether they itemize.

1 - Aftermath of Texas church shooting

On Sunday, the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs held a service, as it did last Sunday when a gunman walked into the church's building and opened fire - 26 lives were lost that day.  This Sunday, the numbers in attendance were significantly higher than what had been the norm, as, according to USA Today:

..this time the congregation gathered in a tent large enough to accommodate nearly everyone in the community and many others from nearby.

The report said that more than 1,000 people showed up.  Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose 14-year-old daughter died in the shooting rampage, stated: "Do not allow the lives that were lost or changed, to be in vain..." The article said:

Then his voice cracked, and he had to pause. The congregation stood to applaud. He regained his voice: “I know everyone who gave their life that day. Some of them were my best friends – and my daughter.”

Pomeroy also said in the service, "I submit to you today that just because we are wounded, doesn’t mean we turn back. Just because we lose a round to Satan, does not mean (we) quit. We should never give up the fight. I believe this wound hurts. We can’t allow this act that happened last weekend to keep us from church."

A memorial service was held in the small community last Wednesday, as well.  Vice-President Mike Pence attended, according to a Religion News Service article on the website, ChristianHeadlines.com.  The story said:

The memorial service was held Wednesday (Nov. 8) on a high school football field in the neighboring town of Floresville, about 13 miles from the site of the massacre at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. The service followed Christian tradition and was replete with Bible readings and prayers to Jesus.

The article stated, "Pence said he was inspired by the strong convictions of the people of Sutherland Springs and especially the victims of its historic church, and he expressed his solidarity with their faith."  The Vice-President is quoted as saying, "Faith is stronger than evil,” adding, "Faith is the antidote to fear and despair."