The 3 - June 5, 2022

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes a report on a new initiative designed to measure the commitment to free speech and religious freedom among large corporations.  Also, a provocative new film regarding gender ideology has been released that disputes the promotion of so-called "gender identity."  And, an attempt to place the United States under the authority of the World Health Organization regarding public health crises - real or perceived - has been turned back.

New effort highlights corporate commitment, or lack thereof, to freedom of speech and religion

There have been concerns expressed about companies being threatened if they do not exhibit certain ideologies.  The changing of corporate logos and LGBTQ-affirming statements during so-called "Pride Month" is one area where there are plenty of examples.  The judging of companies based on their ESG scores, standing for "environmental, social, and governmental," is another area. And, as Jeremy Tedesco of Alliance Defending Freedom brought out on The Meeting House recently, there are ideologues who are forcing financial institutions to restrict donors in donor-advised funds from donating to charities, which poses a danger to Christian charities.

Alliance Defending Freedom recently posted a piece on its website about a new project called, "the ViewpointDiversityScore.org website and annual Business Index." It states that:

The initiative is a joint venture of ADF and Inspire Investing, a Christian investing and financial technology firm informing investment decisions on billions of dollars around the globe. Examining 50 companies on the Fortune 1000 list, the Business Index is the first comprehensive benchmark designed to measure corporate respect for religious and ideological diversity in the market, workplace, and public square.

The article goes on to say: "As leaders from ADF and Inspire Investing explain in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, the Business Index focuses on industries that have the greatest potential to impact free speech and religious freedom. These include industries that provide essential banking, payment processing, and cloud services, or that serve as platforms for third-party expression in the digital space."

ADF notes: 

Benchmarked companies scored an average of 12% overall on respecting religious and ideological diversity in the market, workplace, and public square. While no industry performed well, a handful scored particularly poorly. The two industries with the lowest overall scores were computer software at 6%, and internet services and retailing at 7%. The financial and data services industry (8%) also scored poorly. The lackluster results paint a grim picture of corporate America’s respect for religious and ideological diversity.

Walsh promotes Biblical view of sexuality in new movie, bookseller's employees protest his books

Author and social commentator Matt Walsh posted a tweet four years ago, according to a piece on The Daily Citizen website.  He wrote:

It occurred to me that the statement ‘I identify as a woman’ doesn’t mean anything if the person making the statement, or the people telling us to take the statement seriously, aren’t able to define the thing that the person is identifying as.

To coincide with the June 1 beginning of "Pride Month," Walsh, of The Daily Wire, released a documentary film called, What is a Woman?  The article says that Walsh, at the beginning of one of his podcasts, had noted that "the film would expose the confusion of gender ideology."

The following day, the writer of the original article, Jeff Johnston, from Focus on the Family, related his observations. He wrote:

What Is a Woman? is intense, with moments of deep pathos, as when it showed the devastating damage to individuals and families – the direct result of gender theories that are completely disconnected from reality and truth.

He went on to say: 

I’d written about some of these people, but it’s different watching them tell their stories onscreen. The documentary is not for the faint of heart.

One devastating testimony came from a Canadian father who “misgendered” his 13-year-old daughter. He was imprisoned for the offense. A Canadian court mandated male hormones for the young girl, over his objections.

Another poignant story was told by a woman who had hormones and surgeries to “transition into” a man. Scott Newgent’s body, health, finances and family have been devastated by surgeries and synthetic hormones.

Other highlights:

• When asked, “What is a woman?”, people can’t say, are afraid to say, or don’t know how to answer the question.
• Many gender dogmatists are angry and defensive about being asked simple questions about their beliefs – even ones they’ve seen before the on-camera interview.
• For many, “a woman” is however someone identifies. But what is it they are identifying as? Evidently “woman” is different for everyone and can’t be defined.

Johnston noted: "Gender activists felt so threatened by the documentary that they used a cyberattack on The Daily Wire’s website to keep people from watching the film."

Meanwhile, CBN.com reported that:

Some disgruntled Amazon employees at the company’s Seattle headquarters staged a so-called “die-in” protest during a “Pride” event in response to conservative author Matt Walsh’s book sales on the website.

Some 30 employees draped themselves in blue, pink, and white transgender “pride” flags, laid on the ground during the “Pride” flag-raising ceremony, and reportedly refused to move.

American attempt to place itself under authority of WHO fails

I have reported to you about efforts by the current U.S. Administration to subject public health policy under the authority of the World Health Organization, which has enormous implications not only for national sovereignty, but for religious freedom.  The National Religious Broadcasters website stated, regarding a series of amendments that had been proposed by the U.S.:

These amendments would cede greater authority to WHO and enhance the opportunity for future public health crises (or events that the governing body deems as such) to advance the interests of a globally-controlled and funded governing body and undermine the rights of citizens. A threat to national sovereignty is a threat to individual freedom, inevitably giving rise to incursions on the conscience rights and religious freedoms that Americans cherish—and organizations like NRB exist to protect.

Liberty Counsel reported that "All 13...amendments designed to cede sovereignty to WHO were rejected by objecting member nations." Liberty Counsel stated that the amendments "sought to give the WHO Director-General sweeping power to declare a 'public health emergency' over any issue he chooses, without consulting the member nations.? One example:

...WHO’s Director-General would have the power to effectively close or open borders. If the “offending” country refuses to agree or comply with such a directive, the Director-General can compel other nations to stop trade and travel to and from the offending country. Shipments of food, medicine and consumer goods would be affected.

But, as Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel warns: "...the plan to cede American sovereignty to the United Nations and its associated globalist health group continues."