The 3 - May 22, 2022

This week's edition of The 3 includes legislation that has passed one chamber of the U.S. Congress that would penalize faith-based organizations by not upholding their freedom of religion.  Also, two airline flight attendants are claiming their freedom to practice their faith has been violated for comments they made contrary to their employer's position on a LGBTQ-friendly bill.  And, the Disney company has doubled down on its support for the gay agenda by release a line of clothing that promotes so-called LGBTQ+ "pride."

House votes to deny religious freedom protections for faith-based organizations to serve their communities

On The Meeting House program on Faith Radio, I have documented the trend in which people in power have attempted to restrict or eliminate the freedom of people of faith, including Christians, to practice that faith freely.  The Bill of Rights calls it the "freedom of religion," and we have seen respect for it waning.

Alliance Defending Freedom reports on yet another instance, stating that on May 13, the U.S. House of Representatives approved "a bill that eliminates religious freedom protections for faith-based participants in the Community Services Block Grant program."

ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor notes that, "Faith-based organizations contribute significantly to their communities by providing compassionate care to the most vulnerable among us. That’s exactly why faith-based social service providers participate in the Community Services Block Grant program."

Baylor continues: "Forcing faith-based organizations to choose between providing vital social services and operating according to their sincerely held religious beliefs only jeopardizes the communities these organizations serve. Further, the bill’s vague language regarding how funds may be used to ‘address health needs’ opens the door to allowing funding of organizations that perform abortions and surgeries designed to alter one’s biological sex."

Flight attendants fired for voice opposition to Equality Act file court challenge

The House has, on two occasions, passed legislation known as the Equality Act, the name of which is a misnomer - it provides special treatment for people based on their so-called "gender identity" or "sexual orientation."  Fortunately, it doesn't have the votes in the Senate to move forward.  By showing preference to LGBTQ+ individuals, it actually discriminates against people of faith who do not approve of the gay lifestyle.  A recent article at The Christian Post quotes from a previous column from Robert Netzly, the CEO of Inspire Investing, who said that the Act "...cancels by name specific provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, putting religious employers such as churches and private religious schools, hospitals, adoption agencies, and others at severe risk of lawsuits."

That recent Christian Post article reports on a lawsuit filed by two former flight attendants of Alaska Airlines, which fired them because they broke ranks with their company, criticizing it on an internal message board for supporting the Equality Act. The article says that "Marli Brown and Lacey Smith accused Alaska Airlines of religious discrimination. The lawsuit also lists the flight attendants' union, the Association of Flight Attendants." It goes on to say:

Stephanie Taub, senior counsel with the First Liberty Institute, which is representing the flight attendants, said in a statement Tuesday that this was "a blatant violation of state and federal civil rights laws."

"Alaska Airlines 'canceled' Lacey and Marli because of their religious beliefs, flagrantly disregarding federal civil rights laws that protect people of faith from discrimination," Taub said.

Disney doubles down on LGBTQ+, launches gay-friendly clothing line

The pushback has been forceful against the Walt Disney Company, since the corporation decided to oppose Florida's new law protecting the rights of parents and the minds of children against ideas regarding sexuality.  It was reported that high-ranking Disney officials stated their support for the gay agenda, and LGBTQ-friendly employees put pressure on company leadership.

But Disney appears to have doubled-down on this agenda in a new way. CBN.com has reported that:

Disney has released their new "Pride Collection," a clothing line for children that comes on the heels of the entertainment company's adversarial response to Florida's new parental rights in education bill and amid its escalating attempts to include LGBTQ themes and characters in children's animated series and other programming.

The new clothing line, which had previously been referred to as the Rainbow Disney Collection, launched on Monday. All of the products in the new Disney collection are emblazoned with the LGBT movement's rainbow pride flag. It comes out prior to the month of June, which LGBT advocates celebrate as a so-called pride month.

CBN quoted from a statement from the company, stating, "We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ community everywhere." The statement also noted: "The Walt Disney Company will be donating all of our profits from the Disney Pride Collection sales now through June 30, 2022, to organizations that support LGBTQIA+ youth and families. This includes sales of Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars Pride Collection merchandise..."

The 3 - May 15, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes the failure of a bill in the U.S. Senate that would legalize abortion nationwide and supersede pro-life bills passed by state. Also, a bill that is designed to protects minors in Alabama from surgeries and treatments to attempt to change their gender has been put on hold by a federal judge.  And, six Christian universities are under scrutiny for upholding Christian principles in their policies. 

Pro-abortion legislation that would overturn state pro-life laws fails to advance in U.S. Senate

In a brazen attempt to react to the impending reversal of Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and possible overturning of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Senate took up legislation that would not only codify that Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the nation, but would also negate pro-life laws passed by the states throughout the country.

ChristianHeadlines.com reports that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who was one of 51 senators voting against moving the bill forward - 60 were needed. He said, according to a quote from the Townhall.com Twitter feed: "It wipes 500 state laws off the books; it expands abortion...We should not be dividing this country further than we're already divided, and it's really the politics of Congress that's dividing the country." The article reported that he would have voted for a piece of legislation that would "codify" Roe v. Wade.

The article quotes from Denise Burke, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, who said that the purpose of the legislation was to "entrench unrestricted abortion access until birth." She said, "The so-called 'Women's Health Protection Act' would have prohibited most – if not all – of the reasonable state laws related to abortion that are currently in place to protect the health of pregnant mothers, the dignity of unborn children, and the integrity of the medical profession," adding, "... We commend the members of the Senate who took a stand against this destructive legislation, and we will continue to fight alongside them to ensure policies are enacted that truly support women and protect innocent life."

The Christian Headlines story adds:

Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, said the bill would have "mandated abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy nationwide."

"The vast majority of America opposes this kind of radical legislation," she tweeted.

Federal judge partially blocks enforcement of Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act

With great determination, brave lawmakers in Alabama passed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, also known as VCAP, which would have outlawed treatments and surgeries that are intended to help minors change their gender.  The bill went into effect last week, and over the weekend, a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of part of the law.  

USA Today reported that:

U.S. District Judge Liles Burke issued a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the medication ban, which took effect May 8, while a court challenge goes forward. The judge left in place other parts of the law that banned gender-affirming surgeries for transgender minors, which doctors had testified are not done on minors in Alabama. He also left in place a provision that requires counselors and other school officials to tell parents if a minor discloses that they think they are transgender.

The article notes that: "The state attorney general’s office argued that the use of the medications is unsettled science, and thus the state has a role in regulation to protect children..." The story added, "Alabama lawmakers, who approved the bill this spring, said decisions on the medications should wait until adulthood."

Meanwhile, a federal judge held a hearing recently that would force Christian health professionals to be involved in surgeries and treatments intended to change a person's gender. Alliance Defending Freedom represents Christian Employers Alliance in the case, which is described on its website as "a challenge to two Biden administration mandates that force religious nonprofit and for-profit employers to pay for and perform surgeries, procedures, counseling, and treatments that seek to alter one’s biological sex—actions that violate their religious beliefs."

Federal government harasses Christian schools for affirming Christian principles

There has been a steady stream of instances throughout the last few years of the federal government attempting to force Christian organizations to violate the beliefs they uphold.  Examples include the contraception mandate forcing faith-based organizations to include drugs that could cause abortion in their health care plans, a more recent attempt to force males and females to share private spaces in dorm rooms, and this, from The Daily Citizen, a website of Focus on the Family, which reports:

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating six Christian universities for allegedly violating the rights of LGBT-identified students by upholding Christian teaching on sexuality, relationships and marriage.

The Daily Citizen article relates:

The attack on religious freedom began when an anti-religious freedom organization, the Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP), filed a lawsuit against the DOE on behalf of 33 LGBT-identified students who were either enrolled in or alumni of Evangelical Christian or Mormon colleges.

The complaint, Elizabeth Hunter et al. vs. U.S. Department of Education, alleges that universities that believe and practice God’s design for sexuality, relationships and marriage discriminate against LGBT-identified students.

Now, the DOE has been investigating these colleges - three more were just added to the scope: La Sierra University, Azusa Pacific University, and Liberty University. Others were already being investigated and have been allowed to join the lawsuit and defend their policies are Clarks Summit University, Lincoln Christian University, and Colorado Christian University.

According to The Daily Citizen: "The DOE has reinterpreted Title IX, the 1972 act which banned discrimination in education on the basis of sex – being male or female. The government agency holds that sex discrimination includes “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” two subjective, ever-evolving terms that relate to how people think, feel, identify and act, rather than to their biological status as men or women."

The 3 - May 8, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, concentrates on the response to the leaked document containing what is called a "draft opinion" on Roe v. Wade, allegedly written by one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices.  Also, after a string of delays, a new Methodist denomination launched on May 1st.  Plus, there are more limitations on religious expression in China, with a popular Christian website apparently experiencing being removed.

Opinion from Supreme Court justice leaked, debate on abortion intensifies

The leak of a document attributed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that gives insight into the possible Court vote regarding the Roe vs. Wade has resulted in enthusiasm from those who are pro-life and consternation from those who favor abortion. It has been referred to as a "draft opinion."

Despite the unfortunate set of circumstances leading to the disclosure of this information, it has provided a reality check, in a sense, that U.S. law surrounding abortion is about to change dramatically.  As Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, stated: "Though we want to celebrate the apparent victory of the High Court overturning Roe v. Wade, it is concerning that confidentiality would be breached in this situation by someone inside the Supreme Court. For many years, I have confidently said that I will live to see the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. We are now witnessing an historic event that will reverberate around the world."

Liberty Counsel's website stated:

In the apparent draft labeled the “Opinion of the Court,” Justice Alito wrote, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

CBN News quoted Brad Lingo, executive director of the Robertson Center for Constitutional Law at Regent University: "We now have confirmation. There are five votes to overturn Roe v. Wade clearly and unequivocally, there is a draft opinion...Nothing is final until opinion comes out. With abortion, a case of this magnitude, you never say never, but it would be very surprising if anyone changes their votes at this time." The article quoted from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said, "it is our intention for the Senate to hold a vote on legislation to codify the right to an abortion in law...," but pointed out it would take 60 votes in order to bring the legislation to the Senate floor, unless it votes to abandon the filibuster. 

Family Research Council reported that its President, Tony Perkins, and a consortium of 32 policy organizations from states across America, wrote to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House leaders, saying that any commitment made to America as the nation awaits the U.S. Supreme Court's impending decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization 'must include a bold strategy to protect unborn life.'"

The letter stated:

"There has never been a better time to protect life. Americans support the pro-life policies we have worked to enact in the states by large margins. A majority of Americans support prohibiting taxpayer funding for abortion, requiring clear health and safety standards for chemical abortion, providing immediate medical care for infants who survive abortion, and protecting unborn children from the horrors of abortion as early as the first trimester.

"Even if the Supreme Court overturns Roe this year, a strong congressional plan to protect unborn life will be needed...

One of the signatories is Julaine Appling of Wisconsin Family Action.  Sadly, its headquarters were attacked over the weekend. FRC President Tony Perkins responded, saying, in part that the...

"...violence and intimidation designed to silence the voice of Americans who stand for life will not succeed; it will fail. The violent and illegal actions of abortion supporters only reveal the true nature of abortion to America. Abortion on demand until birth unleashed violence and a culture of death.

"Abortion is not a political issue, and it's not even a policy issue at its core. Abortion is a profoundly moral and spiritual issue that cuts to the heart of who we are as a people.

New Methodist denomination launches

After years of wrangling within the United Methodist denomination regarding the authority of Scripture, especially as it relates to sexuality, and after several delays in calling a meeting to provide an amicable separation between the denomination and those who wish to leave it, the Global Methodist Church on May 1 launched.

ReligionNews.com reported:

After decades of rancorous debate over the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ United Methodists, a special session of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference and three postponements of a vote to formally split the denomination, the schism finally came “without fanfare, but full of hope, faith, and perseverance.”

That’s how the Rev. Keith Boyette, chairman of the Transitional Leadership Council of the Global Methodist Church, described the launch of the new denomination in a statement published days earlier on its website.

Boyette had told Religion News that the launch “was very definitely driven by practicality and the fact that the postponement of General Conference moved many people to say they were tired of waiting and tired of the conflict not being addressed and resolved by the United Methodist Church.”

The Daily Citizen reported: "The UMC has 12.5 million members worldwide, with 6.8 million in the U.S. Around the world, the largest membership is in African countries. The international churches are generally more orthodox, holding to biblical teaching about marriage and sexuality." It went on to say:

United Methodist churches in Africa, most of which are expected to join the GMC, applauded the move, saying:

We joyfully welcome the birth of the GMC. We celebrate and congratulate everyone who has been a part of this process, whom God has used to create a safe space where believers in Jesus Christ from across the global Community-Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, North America and Australia can commit to making disciples of Jesus Christ, and expressing the love of God to all humanity through our services to the church and society.

Meanwhile, in the greater Atlanta area, a large congregation that has found itself at odds with the United Methodist bishop for its region, but a settlement appears to be in the works, according to EastCobbNews.com.

China blocks popular Christian website

The nation of China continues its assault on religious freedom, and a recent story from The Christian Post provides yet another example.  The report says that:

The people behind the popular Christian website, “Jona Home,” have put a notice on the Home page, which reads, “Due to reasons known to everyone, from now on our site can no longer serve brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks to all for your company and support in the past 21 years!” U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said.

The notice further reads, “The disappearance of a website is merely a disappearance of a website, it does not carry any meaning. Except that the website link can no longer be opened, there is nothing else which stopped at that moment; Need not to be concerned, and just keep walking.”

The article notes that, according to Bitter Winter, a new law called, Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services, went into effect on March 1st. The Post says:

The law mandates an “Internet Religious Information Service License” for any religious group that wants to disseminate religious content on the internet. But it says only “legally established” organizations can do so, which practically means only groups that are part of the five authorized religions in China can use the internet to distribute religious content.

And even the five preferred religious groups face scrutiny; the law says:

“[T]hey can broadcast sermons and lessons, but these would be checked by the authorities for their ‘Sinicized’ content, making sure they promote socialist values and support the party, and are not intended as proselytization tools. Religious universities and colleges may disseminate content via the internet only to their students. Any attempt to spread religious content to minors or ‘induce minors to believe in religion’ will lead to the termination of the license.”

The 3 - May 1, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes arguments before the nation's highest court on the case of a high school football coach who was fired because he would go to midfield after football games to pray.  Also, a South Carolina church is the latest to announce a "drag queen" show.  Plus, there is more legislation that is now law designed to preserve parental rights and to protect children from harmful gender ideology.

High court considers coach's defense against being fired for post-game prayers

Joe Kennedy, a football coach in Bremerton, Washington, lost his job back in 2015 because of his practice of walking to midfield following the local high school's football games to pray.  His case has gone up and down through the federal court system, and last week, the coach had another day in court, before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The Christian Post reported that former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, in defense of the coach, "said that the coach’s prayers were 'doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses” of the First Amendment of the Constitution.'" He said:

“When the school district fired him for that fleeting religious exercise out of endorsement concerns, it not only violated the First Amendment, but it ignored a veritable wall of this court’s precedents that make it clear that a school does not endorse private religious speech just because it fails to censor it...

The article examined exchanges between justices and the attorneys on both sides of the case.  Here are a couple of examples:

Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Clement about when a school official’s religious practices can be considered private and when they are considered public, such as if a teacher is reading the Bible aloud before class begins.

Clement answered that if a teacher read her Bible “before the bell” or “after the bell” and did so “either silently or barely audibly,” that would be protected as “private speech.”

Also:

Justice Elena Kagan expressed concern with Kennedy’s prayers putting “a kind of undue pressure, a kind of coercion on students to participate in religious activities when they may not wish to.”

Clement countered that the school district did not cite “coercion concerns” when they punished Kennedy years ago but instead expressed concern over “endorsement” issues.

Drag shows spread from public libraries to...churches

For years, we have seen public libraries host so-called Drag Queen Story Hours, which one particular conservative commentator had described as an expression of free speech. Is it certainly the type of behavior that people want to have in their communities?  It's another example of the deviant LGBTQ agenda being sold to young children.  

And it certainly isn't something that we want in our churches!  But, a church in South Carolina begs to differ: CBN.com reports that "Trinity Lutheran Church of Greenville, South Carolina has announced a 'Drag Me to Church' event..."  The article quotes from the church's Facebook page, which says: "You'll be endlessly entertained" by the drag queen, who would present "...her unique style of worship which includes as many laughs as it does amens!"

Writer Gary Lane states:

Yes, God loves everyone, including drag queens, but he wants us to come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

It's not about being entertained by a drag queen, or anyone else. Churches should be holy temples – places where we bring honor and glory to Him, not to us.

How does a man dressed as a woman, strutting his stuff in a church bring glory to God? Isn't it really a slap in His face?

It's saying, "God You may be the Creator of the universe, but when You created me, You made a mistake – I really feel like I'm a woman, not a man."

This follows on the heels of an incident in Georgia last fall, which, according to CBN.com, was presented by the Emory Pride group, an LGBTQ+ organization from Emory University, at a United Methodist Church in Atlanta.  The article says that:

Tom Greenler, a senior attending the school, hosted the event dressed in drag.

Greenler told Campus Reform that "there is something very subversive about hosting a drag show at a church, especially a Methodist church like Glenn Memorial."

"The UMC has officially adopted some anti-LGBT stances in recent years," he continued "but I think it says a lot about Glenn Memorial as an individual church that it has continued to welcome the drag show in their space."

"I personally think it's kind of punk, to be a queer person hosting an unapologetically queer event in a church like this — I feel like this kind of breaking barriers is what drag is all about," Greenler added.

More bills in effect to protect children and parental rights

There is a trend of policy moves that have occurred upholding parental rights and protecting children from harmful ideologies centered around gender.  For instance, in Georgia, the Legislature passed, and the governor signed a package of bills, according to a Daily Caller article published at The Stream:

The bills included the Georgia’s Parents’ Bill of Rights or HB 1178, which “provides greater transparency to parents and legal guardians regarding what their student is being taught in school and protects the fundamental right of moms and dads across this state to direct the education of their child,” according to a press release. Another bill, the “Protect Students First Act” or HB 1084, prohibits “divisive concepts” such as the belief that one race is inherently superior to another race, the U.S. is fundamentally racist country or that an individual, “by virtue of his or her race, is inherently or consciously racist or oppressive toward individuals of other races.”

The article also notes, "The law also allows the state athletic association to pass a law prohibiting 'students whose gender is male from participating in athletic events that are designated for students whose gender is female.'"

And, in Arizona, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, the Legislature passed and the governor signed "HB 2161, a bill that builds on Arizona’s existing Parental Bill of Rights to ensure that parents are free to direct the upbringing, care, and education of their children..." ADF Senior Counsel Matt Sharp stated, in part: "We’ve seen growing instances nationwide of public school and government officials actively seeking to replace parents as the ultimate determiners of what’s best for children, so we are thankful that Arizona is taking the lead in guaranteeing that parental rights are protected."