The 3 - February 21, 2021

In this week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, all the stories are centered around religious liberty, including the case of a Canadian pastor who was placed in jail last week for violations of health orders concerning COVID and church capacity.  Also, the U.S. House will be considering legislation that poses a threat to religious liberty under the guise of preventing discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.  And, a Christian campus organization is getting involved in a lawsuit in which two secularist groups are attempted to overturn a rule from a federal agency that guarantees religious freedom rights of campus organizations.

Canadian pastor jailed for violation of COVID protocols

While people gathered to pray this past Saturday and attended church in perhaps larger numbers than before on Sunday, Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta remained in prison, according to a story on the CTV News Edmonton website.

The site reported: 

The parking lot at the church west of Edmonton appeared to be more full on Feb. 21 than any of the previous Sundays CTV News Edmonton had attended over four weeks.

At one point, people at the gate were overheard telling incomers that the building's total fire code capacity had been reached, encouraging them to watch the livestreamed service outside.

This comes as churches in the province are allowed to meet at no more than 15 percent of capacity.

The article goes on to say that, "On Saturday, supporters said prayers for Coates outside of the correctional facility."  It reports that:

Coates was taken into custody on Feb. 16. He attended a bail hearing and was set to be released on conditions, but kept in custody overnight "after refusing to agree to those conditions," RCMP said.

RCMP is the acronym for Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Equality Act re-introduced into the House of Representatives

The legislation known as the Equality Act, which is intended to prevent so-called "discrimination" due to gender identity or sexual orientation has been introduced into the U.S. House, and because of the new makeup of the Senate and support of the White House, it stands a greater chance of becoming law.

Family Research Council issued a press release, in which FRC President Tony Perkins, is quoted; it states:

"To wrest special privileges for sexual orientation and gender identity, the so-called Equality Act would eliminate women's privacy and safety, forcing them to share public bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and even battered women's shelters with biological males. The harms aren't hypothetical; local laws to this effect have already led to a kindergartener being assaulted in her school restroom, a rape survivor being forced to quit her job, and nine women being harassed in a shelter.

"The bill erodes parental rights and positions the government as lord over churches and other faith-based institutions, potentially dictating how their facilities are used, who they hire, and even punishing them for not falling in step with a view of human sexuality that directly contradicts orthodox biblical teaching. No person of faith or religious institution, whether school, church, synagogue, mosque, business, or non-profit, will escape the Orwellian reach of the Equality Act.

Perkins stated, "The bill would bring a catastrophic loss of religious freedom in America...," and Mary Beth Waddell of FRC said, "It could...be the most pro-abortion legislation to pass the House in a decade, dramatically expanding abortion access and jeopardizing long-standing federal conscience laws."

Christian campus group enters lawsuit filed by secular groups

Ratio Christi Apologetics Alliance, which is a Christian apologetics organization that reaches college students, has announced it will join, as a defendant, a lawsuit filed against a U.S. Department of Education by two secularist organizations, American Atheists and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.  A press release states that:

The lawsuit – brought on behalf of the Secular Student Alliance and one California university student – claims that by ensuring that public universities respect the First Amendment rights of religious groups on college campuses and giving them the same benefits as other campus clubs, the Department of Education somehow discriminates against students of other faiths and non-religious students.

Dr. Corey Miller is President/CEO of Ratio Christi and is quoted as saying, "By bringing this lawsuit against the Department of Education rule, American Atheists and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are in effect doing what they claim to oppose – discriminating against the rights of certain religious students. Disagreement is not denigration. Viewpoint diversity supports rather than undermines the goal of the university, which is the pursuit of truth. Free speech presupposes cognitive liberty." The rule, which went into affect in November of last year, according to the press release, "allows club members to choose only leaders who share the same belief and mission of the club."