The 3 - September 9, 2018

In this week's edition of The 3, highlighting current stories of relevance to the Christian community, there is a move underway to deprive faith-based adoption agencies of their freedom to make decisions according to their faith beliefs, and a recent example comes from Buffalo, NY.  Also, Christians in Iran are facing stiff challenges to the practice of their faith, and current imprisonments can no doubt cause concern.  And, there is a new statement, drafted by a diverse committee of Christian leaders, attempting to evaluate the concept of "social justice" from a Scriptural perspective.

3 - Faith-based adoption agencies facing opposition

Those who claim to be the purveyors of tolerance display a stunning amount of intolerance for any sort of disagreement.  The agenda does not seem to contain an allowance of differing points of view, but to force others to adopt their perspective.

This has been seen over the past few years in the arena of faith-based adoption agencies: even though, out of religious convictions, they would prefer for other agencies to place adoptive children in homes headed by same-sex couples, that doesn't satisfy those who want to advance the LGBT agenda.

The Daily Signal published a comprehensive article recently detailing some instances where these agencies have been so harassed that they have closed.  One such example is Catholic Charities in Buffalo, New York.  The article states:

The agency can no longer cooperate with the government there because the state will not allow Catholic Charities to operate consistently with its religious mission.

It goes on to say:

Catholic Charities places children in homes with both a father and a mother in accordance with Catholic teaching on marriage and the family.

Unfortunately, the state now considers that belief to be discriminatory against LGBT individuals. New York issued an ultimatum: Abandon your beliefs, or quit your ministry. Catholic Charities is unable to comply with these rules and now must shut down, leaving the state with even fewer agencies to meet the needs of kids.

The Daily Signal article also reports that:

Earlier this year, the city of Philadelphia canceled its contracts with Catholic Social Services due to its religious beliefs about marriage, displacing hundreds of children in the process.

Meanwhile, the ACLU and Lambda Legal are litigating in Michigan and Texas in hopes of making these shutdowns the new normal nationwide.

And, there are other locales:

California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., have already driven out religious providers through similar policies. They did so even though religious agencies are unique assets to the child welfare system, with great track records for overall recruitment and for finding homes for difficult to place children.

Fortunately, some states are fighting back regarding this religious liberty issue.  As Jim Daly of Focus on the Family wrote just prior to Kansas and Oklahoma passing legislation to protect faith-based adoption agencies:

The good news is that seven states (Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia) have passed legislation to protect such agencies’ religious beliefs, despite strong opposition by secular groups, including the ACLU. Other states are introducing similar bills. An important bill has been introduced in Congress – The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act – which requires any government entity at the federal or state level that receives and administers federal dollars specifically targeted for adoption purposes, to respect the beliefs and practices of faith-based agencies.

The Daily Caller reported on the passage of the Kansas and Oklahoma bills in May and had another story on the Federal bill in July, stating:

The House Appropriations Committee adopted a measure that would ensure federal funding for faith-based adoption agencies that object to placing children with same-sex couples.

GOP Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama introduced the measure, which is an amendment to an upcoming funding bill, as a way to curb further discrimination against faith-based adoption agencies.

2 - Iranian Christians face significant prison terms resulting from their faith

Four Iranian Christians have been sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison, according to a
CBN News story that states that these Christians were "allegedly conducting 'illegal church activities' and spreading propaganda which reportedly 'threaten national security.'"

Mike Ansari from Heart4Iran is quoted as saying: "These Christians were solely arrested for practicing their Christian faith, including attending Christmas gatherings and organizing house churches..."

The article reports:

In 2014, Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz was arrested when plain-clothed security forces raided his home during a Christmas party. In 2017, an Iranian Revolutionary Court sentenced him, along with Hadi Asgari, to 10 years in prison for "forming a group composed of more than two people with the purpose of disrupting national security" in relation to their church activities. The same court sentenced Amin Afshar Naderi to five years in prison for allegedly insulting Islam.

In January 2018, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced Shamiram Issavi to five years in prison for "membership of a group with the purpose of disrupting national security" and another five years in prison for "gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security."

Issavi is the wife of Pastor Bet-Tamraz.

And, another Iranian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, is back in prison.  Another CBN story, from early August, reported:

More than 70,000 people have signed a petition calling for the release of jailed Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice, plain-clothed Iranian authorities raided Nadarkhani's home on July 22 and arrested him in front of his family. Several other church members were also arrested.

He's been reportedly sentenced to ten years in a prison notorious for persecuting Christians. Pastor Nadarkhani was also sentenced to two extra years of "internal exile" for allegedly "promoting Zionist Christianity."

The ACLJ website reports that number is now over 107,000 signatures.

The story provides a reminder that, "Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been in and out of prison for his faith numerous times. Six years ago, Pastor Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity. He was later acquitted." And, it points out that, "In May 2016, the pastor was arrested again along with several other Christians during multiple home raids. They were later freed on bail, according to the ACLJ."

1 - Christian leaders craft statement calling for Biblical approach to justice issues

Thousands have affixed their names to The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, which I believe is a serious attempt to address some areas that have resulted in division in the body of Christ and to provide some Scriptural perspective on matters related to justice.  It has brought some spirited discussion on social media and even yielded a host of fake, even vulgar signatures, which seem to have been cleared up. The introduction states:

Specifically, we are deeply concerned that values borrowed from secular culture are currently undermining Scripture in the areas of race and ethnicity, manhood and womanhood, and human sexuality. The Bible’s teaching on each of these subjects is being challenged under the broad and somewhat nebulous rubric of concern for “social justice.”

On matters concerning race, in section 12, the statement offers this perspective:

We deny that any divisions between people groups (from an unstated attitude of superiority to an overt spirit of resentment) have any legitimate place in the fellowship of the redeemed. We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression. While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice.

The section declares that “'Race' is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority."
Section 14 talks about racism, and declares:

WE AFFIRM that racism is a sin rooted in pride and malice which must be condemned and renounced by all who would honor the image of God in all people.

It also says that,

We deny that the Bible can be legitimately used to foster or justify partiality, prejudice, or contempt toward other ethnicities. We deny that the contemporary evangelical movement has any deliberate agenda to elevate one ethnic group and subjugate another. And we emphatically deny that lectures on social issues (or activism aimed at reshaping the wider culture) are as vital to the life and health of the church as the preaching of the gospel and the exposition of Scripture.

While much of the discussion seems to have centered on what the statement has to say in the area of race, there are also pointed comments with regard to other matters, such as homosexuality.  Section 10 states:

We reject “gay Christian” as a legitimate biblical category. We further deny that any kind of partnership or union can properly be called marriage other than one man and one woman in lifelong covenant together. We further deny that people should be identified as “sexual minorities”—which serves as a cultural classification rather than one that honors the image-bearing character of human sexuality as created by God.

The group of initial signers includes Voddie Baucham and Darrell Harrison, who are both African-American, as well as John MacArthur and James White, who are Biblical teachers who are white.  Subsequent signers have included Ted Baehr, E.W. Jackson, and Kelly Kullberg.  Over 6,000 signatures have been affixed online to the statement.  It appears that around six dozen church bodies have signed on, as well.