The 3 - August 25, 2019

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes Christian persecution developments in two countries - in China, where a pastor has been released from prison, and in Mexico, where a pastor was shot and killed after a church service.  Plus, Planned Parenthood has announced it will withdraw from a Federal program which would not allow it to refer for abortion, if it wished to receive taxpayer funds.

Chinese pastor released, other church members, including senior pastor, facing continued imprisonment

Last December, around 100 members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan, China were arrested.  One of the pastors of the church, Li Yingqiang, according to Faithwire, was recently released - he had been charged with “stirring up trouble and “running an illegal business.”

The article did point out that:

The church’s lead pastor, Wang Yi, remains incarcerated. Yi openly has openly criticized President Xi Jinping, even preaching a sermon openly calling him to repent of his sins.

Early Rain Covenant Church is not on the required registry of state-sanctioned churches and is thus deemed illegal by authorities. Millions of Christians risk their lives to meet in these so-called “underground” places of worship on a weekly basis.

More recently, Early Rain issued a statement which claimed that authorities are trying to suppress Pastor Yi’s legal team in a bid to keep him locked up.

Pastor Li, just prior to be arrested, according to the article, had said, according to Asia News: “Persecution is a price worth paying for the Lord. We would rather live through it than to hide our faith and we hope more Chinese churches will speak up and stand with us.”

Mexican pastor shot to death after church service

The Christian Post has a disturbing account of the persecution of Christians in Mexico; recently, according to the story:

According to international watchdog group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Pastor Alfrery Líctor Cruz Canseco was sitting in his car outside Fraternidad Cristiana church in the town of Tlalixtac de Cabrera in Oaxaca state when he was shot at point-blank range.

Cruz Canseco died while he was being transported to a local hospital.

CSW offers some insight into the climate surrounding Protestant, as well as Catholic, groups in Mexico.  The Post states: "CSW warns that the expansion of criminal groups in Mexico as well as a 'climate of impunity' when it comes to crimes they commit has led to an increase in violence against Protestant and Catholic leaders because they are viewed as a threat to criminal groups." CSW reports, according to the story, that "10 religious leaders were killed in Mexico in 2018."

Planned Parenthood refuses to participate in government rule

There is a major development regarding the Trump Administration's "Protect Life Rule," which provides federal funds for health care facilities under what is called Title X, but those facilities cannot refer for abortion.  Planned Parenthood, which attempts to portray itself as a champion of women's health care but is the nation's largest abortion provider, has told the Administration, "no thanks."

Christian Headlines reports that since the 9th Circuit did not strike down the rule, Planned Parenthood has withdrawn from the program, walking away from $60 million that would have come its way - if it simply would not refer for abortion. The article says, "Planned Parenthood...called it 'an unethical and dangerous gag rule' that 'forced' the organization out of Title X."

The story stated that Title X "provides low-income people with cancer screenings, pregnancy tests and contraceptives." The Department of Health and Human Services noted that "the statute written by Congress prohibits funding programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” And, as Christian Headlines adds:

HHS also pushed back against Planned Parenthood’s claim that HHS was harming low-income people. HHS said there are 4,000 Title X service sites across the nation, with Planned Parenthood “representing fewer than 400.”

The 3 - August 18, 2019

This week's edition of The 3 features two stories related to action in Federal district courts: one involves a ruling involving bathroom usage in favor of a former high school student who is female, but identifies as a male.  Another deals with inequities of funding of campus organizations at a California college.  Plus, the Administration has announced a new policy on protecting religious freedom of contractors who do business with the Federal government.

Appeals Court rules in favor of transgender female in bathroom flap

Gavin Grimm is a female; she identifies as male, and wanted to use the boy's restroom at her school.  The school district said "no," and Grimm filed a lawsuit - in 2015.  According to
The Christian Post, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Grimm because of "a 2015 Obama administration guidance encouraging all public schools to allow transgender students to use facilities consistent with their gender identity."

But, in 2017, as the article points out, "The Obama-era bathroom guidance was rescinded under the Trump administration..."  The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower appeals court, and it was relayed to the district level.

So, the case went back up the chain, and recently, a Federal district judge ruled in favor of the now-graduated Grimm.  The article says:

Judge Arenda Wright Allen, an appointee of President Barack Obama, contended in her court order that the school district violated the 14th Amendment and Title IX of education civil rights law by not allowing the biologically female student into boys' bathrooms and by refusing to change school transcripts to reflect the student's gender identity.

This is clearly another attempt to redefine sex, according to the Title IX civil rights provisions, to mean "sexual orientation" or "gender identity," granting special consideration to those identify as a gender other than their biological one.

Department of Labor announces religious freedom protections

A new rule from the Trump administration protects the religious freedom rights of Federal contractors, according to Liberty Counsel, which states on its website that, "The proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ensures that conscience and religious freedom are given the broadest protection permitted by law."

According to Liberty Counsel, "The proposal also reaffirms employers’ obligations not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or other protected bases and does not exempt or excuse a contractor from complying with any other requirements."

Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, responded by saying, "I commend the Trump administration and the Department of Labor for not discriminating against religious employers and organizations that can provide the same high-quality services as allowed by other federal contractors..."  

California university directed to address discrepancy on funding for student groups

California State University-San Marcos funds a variety of the 100 student groups on campus through mandatory student fees.  The Alliance Defending Freedom reports on its website that during the 2016-17 school years that the Gender Equity Center and the LGBQTA Pride Center received almost $300,000 for "speech and expressive activities." That's just over one-fifth of the fees that had been received. The other groups: a combined total of just over $38,000.

That same school year, "Students for Life applied for a $500 'Leadership Funding' grant to host pro-life speaker and University of North Carolina–Wilmington Professor Mike Adams to provide an alternative view" to the clear promotion of a homosexual agenda. It was denied, and Students for Life filed a lawsuit.

Recently, the university's policy was struck down by a Federal district court, referring to the school's activities as "back room deliberations."  ADF Senior Counsel Caleb Dalton stated: 

“The university spared no expense to fund the advocacy of its preferred student groups but denied funding for speakers from Students for Life. But yesterday, the district court correctly declared, ‘These “back room deliberations” are exactly the [sic] type of considerations the First Amendment is designed to prevent. Nothing prevents these officials from encouraging some views while suppressing others through cosponsorship funding.’ We’re grateful the district court has rejected this unfair and discriminatory policy as unconstitutional.”

The 3 - August 11, 2019

This week's edition of The 3, features another three stories of relevance to the Christian community, including topic areas of pro-life, transgender pronouns, and the censorship of Christian content - step 3, the restorations.  Stories include the Kentucky governors signing of 4 pro-life bills, a student's right to free speech concerning transgender pronouns upheld, and a channel restored to the large tech firm's news app.

Not 1, not 2, but 4 pro-life bills signed by KY governor

Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky has developed a reputation as a Christian, pro-life, pro-family leader who is devoted to religious freedom.  This past week, he signed multiple pro-life bills into law in his state, according to the 14 News website.  The article lists the four new laws:

• Senate Bill 9 is known as the heartbeat bill. It bans abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat.
• Senate Bill 50 requires doctors present information to patients about the reversal of medication abortions.
• House Bill 5 bans abortions based on sex, race, or perceived disability.
• House Bill 148 states if Roe v. Wade is overturned abortions will be banned in Kentucky.

The governor is quoted as saying: “People of western Kentucky are very strongly and appropriately on the side of life," adding, "Meant a lot to me to be out here to celebrate with these bill sponsors and the people who sent them to Frankfort.” He signed the bills in Owensboro at the Daviess County Courthouse.  He also shared a broad view about the importance of support for pro-life legislation: "This issue, frankly, isn’t about faith...It’s about science. It’s about medicine. It’s about morality. It’s about who among us even remotely can think we can justify the taking of an innocent life when we know for a fact that’s exactly what it is.”

School corrects punishment for student in pronoun flap

Another of the troublesome aspects of the furtherance of the transgender agenda has to do with the use of pronouns, instances that have been seen in a variety of settings, including schools, where students wish to be called by the pronoun corresponding to the gender they identify as, rather than their biological gender.

Liberty Counsel reports on the situation involving a student in an Ohio school in which a sixth-grader was "punished by an assistant principal in an Ohio school district for using the male pronoun 'he' in reference to a male student..." (That student was apparently identifying as female.)  The student was also reportedly punished "for respectfully stating his opinion that 'he is a boy, not a girl...'" in a discussion with other students. The student was told that he would be facing "consequences" and was not allowed to participate in PE that day.

The report states:

After Liberty Counsel intervened, the school district claimed the PE class removal was not “formal disciplinary action” and said no record of it exists, but conceded that neither Liberty Counsel’s student client nor others would be subject to discipline for expressing “respectful disagreement on any topic,” nor for using accurate “pronouns in referring to students,” and that teachers would not “coerce any student to use a particular pronoun.” “John’s” parents were satisfied with this result.

Liberty Counsel Founder and President Mat Staver said that, "Schools cannot force students to lie about objective reality..."

Another correction: Christian conservative website back on Apple News

It seems like an almost weekly occurrence when you have Christian content or content consistent with a Christian perspective blocked by large tech firms. Sometimes, there is a reversal.

Last week, the channel of LifeSite was removed from Apple News after having originally been selected to be posted.  Apple has reversed its course.  The LifeSiteNews.com website reported, "the Apple News team informed LifeSite that they have 're-evaluated' our channel. LifeSite's channel and articles are once again available on the Apple News app."

The article published on Tuesday, August 6, stated:

Since last week, over 57,000 people have signed a petition demanding that Apple re-enable LifeSite's channel. Approximately 1000 of those signatories also opted to send a physical postcard to Apple's heardquarters, demanding LifeSite's channel be re-instated.

And, when you go to the LifeSite web site, you will see a listing of "Must-Reads," including a story originally published on Newsbusters, that highlight's YouTube's banning of a conversative teenager named Soph.  The article said that BlazeTV host Lauren Chen had featured a clip from...

...Soph's video "Pride and Prejudice" which got her banned. In the video she commented on the nature of LGBT politics: "When you attack the concept of gay pride for what they're doing to children" the left will respond by attacking the critic as someone who hates all gay people, she explained. "It's morality laundering, they put the indefensible together with the legitimate so that you can't scrutinize it without being called a homophobe."

The 3 - August 4, 2019

In this week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there are more instances of Christian websites that are facing opposition: one in the face of removal from a platform, another facing criticism.  Also, evangelicals in Bolivia are beginning to feel empowered by recent government activity.  And, after a long ordeal, a California professor who was removed due to his views on same-sex attraction has won a court victory.

Christian sites face opposition

While sites such as Facebook continue to allow inflammatory rhetoric to be distributed on its site, the website continues to go after people like Todd Starnes or Elizabeth Johnston, who post beliefs that are consistent with their Christian worldview.

And, Facebook is not alone...just recently, LifeSiteNews, after reaching an agreement with Apple News to place content on its site, Apple News then decided to remove LifeSite, which states:

A little over one week ago, Apple approved LifeSiteNews’ application to publish our news on their Apple News platform.

Today, without warning, Apple News abruptly reversed course, telling LifeSite that they had deleted our channel and all of our content from their platform.

The story continues:

Apple claimed that LifeSite’s channel “didn't comply with our Apple News guidelines.” Specifically, they stated that LifeSite’s “[c]hannel content shows intolerance towards a specific group.”

But, Apple News did not identify the "specific group" toward which LifeSite was being intolerant. LifeSiteNews Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen said, “...at a time when there is growing evidence that tech juggernauts are engaging in concerted censorship against even mainstream conservative viewpoints, Apple’s decision – made unilaterally, and without opportunity to appeal – is frightening.”

And, for some reason, the fact-checking website known as Snopes has an obsession, seemingly, with the Christian satire site, the Babylon Bee.  Recently, according to Newsbusters, the Bee satirized the recent skirmish at a Publix grocery store in the Atlanta area, in which a state representative initially alleged that another customer told her to go back where she came from, an accusation that he denied.  Newsbusters reports that the Bee:

...inserted the eternally gracious staff at Chick-fil-A into the scene for laughs: “Georgia Lawmaker Claims Chick-Fil-A Employee Told Her To Go Back To Her Country, Later Clarifies He Actually Said ‘My Pleasure.’”

Snopes launched its attack, complaining "We're not sure if fanning the flames of controversy and muddying the details of a news story classify an article as 'satire.'"

The article points out that "Ellie Gardey at the Daily Caller forced Snopes to revise their 'fact check' and add actual facts," which included the representative's attempt to revise her story.  Babylon Bee founder Adam Ford was offended; the Newbusters article stated:

The shameless clickbait-specialists of Snopes slammed the Bee for "an apparent attempt to maximize the online indignation." This spurred a long Twitter thread by Babylon Bee founder Adam Ford. He was offended: "What a subjective and malicious statement! This is a 'fact check'?"

Ford also disliked this claim: "The Babylon Bee has managed to fool readers with its brand of satire in the past." Snopes said "dozens" of idiots on social media believe these satirical posts are real. Ford replied "Doesn't that wording really make it sound as though the Bee is TRYING to fool readers? Like we INTEND to, and sometimes succeed?"

Bolivian evangelicals flex muscle

The South American nation of Bolivia had become a secular nation back in 2009, but the Protestants there believed that they did not receive the proper recognition, according to ReligionNews.com, which reports that, "Protestant denominations have spent the past decade mobilizing their growing numbers of followers, finally forcing a religious freedom law that codifies their tax status and, perhaps more importantly, giving them standing in Bolivian society."

Munir Chiquie, president of the National Association of Evangelicals of Bolivia, also referred to as ANDEB, is quoted as saying, “For the first time, the religious entities have a legal identity, with the rights to self-determination and independence from the State..."

The law came in the aftermath of the government's attempt to enact a new penal code, Article 88, which was "aimed at combating terrorism and trafficking," but "Christians charged that Article 88’s language was so expansive and vaguely written that it could result in the persecution of clergy for evangelizing."  Just two months after its implementation, President Evo Morales "moved to have it revoked."  Christians and government officials began to talk with each other, and this year, a new religious freedom law was signed that, according to the article, "imposes regulations on religious organizations, including a requirement to report their activities to the government annually, but in return no taxes are levied on them. And the very fact of being monitored gives them a legitimacy in the eyes of the government that Protestant churches have never enjoyed."  Protestants now make up 17% of the country's population, up from just over 7-1/2 percent in 1985.

But not all are happy in the religious community. According to the article, in the general election in October, "Morales is being opposed in his pursuit of a fourth term by Víctor Hugo Cárdenas, whose running mate, Humberto Peinado, is pastor of the Church of the Christian Family in Santa Cruz. Both men have criticized the religious freedom law."

California professor wins court victory

Recently, a professor who had been lauded twice over his career at Moreno Valley College in California as "Faculty of the Year," recognized by students, has won a court victory after being removed from his position because of his views on same-sex attraction.

Pacific Justice Institute reported on the case involving Professor Eric Thompson:

In 2014, several students and colleagues complained that Thompson was harming students by exposing them to the view that same-sex attraction might stem from environmental factors rather than a person’s biology. The community college subsequently investigated Thompson three times and, although the investigations concluded that no violation of District Policy or Administrative Procedure occurred, labeled Thompson’s actions “unprofessional.” After multiple hearings, the college put Thompson on paid leave in 2016 and fired him in 2017 for conducting “dangerous” and “immoral” discussions.

A PJI attorney represented Thompson in an arbitration period, which resulted in the termination being reversed and a judge upheld that decision in the face of the school district's petition to overturn the arbitrator's decision.