The 3 - November 29, 2020

Two ongoing stories: COVID-19 and election challenges, have a presence in this week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community.  The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down COVID-19 regulations in the state of New York which treated religious gatherings differently than retail activities.  And, a number of Christian leaders have continued to call for ongoing challenges to the election of 2020 to be explored through legal channels.  Plus, a Tennessee abortion ban centered on Down Syndrome children, as well as decisions regarding race and gender, has been upheld temporarily by a Federal appeals court.

High court overturns New York regulations on COVID disproportionately affecting houses of worship

“Members of this Court are not public health experts, and we should respect the judgment of those with special expertise and responsibility in this area. But even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten..." Those are words contained within the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling against COVID restrictions that had been put into place by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, according to a report on The Christian Post website.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America had sued the governor, according to the article, because of "his executive order limiting worship gatherings to 10 people for those in red zones and 25 for those in orange zones." The Christian Post relates that, "The court said that the are likely to succeed in their arguments that the restrictions violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and that they would cause irreparable harm."

The Supreme Court also said, as the article notes, "The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch was very direct in his critique of the governor's actions, writing, according to the story, “the only explanation for treating religious places differently seems to be a judgment that what happens there just isn’t as ‘essential’ as what happens in secular spaces.” Gorsuch also said: “Indeed, the Governor is remarkably frank about this: In his judgment laundry and liquor, travel and tools, are all 'essential' while traditional religious exercises are not. That is exactly the kind of discrimination the First Amendment forbids..."

Christian leaders continue to stress importance of counting legal votes in election

The Facebook Live gatherings called the Global Prayer for U.S. Election Integrity have been continuing on a periodic basis since the day after the Election, with the first one actually announced by organizer Jim Garlow on The Meeting House that day.  Another installment occurred Sunday night.

Christian leaders were part of a statement issued Monday, November 23, about which The Daily Signal states: 

Members of the Conservative Action Project—a coalition of American political, economic, and social activists—say they are standing with those refusing to allow the election to conclude “until every legal vote has been counted.”

Among Christian leaders who signed the statement were: Gary Bauer of American Values, Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint of the Conservative Partnership Institute, Kelly Monroe Kullberg of the American Association of Evangelicals, Marc Little of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, or CURE, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, Tony Perkins and Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council, as well as Ken Blackwell, who serves with FRC and is listed on the letter as being with Constitutional Congress, Inc.  Other signers included: Kelly Shackelford of First Liberty, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, and Frank Wright of D. James Kennedy Ministries, who also serves as Treasurer of National Religious Broadcasters.  

The statement from the Project, headed by former U.S. Attorney General, Edwin Meese, also included these words:

Ours is a government of laws. Included in those laws are the processes by which elections at every level of government are conducted. The purpose of subjecting the election process to a legal regime is to ensure that results are, and are accepted as, just and accurate. This system works and all Americans should trust it. But, it must be allowed to fully work.

And, recently, an initiative called the Jericho March announced a national gathering in Washington on Saturday, December 12. This is related to events that have been taking place at state capitols. One of the organizers, Arina Grossu, told CBN: "God was calling us to set up these marches and help mobilize our people – saints and patriots – out around their state capitols, especially in the swing states." She added, "We wanted to encourage people to go and peacefully pray, protest and march around their state capitol seven times every single day at noon in collaboration with everyone else until December 14, 2020, when the Electoral College votes..."  CBN reported that around 700,000 people had been involved in these marches since the election.  

Court rules that state of Tennessee can ban abortions based on Down Syndrome, as well as race and gender

The state of Tennessee will be allowed to continue to ban abortions due to Down Syndrome, as well as race and gender, based a ruling from the Sixth Circuit federal appeals court, according to the website, JustTheNews.com, which reported:

The ruling, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, reversed an earlier court order that put an injunction on the law's "reason bans" while legal suits around it play out.

In addition to forbidding Down syndrome-motivated abortions, the "reason bans" would forbid a doctor from performing an abortion if he were aware that the mother sought it for reasons related to the unborn child's sex or race.

The court did allow a ruling against the state's ban on abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy to remain in place. 

The article noted: "Research has suggested that as much as 75% of all mothers whose unborn children are diagnosed with Down syndrome will opt to abort those children."