The 3 - November 11, 2018

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, literally brings news from around the world, including the perseverance of Christian leaders in Nigeria in light of the kidnapping of a Christian teen and Christian aid worker by an Islamic fundamentalist organization.  Closer to home, religious freedom protections now are seemingly baked into the latest rules governing the Obamacare contraception mandate.  And, pro-life perspectives seemed to come into play in the recent mid-tern elections.

3 -  Nigerian church declares vigilance regarding kidnapped teen

You may be familiar with the story of 15-year-old Leah Sharibu from Nigeria, who was abducted along with over 100 female students back in Feburary.  According to Morning Star News, Leah was "not released with the others because she refused to convert to Islam, will never be freed because Boko Haram’s Islamic law allows “infidels” to be kept as slaves, according to a statement by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), commonly known as Boko Haram."

Boko Haram announced recently that it would hold Leah, along with a "Christian UNICEF worker Alice Ngaddah," as slaves. The article said this about Alice: "Kidnapped along with two other aid workers in March, Ngaddah is a member of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN)." The story  states that, "Boko Haram last month killed an aid worker as an 'apostate' from Islam and vowed to keep Leah and Ngaddah as slaves."

But Nigeria church leaders are continuing to persevere. Morning Star News relates:

Leaders of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) have intensified discussions with government officials urging that they continue talks with Boko Haram to win the release of 15-year-old Leah Sharibu and other Christian girls and women being held captive by Boko Haram, an ECWA spokesman told Morning Star News.

Rev. Romanus Ebenwokodi is quoted as saying, “We strongly believe that as long as Leah and others are still alive, it is possible to secure their release.” He added, "The church and Leah’s parents believe that God can make it possible for Leah and others in captivity to regain their freedom if we don’t give up...The hope in Jesus Christ, which is the hope of glory, has kept Leah’s parents going and sustained the church on her knees. We shall continue to pray without ceasing until this faithful servant of Christ and others like her who are being held captive are released.”
 
2 - Religious freedom protections from HHS contraception mandate issued

Believe it or not, it was 2011 when the Department of Health and Human Services in the previous Administration announced its mandate that employers provide free contraception and abortion-inducing drugs as part of their health care plans.  Numerous lawsuits were filed by for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations.  The Hobby Lobby case granted exemptions for certain companies, but there have been a variety of court rulings regarding charitable organizations.

Baptist Press reports that:

The Trump administration issued two final rules Nov. 7 that supply conscience protections to Americans with a religious or moral objection to the 2011 mandate instituted under President Obama. 

One of the rules, according to the article, "finalized 'interim final' rules issued in October 2017." This rule "exempts entities and individuals from the requirement based on their religious beliefs, while the other rule protects individuals, nonprofit organizations and small businesses on the basis of a moral conviction apart from a specific religious belief."

Also, according to the article:

On the same day as the release of the final mandate regulations, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed rule also affecting abortion coverage. The rule requires health plan issuers in the exchanges created by the 2010 Affordable Care Act to collect separately funds for elective abortion and thereby prevent taxpayers from subsidizing plans that cover abortion, according to the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).

The story also says:

Cases out of California and Pennsylvania involving the Little Sisters of the Poor, however, are still under appeal. The Little Sisters of the Poor is a Roman Catholic order that serves the poverty-stricken elderly and became the face of the institutions objecting to the mandate.

Mark Rienzi -- president of Becket, a nonprofit religious freedom law firm representing the Little Sisters of the Poor -- said in a written release, "This long unnecessary culture war is now almost over -- all that is left is for state governments to admit that there are many ways to deliver these services without nuns, and the Little Sisters can return to serving the elderly poor in peace."

1 - Pro-life voters seemingly have impact in mid-term election

No matter what a person's political persuasion might be, he or she might have found some things to like and plenty to dislike about the outcome of the mid-term elections.  Congress will have split leadership in the House and Senate; there are already statements out there that House leadership will pursue investigations regarding the President and Administration officials, and the Senate will continue to have a majority that should enable the confirmation of judges generally in line philosophically with those who have already been confirmed, including Supreme Court members Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.  It could also help the President with confirmation of various Cabinet-level and other Administration officials, such the replacement for UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The Senate outcome has yielded positive comments from some in the pro-life movement, according to a story on the LifeSiteNews.com website.  The story stated:

“Yesterday was a clear victory for the pro-life movement,” Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser claimed, while adding that pro-lifers “cannot be complacent” and “must be prepared to fight to hold the line on important pro-life policies such as the Hyde Amendment.” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins stressed that “most presidents lose seats in the House and Senate in the first midterm election,” but Trump “defied history” by “expanding the GOP majority in the Senate.”

March for Life president Jeanne Mancini struck a different tone, however, warning that “all pro-life gains made by this Administration will come under fire, and we will no doubt see efforts to expand taxpayer funding for abortion as well as the erosion of conscience rights.”

Bruce Hausknecht of Focus on the Family, in an interview for The Meeting House on Faith Radio, discussed the confirmation of strict constructionist judges.  This could have an impact regarding the protection of unborn babies.  But, as he points out, the composition of the House will likely impede any positive action on life and religious liberty.  Bruce and I discussed the apparent losses by four Democratic Senators in states that went for Trump in 2016, all of whom voted against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.  Those four were: Florida (if the recount holds up), Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota.

In other pro-life news, state voters in Alabama and West Virginia approved pro-life amendments, prompting Tony Perkins to say, according to the FRC website: "Consider that voters in West Virginia and Alabama approved pro-life ballot measures and polls show nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the government’s forcing taxpayers to fund abortion. There is simply no groundswell of support for forcing taxpayers to become indentured servants to the abortion industry."