The 3 - May 22, 2022

This week's edition of The 3 includes legislation that has passed one chamber of the U.S. Congress that would penalize faith-based organizations by not upholding their freedom of religion.  Also, two airline flight attendants are claiming their freedom to practice their faith has been violated for comments they made contrary to their employer's position on a LGBTQ-friendly bill.  And, the Disney company has doubled down on its support for the gay agenda by release a line of clothing that promotes so-called LGBTQ+ "pride."

House votes to deny religious freedom protections for faith-based organizations to serve their communities

On The Meeting House program on Faith Radio, I have documented the trend in which people in power have attempted to restrict or eliminate the freedom of people of faith, including Christians, to practice that faith freely.  The Bill of Rights calls it the "freedom of religion," and we have seen respect for it waning.

Alliance Defending Freedom reports on yet another instance, stating that on May 13, the U.S. House of Representatives approved "a bill that eliminates religious freedom protections for faith-based participants in the Community Services Block Grant program."

ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor notes that, "Faith-based organizations contribute significantly to their communities by providing compassionate care to the most vulnerable among us. That’s exactly why faith-based social service providers participate in the Community Services Block Grant program."

Baylor continues: "Forcing faith-based organizations to choose between providing vital social services and operating according to their sincerely held religious beliefs only jeopardizes the communities these organizations serve. Further, the bill’s vague language regarding how funds may be used to ‘address health needs’ opens the door to allowing funding of organizations that perform abortions and surgeries designed to alter one’s biological sex."

Flight attendants fired for voice opposition to Equality Act file court challenge

The House has, on two occasions, passed legislation known as the Equality Act, the name of which is a misnomer - it provides special treatment for people based on their so-called "gender identity" or "sexual orientation."  Fortunately, it doesn't have the votes in the Senate to move forward.  By showing preference to LGBTQ+ individuals, it actually discriminates against people of faith who do not approve of the gay lifestyle.  A recent article at The Christian Post quotes from a previous column from Robert Netzly, the CEO of Inspire Investing, who said that the Act "...cancels by name specific provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, putting religious employers such as churches and private religious schools, hospitals, adoption agencies, and others at severe risk of lawsuits."

That recent Christian Post article reports on a lawsuit filed by two former flight attendants of Alaska Airlines, which fired them because they broke ranks with their company, criticizing it on an internal message board for supporting the Equality Act. The article says that "Marli Brown and Lacey Smith accused Alaska Airlines of religious discrimination. The lawsuit also lists the flight attendants' union, the Association of Flight Attendants." It goes on to say:

Stephanie Taub, senior counsel with the First Liberty Institute, which is representing the flight attendants, said in a statement Tuesday that this was "a blatant violation of state and federal civil rights laws."

"Alaska Airlines 'canceled' Lacey and Marli because of their religious beliefs, flagrantly disregarding federal civil rights laws that protect people of faith from discrimination," Taub said.

Disney doubles down on LGBTQ+, launches gay-friendly clothing line

The pushback has been forceful against the Walt Disney Company, since the corporation decided to oppose Florida's new law protecting the rights of parents and the minds of children against ideas regarding sexuality.  It was reported that high-ranking Disney officials stated their support for the gay agenda, and LGBTQ-friendly employees put pressure on company leadership.

But Disney appears to have doubled-down on this agenda in a new way. CBN.com has reported that:

Disney has released their new "Pride Collection," a clothing line for children that comes on the heels of the entertainment company's adversarial response to Florida's new parental rights in education bill and amid its escalating attempts to include LGBTQ themes and characters in children's animated series and other programming.

The new clothing line, which had previously been referred to as the Rainbow Disney Collection, launched on Monday. All of the products in the new Disney collection are emblazoned with the LGBT movement's rainbow pride flag. It comes out prior to the month of June, which LGBT advocates celebrate as a so-called pride month.

CBN quoted from a statement from the company, stating, "We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ community everywhere." The statement also noted: "The Walt Disney Company will be donating all of our profits from the Disney Pride Collection sales now through June 30, 2022, to organizations that support LGBTQIA+ youth and families. This includes sales of Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars Pride Collection merchandise..."