The 3 - January 30, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, focusing on three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes the announcement by a U.S. Supreme Court justice that he will be stepping down at the end of the current term.  Also, two sets of families who have been involved in operating bakeries received positive court rulings recently.  Plus, a Texas city has successfully resisted an attempt by the nation's largest provider of abortion to overrule the decisions of the voters to make their city abortion-free.

Justice resigns from high court, leaving dismal track record on life, marriage, better on religious freedom

The U.S. Supreme Court will have a vacancy later this year, as Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intent to resign last week. Breyer had been described as a "pragmatist," but his rulings and opinions show a justice who was not favorable toward the sanctity of life and marriage.  He was solidly regarded as one of the "liberals" on the high court. CBN News puts it like this:

Breyer, who was appointed to the high court by President Clinton, has been one of the more liberal justices on the bench, a staunch supporter of abortion.

The SCOTUS Blog highlighted Breyer's record, and while it did not include the Obergefell ruling on gay marriage, which Breyer supported, it did include a number of cases, stating that Breyer "...wrote for a five-justice majority in Stenberg v. Carhart, striking down Nebraska’s ban on a procedure the state referred to as 'partial birth' abortion."  When partial birth abortion came to the high court again seven years later, he was in the minority as the court banned the procedure.

The blog also noted, "in 2016, he wrote for the majority in another major ruling on abortion, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, that struck down two provisions in a Texas law that sought to regulate abortion providers in the state."  He was also in the majority for a ruling in a similar case out of Louisiana in 2020.

Regarding religious freedom, his record was mixed.  As the SCOTUS Blog points out: "On a single day in 2005, Breyer provided the pivotal vote in a pair of cases challenging public displays of the Ten Commandments. In one case, Breyer agreed with the court’s conservative wing to uphold the display; in the other, he sided with the court’s liberals to strike down the display." The blog also reported that:

Fourteen years later, Breyer joined Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion for the majority in American Legion v. American Humanist Association, allowing a 40-foot-tall cross, erected in a Washington, D.C., suburb shortly after World War I to honor soldiers killed in battle, to remain in a traffic circle. Breyer wrote a brief concurring opinion, this time joined by Kagan, in which he reiterated his view that “there is no single formula for resolving Establishment Clause challenges.”

Breyer was also an opponent of what is called, "court packing," designed to add justices to produce a certain ideological makeup.  

Bakers in U.K., U.S. receive court victories

Within the past month, two families in the same profession involved in similar court cases have received positive results.  One of those cases involves Ashers Bakery; the Christian Institute reported on the origins of the case, which began in 2014, when "Ashers Baking Co, a small bakery in Northern Ireland run by the McArthur family, declines an order by LGBT activist Gareth Lee for a cake iced with the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’ due to the owners’ sincere Christian beliefs."

The Institute's website reported: "The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has thrown out Gareth Lee’s challenge to the UK Supreme Court’s unanimous 2018 ruling in favour of Ashers Baking Company."  The site goes on to say:

Let no one be in any doubt, this case was never about Christians versus gays. It was about freedom of conscience and freedom of expression.

Can equality law be used to compel people to say something with which they profoundly disagree? The answer from the highest court in the land remains clear – unanimously so – ‘No, it can’t’.

To a lesser extent, some court relief was rewarded to the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Oregon - according to First Liberty: 

The Oregon Court of Appeals issued a ruling involving our clients, Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein. It reversed a decision that forced the Kleins’ family bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, out of business by penalizing them $135,000 for declining to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. The court also admitted that an Oregon bureaucratic agency acted with hostility against the Kleins’ religious beliefs.

But, the court apparently did not back down regarding its belief that the Kleins acted illegally. The legal organization's website quotes Senior Counsel Stephanie Taub, who said, “Oregon is trying to have its cake and eat it, too,” adding, “The Court admits the state agency that acted as both prosecutor and judge in this case was biased against the Kleins’ faith. Yet, despite this anti-Christian bias that infected the whole case, the court is sending the case back to the very same agency for a do-over. Today’s opinion should have been the end of this ten year long saga. It’s time for the state of Oregon’s hostility toward Aaron and Melissa to end.”  

The Kleins are planning to appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court and perhaps even to the U.S. Supreme Court, which had sent the case back to the Oregon court system for reconsideration in light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision.

Nation's largest abortion provider drops lawsuit against nation's largest sanctuary city for the unborn

Since 2019, over 40 cities across America have decided to designate themselves as a "sanctuary city for the unborn," where abortion is illegal, according to The Daily Citizen, a website of Focus on the Family. The largest such city is Lubbock, Texas, with "with a population of just over a quarter million," according to the website.

After being enacted, as the result of the approval of over 6-in-10 voters, the site reports, "Planned Parenthood immediately challenged the law in court, asking a federal court to issue an injunction blocking the law from enforcement. The federal court declined to issue an injunction because Planned Parenthood didn’t have the right to bring the case." Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, has decided not to appeal the decision.

The Daily Citizen notes:

Regarding the proposal’s legality, Right to Life East Texas explained, “The ordinance is structured in a manner similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which outlaws abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable but prohibits state officials from enforcing the law, instead authorizing private citizens to sue those who perform or aid or abet illegal abortions. By adopting this unique private-enforcement scheme, the city of Lubbock made its ordinance immune from pre-enforcement lawsuits because neither the city nor its officials have any role in enforcing the law, so they cannot be subjected to lawsuits that challenge the constitutionality of the ordinance.”

The 3 - January 23, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, features coverage of the 49th annual March for Life in Washington, DC, in which thousands rallied and marched through the nation's capital to support life.  Also, the issue of transgender athletes is a concern among Christian groups, and the NCAA has addressed the topic recently. And, another court has ruled against mandating COVID vaccines, this time for federal employees.

Thousands brave cold and COVID to March for Life

After a year off from the traditional March for Life event, which was more of a virtual occasion last year, thousands came to the nation's capital to show their support for the sanctity of human life and the protection of unborn children, with marchers no doubt keenly aware that changes in abortion law could be implemented soon. Faithwire announced on its website:

Organizers say at least 50,000 people packed the streets of our nation’s capital for the 49th annual March for Life, and as seen on the CBN News livestream, the demographics of attendees varied greatly and included a significant number of young people.

Faithwire is a CBN website and offered the livestream on its home page. 

Its summary article about the march, which had the theme, "Equality Begins in the Womb," noted that a scheduled concert by Matthew West did not proceed due to his COVID issues, but Jordan St. Cyr provided the opening music.  

Several speakers were notable, according to coverage of the event, including Katie Shaw, a 36-year-old with Down Syndrome, Toni McFadden, founder of Relationship Matters, Lisa Robertson, wife of Duck Dynasty's Al Robertson, and Kirk Cameron.  The Faithwire story stated that Kirk said...

...that it was important that after this march, it was important to continue our marching orders for God, who is our “commander-in-chief” in the heavenly places. “His executive orders trump all executive orders,” Cameron said, before quoting Micah 6:8.

NCAA changes policy on transgender athletes

There continue to be attempts by biological males to participate in and win convincingly in female athletic events.  Some states, like Alabama, have passed legislation to prevent this practice.  And, now, the governing board of college athletics, the NCAA, has something new to say on the matter.

WORLD Magazine reports that:

Beginning with the 2022 winter championships, transgender athletes will need to document testosterone levels in compliance with their specific sport four weeks before the selection of championship participants. Eighty percent of Olympic athletes compete in collegiate sports first, and this brings the NCAA in line with the International Olympic Committee policy.

The WORLD article notes "College athletes previously only had to be taking hormone therapy to compete with students of the opposite sex."  Perhaps the NCAA was forced to act because the visibility of biological male swimmer Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania, who "was on the men’s team for three years but competed on the women’s team this season. Thomas, a man, broke several records, igniting controversy and calling attention to the NCAA’s policies."

Another WORLD article, from Mary Jackson, quoted from Linda Blade, president of Athletics Alberta and a coach and Team Canada heptathlon competitor, and the co-author of the book, Unsporting: How Trans Activism and Science Denial Are Destroying Sport. Jackson said that Blade "said she was working with multiple international women’s sports groups to form a united consortium to lobby for young female athletes: 'We are trying to organize and say, Who is going to be the female voice at the table?'"

Swimmer Erika Brown was referenced in the WORLD article. A recent ChristianHeadlines.com article stated:

Brown, a Christian, said the issue could be confronted while respecting individuals.

“I want to share something that’s been on my heart regarding what is going on in USA Swimming at the moment,” Brown wrote in an Instagram story, according to SwimSwam.com. “I believe that we are all God’s children, and we are called to love one another. I don’t want to create any hate, only speak up for what is right.

“We cannot allow transgender females to compete against biological women. A biological male goes through male puberty. Even when she has transitioned, she still has the physiology of a male. A few years of testosterone blockers and estrogen doesn’t change the fact that she will have more powerful muscles, a larger heart and greater lung capacity than a biological woman.

Another court ruling against vax mandates

COVID vaccine mandates have become problematic for a number of people of faith, including employees of a variety of religious organizations, some of whom were involved in the case regarding the business mandate from the 6th Circuit that wound up at the U.S. Supreme Court, that struck down the mandate over a week ago.

There have been other challenges to various types of mandates, including the attempt to force federal employees to get the vaccine. Liberty Counsel reported late last week about a ruling out of a federal district court in Texas, stating on its website:

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has blocked Biden’s shot mandate that required all federal employees to receive the COVID shot or face termination.

In Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden, Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown granted a preliminary nationwide injunction that covers all federal employees. Judge Brown wrote that the mandate would pose a substantial threat of irreparable harm over the “liberty interests of employees who must choose between violating a mandate of doubtful validity or consenting to an unwanted medical procedure that cannot be undone.”

In describing this mandate, Liberty Counsel noted "3.5 million federal workers were required to undergo vaccination, with no option to get regularly tested instead, unless they secured approved medical or religious exemptions."

And, FoxNews.com reports that federal employees requesting religious exemptions could be entered into an online database.  The story states:

Religious rights groups are calling foul about the databases.

"This is concerning because of the type of data that's being gathered," Ryan Bangert with Alliance Defending Freedom told Fox News.

Bangert is quoted as saying, "This data is being collected on a massive scale, and this is information about citizens' privately held religious beliefs..." The story also notes that, "Some of the databases also collect the vaccination status of all federal employees, not only those who said no for a religious reason." Fox reports that there will be a period during which comments from the public will be solicited prior to the databases becoming active. 

The 3 - January 16, 2022

Positive developments all around have emerged recently from courts at home and abroad, including the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to place on hold the implementation of the COVID vaccine mandate on businesses employing 100 or more people.  And, a former football coach from Washington state will have another day in court - the highest court in the land - regarding his termination because of his practice of post-game prayer.  Plus, a nurse in the United Kingdom has received a positive court ruling in her lawsuit against her former employer, who reassigned her because of her wearing a cross to work.

Businesses and other organizations, including Christian ministries receive vax mandate victory from SCOTUS

I have been tracking the progress, or lack thereof, regarding to so-called OSHA vaccine mandate, which was announced by the President last summer, implemented by the federal government months later, challenged in court, and dealt a decisive defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court.  The mandate would force businesses who have 100 or more employees, to require COVID vaccinations for those employees, who would then have to choose whether or not to receive the vaccine, to which many object, or submit themselves to testing and mask-wearing.  Some have chosen to depart from their jobs, either forceably or through resignation, because they do not want to submit to a government mandate.

Alliance Defending Freedom represented several ministry organizations in their fight against the mandate, which was set aside temporarily by one appeals court, reinstated by another, and challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court. ADF's website quotes Senior Counsel Ryan Bangert, who said, in part, regarding the high court's decision to halt enforcement of the mandate: “The Supreme Court correctly concluded that the federal administrative state has no authority to treat unvaccinated employees like workplace hazards and to compel employers to carry out the government’s unlawful national vaccine mandate...," adding, "Now that the Supreme Court has stayed the mandate, we look forward to pressing forward with our substantive litigation on behalf of the clients we represent in the consolidated cases challenging the mandate at the 6th Circuit.”

The SCOTUS Blog, in its analysis of the court's decision, said:

Describing the mandate as a “significant encroachment into the lives — and health — of a vast number of employees,” the court emphasized that Congress must speak clearly if it intends to give a federal agency the authority to “exercise powers of vast economic and political significance.”

In this case, the court continued, Congress did not. It gave the Department of Labor the power to establish safety standards for the workplace, rather than “broad public health measures.” Although COVID-19 “is a risk that occurs in many workplaces,” the court acknowledged, it isn’t a risk that workers encounter simply by virtue of being at work – COVID-19 spreads virtually anywhere that people gather. “Permitting OSHA to regulate the hazards of daily life — simply because most Americans have jobs and face those same risks while on the clock — would significantly expand OSHA’s regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization,” the court concluded. And indeed, the court noted, the fact that OSHA has never adopted a similar regulation is a “telling indication” that the vaccine-or-test mandate exceeds the agency’s power.

The decision to stay the OSHA mandate was a 6-3 ruling.  In another ruling handed down the same day, the high court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, to allow a mandate for COVID vaccines for health care workers at facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding. 

Football coach fired for praying after games receives overtime at high court

In a case that has already reached the U.S. Supreme Court and was sent back down to a lower court, the former Bremerton, Washington football coach, Joe Kennedy, who had walked to midfield following the high school's games, will be appearing before the high court yet again.

First Liberty, which represents the coach, released the information late last week and stated:

Kennedy, a former high school football coach, is asking the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that allowed a school district to fire him because fans and students could see him take a knee in silent prayer after football games.

“No teacher or coach should lose their job for simply expressing their faith while in public,” said Kelly Shackelford, President and CEO of First Liberty. “By taking this important case, the Supreme Court can protect the right of every American to engage in private religious expression, including praying in public, without fear of punishment.”

The stakes are obviously very high, as First Liberty notes: "The outcome could restore the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and strike a serious blow against a bad legal precedent that’s harmed religious liberty for more than 30 years."

Nurse who lost job due to wearing a cross necklace wins court case

A health care employee in the United Kingdom had a different sort of challenge from which she has emerged. ChristianHeadlines.com reported:

Mary Onuoha was a nurse employed by Croydon Health Services in 2018 when she was asked to remove a necklace that bears a small gold cross. Onuoha, who is Christian, refused, saying the cross is an important public display of her faith and that she had been wearing a cross since she was young. Her legal representative, Christian Legal Centre, noted that other medical staff were permitted to continue wearing jewelry even as she was told to remove her necklace.

Mary was then reassigned to perform "non-clincial duties." She later resigned and sued Croydon. The article states that...

...an employment tribunal sided with Onuoha, saying the hospital had “directly discriminated against and harassed” her.

“Wearing jewellery including necklaces was rife among the Respondent’s workforce,” a summary of the decision said. “Many doctors and nurses continued to do it even during the period in which the Claimant was being disciplined. This was widely tolerated by management.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, is quoted on the Christian Concern website as saying, “It is very uplifting to see the Tribunal acknowledge this truth. It was astonishing that an experienced nurse, during a pandemic, was forced to choose between her faith and the profession she loves.”

The 3 - January 9, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes court action on COVID vaccine mandates, which are seen by a number of Christians and Christian organizations as government intrusion in trying to override personal conscience decisions. Also, a controversial statue at the U.N. that was considered to be a representation of an end-times villain, has been removed.  Plus, pastor across the U.S. are being called upon to speak on Biblical principles regarding sexual morality next week, as the result of a new Canadian law banning counseling about unwanted same-sex desires. 

High court hears vaccine mandate cases, lower courts put mandates on hold

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments related to the Biden Administration's vaccine mandate for businesses, as well as mandatory vaccines for health care workers in facilities receiving federal funds.  A FoxNews.com report shared these statements:

In early arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that government officials had overstepped, with Roberts declaring that it is "hard to argue" that officials had been given the power to act by Congress. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also noted that Congress had yet to pass any type of vaccine statute.

"This is something the federal government has never done before," Chief Justice John Roberts said.

The Fox website also reported that:

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor came under withering criticism Friday after she falsely suggested that upwards of 100,000 children in the United States are hospitalized from COVID-19, many of them on ventilators.

During oral arguments on the Biden administration's mandate on private businesses for employees to be either vaccinated or frequently tested, Sotomayor drastically overstated the number of young people who have fallen severely ill from coronavirus.

"We have hospitals that are almost at full capacity with people severely ill on ventilators. We have over 100,000 children, which we've never had before, in serious condition, many on ventilators," she said.

After the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay on the vaccine mandate several weeks ago that had been put in place by the Fifth Circuit, a variety of plaintiffs, including Christian ministries, had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, a federal district judge issued a ruling on behalf of Navy SEALS who had challenged the Administration's mandatory COVID vaccines for the military. On Monday, First Liberty announced that:

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas today issued a preliminary injunction, stopping the Department of Defense from punishing military service members who have religious objections to the vaccine mandate. First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit and motion for preliminary injunction on behalf of dozens of U.S. Navy SEALs and other Naval Special Warfare personnel against the Biden Administration and the Department of Defense for their refusal to grant religious accommodations to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The press release quote Judge Reed O'Connor, who said: “The Navy servicemembers in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect. The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution.”

Also, this week, The Hill reported that the Sixth Circuit "upheld a decision to temporarily block a vaccine mandate for federal contractors in three states...," stating that: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit said in their ruling that they were denying a request by the government to stay an injunction on a vaccine mandate for federal contractors in three states — Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky — “because the government has established none of the showings required to obtain a stay.”

Statue dubbed "End Times Beast" at U.N. removed

It has been receiving some attention on Christian media, and a large statue on display at the United Nations has been removed. The Christian Post reported:

Weeks after it was first displayed on the Visitors Plaza outside the United Nations headquarters in November, the controversial “Guardian for International Peace and Security” sculpture many Christians likened to a biblical “End Times beast” is now gone.

Initial reports to The Christian Post suggested that the sculpture was removed from the Visitor’s Plaza in late December due to complaints from the public. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, explained, however, that the display was temporary and was removed as scheduled.

So why was this statue so controversial?  The Post goes on to provide a description, saying that Christians objected "...after the U.N. tweeted an image of the exhibit on Nov. 9, prompting references to certain scriptures in the Bible, including Daniel 7:2–4 which highlights a vision of beasts, representing governments; one of which is depicted with a body like a lion and wings like an eagle."  It also mentions that:

Christians also cited Revelation 13:2 which symbolically refers to a beast given power and authority by Satan. Further reference was also made to I Thessalonians 5:3 which speaks of the End Times when people will say, “There is peace and security,” only to experience unexpected ruin.

Canada set to impose ban on counseling those with unwanted same-sex attraction, American pastor urges pastors to preach on morality

This week, a new Canadian law is going into effect, essentially banning what is known as "conversion therapy," which is a pejorative name for counseling to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction.  When notified about this new law by a Canadian pastor, John MacArthur, Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church in California and speaker on Grace to You, heard on Faith Radio, issued a statement and a challenge.

ChristianHeadlines.com reported that:

MacArthur posted an open letter to “ministers of the gospel,” urging them to join in solidarity with Canadian pastors in preaching a sermon on sexual morality on January 16. MacArthur’s letter included a message from a fellow Canadian pastor asserting it is now “against the law to preach, teach, or counsel regarding God’s design for marriage and sexuality” in Canada.

MacArthur wrote: “Our united stand will put the Canadian and the U.S. governments on notice that they have attacked the Word of God,” adding, “We are all well-aware of the evil power and destructive influence of the homosexual and transgender ideology. Our government is bent on not only normalizing this perversion, but also legalizing it, and furthermore criminalizing opposition to it.”