The 3 - March 14, 2021

This week's edition of The 3 includes news from the nation's highest court, upholding free speech and religious liberty in a case from an Atlanta-area college.  Also, a well-known Bible teacher has parted ways with the denomination with which she has been affiliated.  And, a new Mississippi law prevents biological males from competing in girls' or women's sports.

SCOTUS rules against college that restricted former student from sharing his faith

In an 8-1 ruling, with only Chief Justice John Roberts dissenting, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled in favor of a former student at Georgia Gwinnett College, which is located in the metro Atlanta city of Lawrenceville.  The Alliance Defending Freedom, on its website, summarizes that:

In 2016, Georgia Gwinnett College officials stopped student Chike Uzuegbunam not once, but twice, from peacefully sharing his Christian faith with fellow students on his college campus. First, officials said he had to get advance permission to use one of two tiny speech zones that made up far less than 1% of the campus and were only open 10% of the week. Despite following these policies, Chike was again prevented from speaking. After ADF challenged the unconstitutional policies, Georgia Gwinnett argued that Chike’s speech should receive no constitutional protection, changed its policy, and claimed it should be able to avoid any penalty for violating Chike’s free speech rights. Two courts agreed, but the Supreme Court decided to hear Chike’s case and ruled in his favor.

So, Chike has graduated and the school has changed its policies. Is that enough? Not in the eyes of ADF and the eight justices. ADF said that its "attorneys argued that a final judicial decision is necessary to remedy past harm, prevent future misconduct, and vindicate priceless freedoms. The Supreme Court agreed."

High-profile Southern Baptist speaker announces departure from Convention

It is quite perplexing, actually, but not entirely surprising.  Bible teacher Beth Moore announced recently that she no longer would be affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, which also means that the SBC's publishing arm, LifeWay, will no longer publish her resources.

The coverage largely in the Christian space and even in secular publications was positive toward Moore and negative toward the SBC. The Convention's website, Baptist Press reported:

Moore made the announcement through an interview with Religion News Service (RNS) today (March 9).

“I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists,” she told RNS. “I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I don’t identify with some of the things in our heritage that haven’t remained in the past.”

Moore told RNS her perception of the SBC began to change in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump as president. Specifically, she cited his behavior toward women as revealed in an Access Hollywood tape and a lack of condemnation from Southern Baptist leaders.

Her condemnation of believers who supported the former President apparently did not go unnoticed - the article says: 

From 2001-2016, Living Proof Ministries built its assets from $1 million to $15 million. But after her criticism of Trump, Moore’s book sales hit a tailspin as did ticket sales to her events. Those losses from 2017-2018 totaled more than $1.8 million, RNS reported.

Comments on Twitter also led to controversy. Leading up to Mother’s Day 2019, fellow writer Vicki Courtney posted that she would be preaching at a church. Moore replied with “I’m doing Mother’s Day too! Vicki, let’s please don’t tell anyone this.”

A discussion among Southern Baptists and other evangelical leaders ensued on whether women can serve as pastors and whether Moore was advocating for that position. Some accused Moore of wanting to be nominated for SBC president that June, a notion she never implied.

Baptist Press did report: "On May 3, 2018, Moore published A Letter to My Brothers outlining her experience as a woman ministry leader in Southern Baptist life. October 2016, she wrote, brought attitudes from 'key Christian leaders that smacked of misogyny, objectification and astonishing disesteem of women and it spread like wildfire.'" Moore has certainly become a lightning rod for Christians and especially Southern Baptists. 

USA Today proclaims Moore's departure and that of several others as a "wake-up call," but very little of the reporting I have seen tells the whole story - while secular media is using this as an opportunity to bash the Southern Baptist Convention for some of the actions of selected flawed people, one still should not ignore the fact that the SBC is a powerful engine for missions, evangelism, and teaching of God's Word.  To paint the Convention, which is an umbrella for thousands of independent churches who choose to affiliate, as mysogynist, racist, and condoning of abuse, is missing the point.  The tendency is to demonize individuals and characterize that group by those individuals - that is what is happening here with the SBC, and it becomes incumbent on every believer to continue to accurately represent Christ.  Certainly the Convention has its issues that are dividing its members, and we can be in prayer that things begin to get sorted out when it meets in Nashville in a few months.

MS governor signs bill banning biological males from competing in women's sports

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has signed a bill, according to The Christian Post, "that, among other things, prohibits biological males from competing in girls' and women’s sports." It reports that "Reeves signed Senate Bill 2536, also known as the Mississippi Fairness Act, into law on Thursday, which is slated to take effect on July 1."

The article quotes the governor, who said, "So today, I proudly signed the Mississippi Fairness Act to ensure young girls are not forced to compete against biological males.”  The Christian Post goes on to say:

Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb, whose law firm has fought transgender ideology in the courts, celebrated the signing of SB 2536.

“Comparably fit and trained males will always have physical advantages over females — that’s the reason we have girls’ sports. When we ignore science and biological reality, female athletes lose medals, podium spots, public recognition, and opportunities to compete,” stated Holcomb.

The article says:

“Athletic teams or sports designated for ‘females,’ ‘women’ or ‘girls’ shall not be open to students of the male sex,” stated SB 2536, in part. “Any student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this act shall have a private cause of action.”