The 3 - June 23, 2019

This week on The 3, identifying three news stories of relevance to the Christian community, two cases involving religious freedom received positive rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court: a large veterans' memorial in the shape of a cross was ruled to be constitutional, and a state court ruling against two Oregon bakers was overturned and sent back to the state court system.  Plus, a classic Christian worship song has been sung frequently in recent protests in Hong Kong.

Peace Cross can stand, U.S. Supreme Court rules

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments in a case involving a large veterans' memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland that is in the shape of a cross.  A lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, had ruled the display unconstitutional, according to First Liberty, representing the American Legion in the case.

The appeal went before the court, and First Liberty's website states:

...in a 7-2 decision, the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States preserved the nearly 100-year old Bladensburg WWI Veterans Memorial, along with memorials like it bearing religious symbols across the country. Most importantly, in The American Legion v. American Humanist Association, the Justices reaffirmed that the First Amendment allows people to use religious symbols and images in public.

Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel to First Liberty, is quoted as saying, "This is a landmark victory for religious freedom. The days of illegitimately weaponizing the Establishment Clause and attacking religious symbols in public are over..." The website says, "...the Court returned to a commonsense reading of the Establishment Clause that guards against the establishment of an official religion, while permitting the public acknowledgment of religion in public."

Worship song makes impact in Hong Kong protests

If you are familiar with some of the Maranatha! Music worship songs, then Sing Hallelujah to the Lord may be a song that you have heard or perhaps even sung.  Now, it has become an anthem for protesters in Hong Kong, who have taken to the streets in opposition that would make it easier to extradite charged criminals to mainland China.

FoxNews.com reported on the presence of the song, stating in an article in the past week:

For the past week, "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord" has been heard almost non-stop at the main protest site in front of the city's Legislative Council, and at marches and tense stand-offs with police, Reuters reported.

Although only 10 percent of the population is Christian, church groups quickly rallied after being alarmed by reports of police brutality to make a safe haven for protesters as the government said it had to crack down on "organized riots."

The article stated, "Hong Kong's Beijing-backed government leader, Carrie Lam, who is Catholic herself, apologized in face of the opposition, postponing the introduction of the extradition bill. Some protesters hoped the Christian anthem would help sway her."  As Fox points out, "Critics say the extradition bill would undermine Hong Kong's independent judiciary and rule of law, guaranteed by a "one country, two systems," formula under the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997."

Oregon bakers get reprieve from U.S. Supreme Court

It was a week of doubly positive news for First Liberty, which was involved in the Bladensburg cross case and has been representing Oregon bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein, who had declined to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony and eventually were find $135,000.  The Oregon Court of Appeals had ruled against the couple, and the decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the First Liberty website...

...the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it reversed a decision the state of Oregon that forced bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein out of business by penalizing them $135,000 for refusing to create a government-approved message. The case was sent back to the Oregon courts for further review in light of its Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

The site said that in the Masterpiece case, "the Justices reminded government officials that they cannot be hostile to the free exercise of the religious beliefs of its citizens."