This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes a look back at the previous week of developments around the kidnapping of 17 people in Haiti, consisting of missionaries and their families. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing arguments next week in the federal government's lawsuit against a law from the state of Texas that prohibits abortion after the heartbeat of a pre-born baby is detected. And, there are more developments concerning the directive by the Department of Justice concerning parents at school board meetings who voice opposition to school policies.
Missionaries and families kidnapped, held for ransom, in Haiti
The devastating news came from Haiti, last weekend and was posted in secular and Christian media. Christian Aid Ministries, which is based in Ohio, related the news on its website:
Christian Aid Ministries workers who were abducted while on a trip to visit an orphanage on Saturday, October 16. We are seeking God’s direction for a resolution, and authorities are seeking ways to help.
The group of sixteen U.S citizens and one Canadian citizen includes six men, six women, and five children.
An 8-month-old baby is among the 17 kidnapped missionaries in Haiti being held for a ransom of $17 million by the notorious 400 Mawozo gang, Christian Aid Ministries said Tuesday as officials in the troubled Caribbean nation and the U.S. continue negotiating for their release.
Haitian Justice Minister Liszt Quitel confirmed Tuesday that the 400 Mawozo gang, which kidnapped the missionaries Saturday while they were working with Christian Aid Ministries, demanded $1 million each for their safe return.
“Many people, including CAM management and Haitian and U.S. authorities, are working diligently to bring our loved ones home safely,” Christian Aid Ministries said in a statement.
SCOTUS adds another abortion case to docket
Just before the law was set to go into effect almost two months, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the Texas Heartbeat Act, preventing abortion after the heartbeat of an pre-born child is detected. The Biden Administration filed a lawsuit and the case worked its way through the federal courts, only to be temporarily halted - again - by the high court. LifeNews.com reported:
The nation’s highest court agreed to review the pro-abortion lawsuits against the abortion ban and set oral arguments for November 1. That means the ban will stay in place for several more days — likely saving anywhere from 50-100 babies each day from abortions.
This, coupled with the oral arguments in the Mississippi 15-week ban on abortions, gives the high court two opportunities to examine abortion law in America, which has been determined on a federal level by the flawed Roe vs. Wade decision, prompting states to pass hundreds of laws, such as those in Texas and Mississippi, that put restrictions in place.
AG whiffs on explaining unleashing federal agencies on concerned parents
Over the past few weeks, an association of school boards across America had submitted a letter to the Attorney General, asking that parents who oppose policies in local school districts be investigated. The language of that original letter likened to these protesting parents exercising their First Amendment free speech rights as "domestic terrorists."
The Alliance Defending Freedom website, reporting on a Congressional hearing this week, quoted ADF General Counsel Kristen Waggoner on the comments of Attorney General Merrick Garland on the issue; she said:
“Today, Attorney General Garland failed to provide concrete evidence to support his aggressive and misguided directive to use federal law enforcement to investigate parents exercising their First Amendment rights at local school board meetings, presumably using the same federal laws employed to investigate domestic terrorism and other criminal activities.
The Family Research Council website stated:
Garland, meanwhile, tried to diffuse the outrage, claiming that the FBI wouldn't follow through with its threat to open a "snitch line on parents" as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called it. "I think parental involvement is very important in education," the weary AG tried to claim.
But, there is evidence that the administration and the National School Boards Association were acting in tandem, according to FRC:
The Washington Free Beacon broke the story late Thursday that Joe Biden's team had indeed been conspiring behind closed doors with the activist group. While members of the NSBA's own board weren't consulted about the letter (which, as some complained, used "extreme" language and called for action beyond "what many of us would consider reasonable"), others from the NSBA had been "in talks" for "several weeks with White House staff."
And, on Friday, according to the New York Post:
The National School Boards Association board of directors Friday repudiated a letter its two top officials sent to President Biden, which precipitated Attorney General Merrick Garland’s order that the FBI to investigate complaints of threats to school officials from parents.The article noted that, "Emails obtained earlier this week by the group Parents Defending Education showed that board members had not been consulted about the Sept. 29 letter, which suggested that parents who object to mask mandates and the imposition of critical race theory in classrooms are engaging in 'a form of domestic terrorism.'” Over the past few weeks, we have seen incidents of parents protesting not only mask mandates and CRT, but also pornographic material being taught in schools. And, in Virginia, a father was removed from a meeting because of his vocal protests regarding
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland took his own turn in the hot seat at the House Judiciary Committee, delivering what Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the most "ill-prepared" remarks he'd heard in 20 years. "It's very surprising... He [offered nothing but] simple talking points over and over and in response to [a] very serious series of questions..." Squeezed by both sides, Garland seemed completely oblivious to what has been headline news for weeks. Asked about the Loudoun County situation -- one of the incidents that prompted the DOJ to unleash the FBI on local parents, Garland feigned ignorance. "It sounds like a state case, and I am not familiar with it, I'm sorry," the attorney general responded.
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