The 3 - September 16, 2018

This week's edition of The 3, focusing on three stories of relevance impacting the Christian community, includes the story of a minister facing eviction from a senior living facility for his role in leading a Bible study.  Also, a Federal court has ruled that a large cross in a park in Pensacola in unconstitutional, while criticizing the precedent for the decision.  And, a large group of pro-life organizations has rebuked the FDA for purchasing fetal tissue from aborted babies.

3 - Pastor in trouble for hosting Bible study

An 86-year-old semi-retired Lutheran minister living in an a senior living facility in Fredericksburg, VA, is facing being evicted from his home there in a series of events related to a Bible study that he has held at a meeting room there.  According to a story about the plight of the pastor, Ken Hauge, on the Christian Headlines website:

The study was held for several months until July 23, when religious activities were banned in the community room, First Liberty said. Further, on the same day, Hauge received a notice saying his lease would be terminated unless he “stopped leading the Bible study entirely, either in his private apartment or in the Community Room,” according to a letter of complaint from First Liberty to management.

First Liberty asserts, the actions by the apartment complex violate the Fair Housing Act.

The article points out that:

Douglas Erdman, president of Community Realty Co. – which owns the apartment complex – told The Free Lance-Star newspaper that First Liberty did not “accurately portray the situation.”

Hauge and his wife have “at no point ... been denied the right to practice their religion in their apartment, nor have any other of the residents,” Erdman added.

That Free Lance Star article, referring to comments by First Liberty attorney Hiram Sasser, stated:

The manager approved Hauge’s request to use the club room in January, Sasser wrote. But he claimed other tenants attempted to interfere with the Bible studies on several occasions, and the complex released a new policy last month prohibiting religious activities in the club room.

The Evergreens continues to permit nonreligious activities, including birthdays, baby showers and wedding receptions.

2 - Federal circuit court rules against Pensacola cross, laments precedent (again!)

For what appears to be the second time in the past few weeks, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling while decrying court precedent in the case.  One such incident occurred in a case involving an abortion ban that was passed by the Alabama Legislature, in which the judge's upheld a lower court's ruling against the law, but two of the judges expressed dissatisfaction with the precedent by which the ruling should be made.

Now, in the case of a 34-foot cross displayed in a park in Pensacola, according to Baptist Press:

Judges said their hands were tied by the 1983 ruling in the nearly identical case of ACLU v. Rabun County, when the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered a cross be removed from Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia.

"Given the parallels between the two cases -- and crosses -- we think it clear that Rabun ... controls our analysis and requires that we affirm the district court's decision," the three-judge panel in the current Eleventh Circuit Court wrote in its Sept. 7 decision.

The story goes on to say that:

Two of the three judges in the latest ruling, Charles Ashley Royal and Kevin Newsom, said the precedent itself should be revisited and reversed by the full Eleventh Circuit slate of judges.

"There is no injury, no harm, and no standing to support jurisdiction in this case, but there is an Eleventh Circuit rule that directs us to affirm the district court based on this flawed precedent," Royal wrote in his concurrence. "Rabun County needs to be reversed, and this Court needs to devise a practical standing analysis."

Both Royal and Newsom called the precedent and other legal jurisprudence in the Establishment Clause "a hot mess."

According to the article, attorneys with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty indicate they will file an appeal.

1 - Pro-life leaders call on government to stop buying fetal tissue from aborted babies

In light of recent revelations that the Food and Drug Administration had reached an agreement with a company that had acquired fetal body parts from aborted babies from Planned Parenthood to purchase the organs for research purposes, a consortium of some 45 pro-life organizations have contacted the Department of Health and Human Services to register their dissatisfaction, according to the website of the Susan B. Anthony List website, which posted a portion of the letter sent to the FDA, which stated:

“We were shocked and dismayed at the news report that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signed a contract to purchase ‘fresh’ aborted fetal organs from Advanced Bioscience Resources, for the purpose of creating humanized mice with human immune systems. We expect far better of our federal agencies – especially under the leadership of a courageous pro-life president – entrusted with the health of American citizens. It is completely unacceptable to discover that the FDA is using federal tax dollars and fomenting demand for human body parts taken from babies who are aborted. …The federal government must find ethical alternatives as soon as possible, and should end all association with those who participate in any trafficking or procurement of aborted baby organs. No taxpayer dollars should continue to go to this gruesome practice.”

The article points out that a Planned Parenthood affiliate, one of four referred by the Justice Department for criminal investigation, had been harvesting organs from aborted babies and selling them to ABR for over 10 years.

Meanwhile, the President of the SBA List weighed in on the selection of Dr. Leana Wen as the new President of Planned Parenthood, replacing Cecile Richards.  In a press release, Marjorie Dannenfelser is quoted as saying, "Planned Parenthood’s selection of a doctor to be their next president is an opportunity to clean up their sorry record,” adding, Planned Parenthood is America’s largest abortion business with 35 percent of the national abortion market. In 2016, according to their latest annual report, abortions made up 96 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services for resolving a pregnancy while prenatal services, miscarriage care, and adoption referrals together made up less than 4 percent." She stated, "The best thing Dr. Wen could do for Planned Parenthood is to help them live up to their claim of being an authentic women’s health care provider.”