This week's edition of The 3 features more recent headlines from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding COVID restrictions, with a recent high court ruling providing relief in one California county. Also, I have two recent instances of what is called "cancel culture." Plus, the U.S. House has passed a new bill that grants special rights based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
U.S. Supreme Court grants relief for CA churches from COVID restrictions
Prior to this past weekend, Santa Clara County in California did not allow indoor worship services whatsoever, according to ToddStarnes.com. But that has changed as the result of a 6-3 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court that was handed down within the past few days.
There were five churches represented by Pacific Justice Institute that had filed a lawsuit against COVID restrictions in the county - Gateway City Church, The Home Church, The Spectrum Church, Orchard Community Church, and Trinity Bible Church. Starnes reported on Saturday:
Last week the churches first sought an emergency stay in the Ninth Circuit, but that request was denied by the three-judge panel hearing motions. Lawyers for the churches filed an application for an emergency writ of injunction with Justice Elena Kagan who is assigned to the West Coast for emergency motions.
Starnes noted that "Justice Kagan ordered the County to file a response and then referred the matter to the entire Court which sat in conference today. In a 6-3 decision, the high court granted the relief."
Kagan, along with Sotomayor and Breyer, dissented from the ruling; Starnes notes: "After the Supreme Court’s order, Santa Clara County said indoor worship services immediately would be permitted at 20% capacity but other indoor gatherings would remain prohibited for now."
Cancel culture strikes again: Book removed, TV program pulled
The Daily Mail reports the book was a bestseller. John Stonestreet at Breakpoint.org stated: "The most recent book banned by Amazon is among the most scholarly and thoroughly researched on the issue of transgenderism. When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment was written by Ryan Anderson, recently named president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center."
The Daily Mail article says:
A spokesman for Encounter Books which publishes 'When Harry Became Sally,' told the Wall Street Journal it had been removed for violating Amazon's content guidelines.
Amazon describes 'offensive content' in its publishing guidelines: 'We don't sell certain content including content that we determine is hate speech, promotes the abuse or sexual exploitation of children, contains pornography, glorifies rape or pedophilia, advocates terrorism, or other material we deem inappropriate or offensive.'
'This harms the entire culture of book authoring, publishing, and reading--as it will have a chilling effect on all aspects of the book market,' Anderson told The Independent.
The Daily Mail reports that four U.S. Senators: Marco Rubio, Mike Braun, Josh Hawley, and Mike Lee have written a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos "demanding further information." In a statement, the senators said: "'When Harry Became Sally prompted important discussions in the national media and among policymakers in 2018, and remains one of the most rigorously researched and compassionately argued books on this subject...By removing this book from its marketplaces and services, Amazon has unabashedly wielded its outsized market share to silence an important voice merely for the crime of violating woke groupthink."
Meanwhile, D. James Kennedy Ministries has reported that its television program, Truths That Transform, has been removed from the Lifetime television network, according to CBN.com. Dr. Frank Wright, President and CEO of the ministry, was quoted as saying: "Because of Lifetime's newfound ban on so-called 'controversial' content, D. James Kennedy Ministries has been forced off the cable channel—to which we have paid enormous fees since 2017 to air our program...," and said the ministry will not "cave to the cancel culture." CBN reported:
Lifetime told the ministry it would no longer air programming that addressed issues like abortion or left-wing financier George Soros. And it refused to carry any DJKM programming – even broadcasts celebrating George Washington – unless the media ministry founded in 1974 agreed to Lifetime's sweeping new demands.
Equality Act passes U.S. House - again
For the second time, the so-called "Equality Act" has passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 224 - 206. ChristianHeadlines.com reports that...The bill would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – a law that was passed to confront racial discrimination – by adding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the list of protected classes for public places, education and employment.
The article also outlines these provisions of this sweeping legislation:
It guarantees that individuals cannot be denied access “to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.”
It would force schools to allow biological boys who identify as girls to play on girls’ teams.
Controversially, the bill explicitly forbids individuals from using the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to sue based on claims within the Equality Act. That 1993 law, signed by President Clinton, prevents the government from “substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion.”
ChristianHeadlines.com also points out: "The Senate has never passed the Equality Act. Politico reported it is unlikely to pass that body in its current form."
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