Sunday, July 25, 2021

The 3 - July 25, 2021

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes a court ruling against a law in California that imposes punishment for "misgendering" a person, i.e., calling that person by a pronoun other than his or her preferred one.  Plus, a man fined for preaching on the streets of London has been exonerated.  And, a Texas judge has had his religious freedom affirmed by a federal appeals court.

California "misgendering" court decision a mixed bag

At first glance, a ruling by a California court struck down a law that prevented someone from calling another person by a pronoun other than his, or her, or whatever, so-called "preferred gender" might have seemed to be a positive one.  But, as The Daily Citizen from Focus on the Family points out, look again.

But first some history - its article on the ruling says that:

In 2017, the California legislature passed SB 219, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights. This “misgendering” law criminalized the speech of employees of such facilities who on more than one occasion use a pronoun not in keeping with a patient’s “preferred pronouns.”
A group called Taking Offense sued, and the state appeals court said that, as the Daily Citizen puts it: "...once the government starts regulating the content of speech, only the most compelling government interests will survive, and even then, only if the law is narrowly tailored to achieve those interests." That law didn't meet that standard, according to the article.

But, as the court stated, "...we recognize the State has a compelling interest in eliminating discrimination against residents of long-term care facilities. However, we conclude the pronoun provision is not narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government objective because it burdens speech more than is required to achieve the State’s compelling objective."

So far, so good - the law is out, but...

The bottom line, according to the Daily Citizen analysis by Bruce Hausknecht: "This decision, which could still be appealed to the California Supreme Court by either side, merely faults the state legislature for going too far in criminalizing someone who violates the law. The legislature has other, less severe, options for punishing people who 'misgender' someone, the justices wrote."

British street preacher exonerated

Joshua Sutcliffe is a 31-year-old man who proclaimed the gospel on the streets of London during the COVID lockdowns. According to The Christian Post:

Sutcliffe was detained and surrounded by four police officers as he was preaching and handing out leaflets in North London’s Camden area on Good Friday last April. He was told he was in breach of COVID-19 lockdown regulations by being outdoors without a reasonable excuse.

Sutcliffe explained to the officers that he was a pastor and worship leader and was outdoors to provide charitable services. However, he was cautioned and received a fixed penalty notice of $80 (£60), according to Premier Christian News.

For $80, one could say he could pay the fine and head home. But, he challenged the ruling, and, according to the Post, the London Magistrate Court determined he was: "'not guilty' as he 'was outside and that he had a reasonable excuse as he was traveling to his place of work, as a worship leader,' said Christian Legal Centre, which supported the preacher, in a statement released Friday." The article quotes Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre:

Christians in the U.K. have been “easy targets” for the police during the pandemic “while other groups gathering in significant numbers have been favored by the police..."

Prayers still allowed in Texas courtroom

A judge in Montgomery County, Texas, Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack, can continue to have a volunteer chaplain offer prayers in his courtroom to open sessions, according to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is allowing the practice while a lawsuit filed against the judge by the so-called Freedom from Religion Foundation progresses, according to a story at CBNNews.com.

The article says:

The legal battle over Mack's tradition of prayers in the courtroom, which has been fought for years, reached a high watermark last month when U.S. Southern District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ruled prayers before court proceedings were unconstitutional, saying they violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

But the Fifth Circuit wrote Judge Mack "has made a strong showing that the district court erred" in siding with Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in its lawsuit against the Montgomery County judge.

CBN News adds: "In his role as Justice of the Peace, Mack, a Christian, allows the multi-faith, volunteer chaplains to open his courtroom ceremonies with a brief invocation and the pledge of allegiance in order to honor their service. Mack allows those in attendance to leave the courtroom if they do not want to participate in the prayer."

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