The 3 - August 12, 2018

On this week's edition of The 3, exploring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, a former high school football coach in Washington state has found some support by a legendary college coach and other high-profile people.  Also, a well-known evangelist has had billboards advertising an upcoming crusade in California removed.  And, a Midwestern university has taken strong action against a number of campus organizations, including faith-based groups.

3 - Legendary college football coach stands with high school coach who lost job for praying

Joe Kennedy is the former assistant high school football coach in Bremerton, Washington who, for years, would walk to midfield to pray following games - that is, until the school district stepped in to restrict him from doing so.  Even after he was told not to do it, he believed that he had a constitutional right to pray in the way he did, and he was terminated.

He has gone to court and has been rejected by a Federal district and appeals court - so he has his eyes set on the highest court in the land, according to Tallahassee.com, which reported on former Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden becoming involved in the case by filing a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Kennedy.  The newspaper's website stated:

The former Florida State football coach has joined members of Congress, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and 12 attorneys general in their effort to have the U.S Supreme Court hear the case of a former high school football coach suspended for praying on the field.

Multiple amicus briefs – including Bowden’s – were filed this week on behalf of Joe Kennedy to the nation's highest court. There is no guarantee the Supreme Court will accept the case that has attracted national attention.

The article also said:

According to his amicus brief on Kennedy’s behalf, Bowden said he believed "no coach should have to set down their faith when they pick up a whistle."

The brief further explained, "In coach Bowden's view, the Circuit Court's opinion jeopardizes an observant coach's ability to impart these life lessons and otherwise strips them of their spiritual identity while in the presence of their student-athletes by categorically eliminating at the public schoolhouse gate their First Amendment rights to engage in any form of religious expression."

2 - Crusade ads removed from Southern California mall

This coming weekend, thousands will converge on Angel Stadium in Los Angeles for the Harvest Southern California Crusade, featuring evangelist Greg Laurie.  But, one attempt to promote the crusade has been eliminated, according to ToddStarnes.com.  Starnes reported that;

Billboards depicting evangelist Greg Laurie holding a Bible were removed from a popular outdoor mall in Southern California after numerous complaints and at least one “serious threat.”

The management of Fashion Island declined to say why they took down the billboards, but the contract between Harvest Crusade and the shopping mall includes a clause about the right not to display any materials that could be construed as “vulgar or offensive.”

The billboards were promoting the upcoming SoCal Harvest gathering – expected to draw tens of thousands of people to Angel Stadium, CBN News first reported.

Todd also reported:

After the initial complaint, the Christian organization revised the advertisements to include only the word “Harvest” with the dates of the event.

Harvest executive director John Collins is quoted as saying, "Then they came back and said they just wanted the ads completely removed and they refunded us..."  Starnes also reported that:

Collins told CBN News. “It’s sad that our culture is at this degree of intolerance…There’s such intolerance against Christianity that we aren’t allowed to state that or to publicly advertise this event. That’s amazing.”

On his blog, Laurie wrote:

We enjoyed working with the Irvine Company and displaying our banners in their amazing malls. I hope to work with them again in the future.

Everybody needs to just relax a little bit. I see images on billboards and displays in stores that I find offensive all the time. I do not complain or boycott. I just think as Christians we ought to have “equal time” and a voice in the marketplace.

1 - IA Christian student group rejects LGBT leadership

The University of Iowa is currently conducting a purge of student organizations that it seems to believe is discriminating against other students. ChristianHeadlines.com ran a story about the Christian organization, Business Leaders in Christ, which, according to the article...

...says it has the right as a religious group to require members to affirm a statement of faith. The controversy began in 2016 when the group refused a leadership position to a gay student because he did not affirm its beliefs.

The article goes on to say:

“The University is discriminating against [us] because of our religious beliefs, while allowing other student groups to form around their shared values and beliefs,” Jacob Estell of Business Leaders in Christ told The College Fix. “We have not changed our mind or caved in to the University’s wishes.”

According to Christian Headlines, "The university stripped the group of its official status, but the group sued and won in court earlier this year. That lawsuit is still pending."  Earlier, the Gazette, based in Cedar Rapids, had reported that:

The University of Iowa has deregistered another 38 student groups after a federal judge found it unequally enforced its human rights policy by kicking off campus a student organization that had barred an openly gay member from becoming a leader.

At least 22 of the newly deregistered groups are organized around religion, culture or ideology.

It looks as if the Business Leaders in Christ lawsuit set off a disturbing series of events, according that publication:

Although merits of the case have yet to be decided, with a jury trial scheduled for March 2019, a U.S. District Court judge agreed BLinC was singled out and ordered the university let the group remain on campus until the legal dispute is resolved.

Before the judge’s ruling, UI attorneys said the school did not proactively enforce compliance with its policy but rather responded only to complaints.

After the ruling, the university in late January and early February reviewed hundreds of its student organizations’ governing documents and found 356 were out of compliance by failing to have the full and correct human rights clause in their constitutions.

That large group has been whittled down to the 38 that have been dismissed from campus, with some Greek organizations having until September 4 to comply.