This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, including developments regarding American taxpayers funding abortion at home and abroad. There is also an instance of web censorship that hits close to home, as a publication of a Faith Radio programmer has found itself suspended from Twitter. And, a California church faces perhaps a million dollars in fines as the result of challenging state lockdowns.
President authorizes funding abortions outside the country, lawmakers introduce bill to prevent it inside the country
The Mexico City policy prevents the United States from funding international abortions, and has been an off-again, on-again proposition, generally, with Presidents who are pro-life upholding the policy and those who are not, reversing it.
Such was the case this past week when President Joe Biden signed an executive order that ends the policy temporarily - of course, Congress would have to enact legislation to permanently make it U.S. law, which is highly unlikely due to the number of lawmakers who are beholden to the abortion industry and support the taking of unborn life in America, as well as around the world.
CBN.com quoted Jeanne Mancini of the March for Life, which was held virtually last Friday; she said: "Rescinding the Mexico City Policy on the eve of the March for Life is a deeply disturbing move, especially when the president says he wants national unity...The government should never force taxpayers to fund abortions, either here or abroad, but should work to protect the inherent dignity of all persons, born and unborn."
Meanwhile, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee has joined with other pro-life members of the U.S. Senate to sponsor a bill that would prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortion through Title X. A press release from her office quotes the Senator: “We must close loopholes that allow for abortion giants like Planned Parenthood to receive federal funding...This legislation will help end taxpayer funded support for the abortion industry and protect the unborn.” It is certainly a longshot on passage, but it does raise awareness of taxpayer funding being used to take human life.
Major Christian ministry banned from Twitter over transgender comments
The Focus on the Family website, The Daily Citizen, was banned from Twitter recently due to a tweet regarding an appointment by the President, Rachel Levine, who will serve as Assistant Secretary of Health. The website stated that:
This Daily Citizen tweet linked to an article, which mainly questioned Levine’s suitability for the job because of previous actions as the Secretary of Health in Pennsylvania. Twitter censors alleged that our factual post, stating that a “transgender woman” is a man who believes he is a woman, somehow promoted violence against, threatened or harassed other people.
An organization launched by Focus on the Family, Family Policy Alliance, made this tweet available:
CENSORSHIP ALERT: Twitter banned @FocusCitizen from their platform. The crime? A tweet which identified Asst. Health Sec. Rachel Levine as a biological male. If stating the facts gets you banned, none of us belong here. @Twitter, we’re wondering: #AreWeNext? RT to speak out!
Focus President Jim Daly, in a blog post, stated:
As we noted to Twitter in our appeal (we have since been denied), we were deeply puzzled as to why we’re not permitted to simply acknowledge the definition of what transgender women are – those born male who believe they are a woman, regardless of whether they have had opposite-sex hormones or surgeries.
The article itself had absolutely nothing to do with Dr. Levine’s “trans” identification. It had to do with his fitness for the job based on his previous record.
California church could face over a million dollars in fines, but apparently no jail time
Throughout California, churches have challenged the severe lockdowns throughout the Golden State, which have disrupted the ability of churches to fulfill their missions. One of them is Calvary Chapel San Jose, which has been holding indoor services in violation of COVID regulations; ChristianHeadlines.com reported on some recent developments:
Attorney Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel San Jose and its pastor, Mike McClure, said after a court hearing that the judge said Santa Clara County is “only looking for monetary sanctions” and does not want to place McClure or any other pastors in jail.
“Thank God,” Tyler said. “... That’s off the table.”
According to ABC7, linked to the Christian Headlines article, this case was heard by a county court judge.
Well, that's good - what's not good is the amount of money that could be used to do ministry work that could be paid to the state. The article says that "Calvary Chapel faces more than $1 million in fines, although Tyler and other supporters of the church hope the court will side with the congregation and rule the fines don’t have to be paid."
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