The 3 - January 24, 2021

On this week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, I provide some information with regard to the new Administration's views and actions regarding so-called "transgender rights."  Also, there was a positive court ruling recently that protects conscience rights of those in the medical field who do not wish to participate in gender reassignment procedures. And, an Idaho pastor who had been arrested during a local "psalm sing" sponsored by his church for violating COVID regulations has been released from charges.

Gender identity and sexual orientation "rights" front and center in new Administration

There have been concerns for years about granting special considerations for people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.  The rhetoric in the Presidential campaign indicated that the Biden Administration would be supportive of these special so-called "rights."

Through Executive Orders issued last week, the President showed the direction that he would like to head on gender issues. One of those orders reversed the standing position on allowing males to play female sports and to share bathroom and locker room facilities. The Federalist reported:

President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office, mandating that any schools that receive federal funding must function as if biological males who claim to be females are the same, and vice versa, or risk losing that funding. This pro-transgender policy extends to male athletes who claim their gender identity as a female should allow them to compete on women’s teams, receive women’s scholarships, and be admitted in women’s locker rooms.

This homogenization of genders extends to a new rule for federal agencies changing the definition of the word, "sex." National Religious Broadcasters called attention to it, saying...

...This executive order directly targets people of faith and religious organizations. Under this order, all federal agencies are required to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their definitions of sex regarding any policy that opposes sex discrimination.

Tony Perkins of Family Research Council is quoted in the article, saying: "...President Joe Biden has turned 50-year-old civil rights legislation on its head, hollowing out protections for people of faith. President Biden is unilaterally enacting a sweeping policy change that has routinely failed to win the approval of Congress, the body the Constitution tasks with actually passing laws.”

Court decision helps protect conscience rights of medical professionals faced with gender-related procedures

There was some good news recently in the gender arena: a Federal district court in North Dakota issued a ruling temporarily upholding conscience rights for professionals in the medical field.  According to a CBN.com article, "A federal court in North Dakota has struck down a directive known as the 'Transgender Mandate' that required medical professionals and religious healthcare providers to perform gender transition procedures on patients - including children - even when the measure violates their beliefs."

Luke Goodrich, senior counsel at Becket, which filed the lawsuit back in 2016, stated, "The court's decision recognizes our medical heroes' right to practice medicine in line with their conscience and without politically motivated interference from government bureaucrats."

Ryan Anderson, now the head of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, noted, "The cultural moment in which we're living suggests that there's only one allowed conclusion to this question...And the only allowed conclusion is that (gender) transition is the best solution. The biggest data set shows that there's no benefits, psychological benefits, to patients of hormonal and surgical transition."

Idaho pastor arrested for singing outdoors released from charges

Back in September, a church in Moscow, Idaho held a "psalm sing."  It was outdoors and it was unclear, apparently, what COVID restrictions might have been in place.  Nevertheless, three people, including a local pastor and podcast co-host, Gabriel Rench, were arrested.  He is quoted in a Christian Post article:

“We had done the Psalm sing in the past under the same [mask] resolution and we weren’t arrested, we weren’t warned … we were just taking our constitutional liberties to do what we’re allowed to do under the Constitution — worship..."

He said that it looked as if local law enforcement was attempting to "make an example" of the church's "opposition" to COVID laws. 

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Michael Jacques noted, on behalf of Christ Church: "The Moscow City Code allows the Mayor to issue public health emergency orders, but exempts ‘[a]ny and all expressive and associative activity that is protected by the United States and Idaho Constitutions, including speech, press, assembly, and/or religious activity,’” adding, “Mr. Rench and the other worshipers who were arrested had their constitutionally protected liberties violated and their lives disrupted — not only by the inappropriate actions of law enforcement officers, but also by city officials who did not immediately act to correct this unlawful arrest.”