The 3 - January 14, 2018

This week on The 3, exploring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there is a section of United Methodism in America that has strongly voice its opposition to gay ordination and allowing clergy to perform so-called "same-sex" weddings.  Also, a Federal appeals court has upheld a pro-life constitutional amendment in the state of Tennessee.  And, the U.S. Supreme Court has chosen not to accept a challenge to Mississippi's religious freedom law.

3 - Alabama United Methodist conference overwhelmingly indicates maintaining current church policy on homosexuality and gay ordination

After deciding not to tackle matters of sexuality in the 2016 General Conference, the United Methodist Church will be convening in 2019 and "will seek to settle some key questions about human sexuality in the UMC," according to a report at the Juicy Ecumenism blog from the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

And, one of the "conferences," or geographical area of the denomination, has polled its members regarding issues to be considered by the Way Forward Commission, which will attempt to lead the way for the denomination to deal with matters of sexuality.  This is from the North Alabama Annual Conference.

The blog post stated:

Of clergy and lay leaders who responded, an overwhelming proportion (82 percent) said their congregations supported maintaining the Discipline and not ordaining persons in homosexual relationships. Only 18 percent said their congregations disagreed with this position. Regarding the prohibition against UMC clergy officiating same-sex weddings, 80 percent of those who responded said their congregations agreed with the Discipline and only 20 percent disagreed.

The word, Discipline, refers to the United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline, which says that homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching.  The post, written by Joseph Rossell, stated:

So what does this survey signify for the broader United Methodist Church? It’s true that the North Alabama Annual Conference is part of the Southeastern Jurisdiction, which tends to be more theologically conservative. But the North Alabama Annual Conference is far from the most conservative in the jurisdiction. So it’s likely that many other United Methodists in the Southeastern Jurisdiction feel similarly.

He also points out the United Methodist membership is shifting to southern areas of the U.S., as well as part of Africa.  Rossell contends, "... the Way Forward Commission would do well to recall that the vocal minority of activists advocating for changing the Discipline do not speak for most United Methodists, at least those in the fastest growing parts of the denomination."

2 - Tennessee pro-life law upheld by Federal appeals court

A 2014 vote in the state of Tennessee allowing the state to enact restrictions on abortions, which were in place in other states, was challenged in court, and according to a report on the Baptist Press, a Federal appeals court has upheld the vote on that constitutional amendment.

Brian Harris, President of Tennessee Right to Life, called the ruling "a vindication of the state's amendment process and victory for thousands of pro-life Tennesseans who sacrificed to see Amendment 1 passed." He also said, "The voices of Tennessee's voters have been heard and, as a result, public policy decisions on the matter of abortion can be rightly debated and determined by the people's representatives..."

The article stated:

Because of Tennessee's lack of restrictions prior to the vote on Amendment 1 in 2014, the state had become an "abortion destination," ranking third in the nation in the number of out-of-state abortions.

Baptist Press also reported:

Amendment 1, which added language to the state constitution that said, in part, "nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to an abortion," was approved by 53 percent of the vote in 2014.

Pro-abortion supporters challenged the vote, claiming how the votes were counted was unconstitutional, The Tennessean reported.

So, the pro-abortion challengers were attempting to essentially overturn the vote on a technicality, saying that the provision that only those voting in the governor's race could vote on the amendment was unconstitutional, according to The Tennessean.  While a lower Federal court agreed, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not.

1 - Mississippi religious freedom law can now go into effect, due to U.S. Supreme Court action

There was good news for religious freedom out of the U.S. Supreme Court recently, as the result of the high court's inaction - deciding not to hear a challenge to Mississippi's relatively new religious freedom law, which had been placed on hold by a lower court.  The Alliance Defending Freedom website contained a report on this latest development.  The site stated that:

The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, HB 1523, protects citizens, public servants, businesses, and religious institutions from government reprisal for operating publicly according to their belief that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman, that sexual activity is intended only for married couples, and that one’s biological sex cannot change.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had "concluded in June of last year that the law’s opponents didn’t demonstrate they have been or will be harmed by the law," according to ADF, which was part of the legal team; its Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot is quoted as saying: “The 5th Circuit was right to find that those opposing this law haven’t been harmed and, therefore, can’t try to take it down. Because of that, we are pleased that the Supreme Court declined to take up these baseless challenges, which misrepresented the law’s sole purpose of ensuring that Mississippians don’t live in fear of losing their careers or their businesses simply for affirming marriage as a husband-wife union.”