The 3 - December 5, 2021

This week's edition of The 3 includes analysis regarding the historic abortion case before the U.S> Supreme Court, in which oral arguments were held in the past week.  Also, there's another case of a non-profit organization sparring with Federal government; this time over the right of faith-based foster care agencies in three states to operate according to its religious principles.  And, Nigeria continues to be a hotbed of religious persecution, yet the U.S. State Department has just removed it from a list of countries that have troubling levels of such persecution.

Big-time pro-life implications for U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court conducted its oral arguments last week in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case out of Mississippi, where legislators had passed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks in most cases.  Even secular news outlets seemed to indicate that changes could be coming in abortion law in America.

CBN related: "Even though the high court's decision won't be known until June, a number of court experts think the justices gave some good clues as to how they're leaning. They think at least five conservative-leaning justices appear poised to uphold the Mississippi law that bans abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The justices could even take it a step further, which would mean overturning the national abortion mandate created under the landmark Roe case."

While optimism is present, the practice of prayer for the outcome is certainly of paramount importance. The CBN article said:

Writing for Christian Headlines, Michael Foust noted the two most outspoken pro-life Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito also asked questions friendly to the Mississippi law.

But Foust also reminded his readers it would take five justices on the nine-member court to uphold the Mississippi law and/or to overturn Roe. At the same time, he pointed to the despair from pro-choice advocates as a sign of how the arguments went. He cited a tweet by CNN legal expert Jeffery Toobin, who said, "If you believe that women should have the right to choose abortion, today's Supreme Court argument was a wall-to-wall disaster."

Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino tweeted about clues that could indicate a ruling against Roe. "Today the Court did a great job articulating its constitutional role: not to pick winners and losers on divisive issues like abortion, but to remain 'scrupulously neutral,' as Justice Kavanaugh said."

Justice Thomas, who has been an outspoken opponent of Roe v. Wade, laid down the gauntlet, as the justice known for being quiet during hearings spoke loudly. A Live Action article said:

Justice Thomas pointed out that there is no right to abortion to be found in the Constitution. It doesn’t exist. No one has the right to kill another innocent human being for any reason.

“Would you specifically tell me, specifically state, what the right is? Is it specifically abortion? Is it liberty? Is it autonomy? Is it privacy?” asked Justice Thomas.

Perhaps the most telling line of questioning was exhibited by Justice Kavanaugh; The Federalist noted that he asked plaintiffs' attorneys: “Why should this court be the arbiter rather than Congress, the state legislatures, state supreme courts, the people being able to resolve this?...“And there’ll be different answers in Mississippi, in New York, different answers in Alabama than California, because there are two different interests at stake, and the people in those states might value those interests somewhat differently. Why is that not the right answer?”

And, the article points out:

To the argument about stare decisis — the principle that the court should stick to its past rulings – Kavanaugh argued that “History tells a somewhat different story, I think, than is sometimes assumed.”

He listed a number of “the most important cases in this court’s history” that overruled precedent, citing Brown v. Board, Baker v. Carr, Miranda v. Arizona, Lawrence v. Texas, and Obergefell v. Hodges. If the court had followed stare decisis in those cases, Kavanaugh said, “the country would be a much different place.”

Faith-based foster care agencies to lose religious freedom protections against LGBTQ "discrimination"

The script seems to be increasingly familiar: a non-profit agency that has enjoyed the freedom to operate according to its religious beliefs accused of discrimination and told by government officials it can no longer behave that way anymore.  That has happened in the instance of faith-based foster care agencies in three states.

The Christian Post reports that "The Biden administration is revoking Trump-era waivers from federal nondiscrimination law granted to faith-based foster care providers in three states..." Those states are Michigan, South Carolina, and Texas.

The article goes on to say:

The HHS statement contends that the waivers constituted a “blanket use of religious exemptions against any person or blank checks to allow discrimination against any persons, importantly including LGBTQ+ persons in taxpayer-funded programs.” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra justified the reversal of the “inappropriate, overly broad waivers” as necessary to ensure that the department is “best prepared to protect every American’s right to be free of discrimination.”

Sen. James Lankford tweeted out: "Biden’s HHS Secretary is again using the power of his office to attack people of faith who disagree with him. Yesterday he revoked waivers for faith-based children's service programs—this is outrageous. His policy will reduce options for kids in foster care," adding, "[Five] months ago the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that 'the refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.'"

Nigeria off State Department watch list, but violence continues

I regularly see reports from the nation of Nigeria, where the violence of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen are a significant threat to citizens of that nation, especially Christians.  And, now, according to a report on ChristianHeadlines.com from Morning Star News, the U.S. State Department has removed the nation from its listing of Countries of Particular Concern.  The article states:

Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List report. In overall violence, Nigeria was second only to Pakistan, and it trailed only China in the number of churches attacked or closed, 270, according to the list.

As the article pointed out, Nigeria is at #9 on Open Doors' World Watch List, up from 12th the previous year.  Plus, according to the International Christian Concern website:

The announcement falls after the release of ICC’s Persecutor of the Year Awards, documenting the top persecutors of last year, in which ICC named Nigeria as one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom for Christians. ICC also released a report on the transgressions of the Nigerian government which has failed to adequately respond to the violence against Christians and even perpetuates the persecution in some incidents.

The Christian Headlines/Morning Star article quoted Christian Solidarity International President John Eibner, who said, "Removing this largely symbolic sign of concern is a brazen denial of reality and indicates that the U.S. intends to pursue its interests in western Africa through an alliance with Nigeria’s security elite, at the expense of Christians and other victims of widespread sectarian violence, especially in the country’s predominantly Christian Middle Belt region..."

That article led off with this statement: "Less than a week after the U.S. removal of Nigeria’s designation as engaging in or tolerating violations of religious freedom, Fulani herdsmen on Tuesday (Nov. 23) killed two more Christian farmers in Plateau state, and earlier 38 Christians were slain in Kaduna state, sources said."

Christian Headlines and Morning Star News also report that threatening letters have been sent to Christian leaders in parts of northwest Nigeria.  The story says:

A police spokesman said Zamfara State Police have beefed up security at churches and increased intelligence-gathering in response to the letters that warn Christians will be killed or kidnapped if places of worship are not shut down.

The article notes that, "Police said they are trying to determine who sent the letters, while area residents suspect Islamic extremists among Fulani herdsmen or members of Boko Haram."