The 3 - May 7, 2023

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three recent stories of relevance to the Christian community, highlights a new report on religious freedom identifying countries singled out for their violations.  Also, a Missouri school district has been found to be violating state law providing for parental notification when topics related to sexuality are taught.  And, the gospel was spread in Boston, site of a gathering of self-proclaimed Satanists. 

Arm of State Department issues religious freedom report

Each year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which is a division of the U.S. State Department, issues a report on religious freedom, including a listing of nations designated as Countries of Particular Concern. CBN.com reported recently on the latest report, the cover of which, according to the article, "...features the face of the late Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman killed last year by Iran's morality police for violating the country's headscarf law. This is just one of many examples where religious freedom is under attack around the world."

Iran is one of the 17 nations who have been designated as CPC's, joining other repeat offenders, including: Burma, China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. 5 countries were added this year, according to the article, "Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam."  There has been a concerted effort to return Nigeria to the list after being absent. 

Senator Marco Rubio noted, "These violations do not go unnoticed..."

The article concludes by saying, "The USCIRF hopes the president, State Department, and Congress will take action to address the global religious freedom violations, believing every country named in the report is watching to see how the U.S. will respond."

Missouri school district allows LGBTQ book, even though it violates state law

The state of Missouri has a law on the books, that, according to The Daily Signal, says: "School districts must notify parents of the 'basic content of the district’s or school’s human sexuality instruction to be provided to the student' and a 'parent’s right to remove the student from any part of the district’s or school’s human sexuality instruction...'"  

But, at a school outside of St. Louis, in the Webster Groves School District, an "elementary school allowed a parent to read the transgender-promoting children’s book 'I Am Jazz' to a second-grade class without first informing other parents, although state law requires school districts to notify parents beforehand about lessons on sexuality." The article says that the book, "is the story of transgender-identifying biological male Jazz Jennings. It is rated as age-appropriate for children aged 4 and up."

The article said the book was read as part of a "Mystery Reader" program, "where a family member surprises a child by reading to the class." It goes on to say, "A student’s parent asked for permission to read the book, and the school approved the request. But the school chose not to inform the parents of other students," according to a parent.

But, this is not the first time the district has pushed the envelope on gender ideology.  The Daily Signal states:

The Webster Groves district, with 10 schools and more than 4,400 students, has a history of pushing radical gender ideology on children. Also in September, a high school librarian encouraged students to check out sexually explicit books from her list of commonly banned books and enter a raffle for a “sweet prize.”

The school district also plans to include the personal pronouns “they/them” in math problems and hire certified teachers as “math interventionists” to fight racism and gender bias in math classes, following a curriculum evaluation.

One family was upset when their second grader came from school saying she had learned that boy bodies can have girl brains and vice versa. After the family expressed concerns, the teacher included two brief sentences about the classroom reading of “I Am Jazz” in a longer email to parents.

Unfortunately, a district spokesperson said that the district doesn't believe it violated state law.

SatanCon attendees hear the gospel

It was billed as the “largest satanic gathering in history," according to The Christian Post, referring to SatanCon, which occurred the last weekend in April in Boston. 

Lynn MacAskill, a regional leader for Intercessors for America, who was in Boston as part of a ministry team reaching out to conference attendees, said, “Numerous Christians from several teams did minister to SatanCon attendees...with some great stories, so seeds were definitely sown,” adding, “God really did move as we were able to be in the venue. Everyone was peaceful and polite, and we felt God gave us specific prayer assignments, especially on Sunday, that were powerful.”

She also noted, "...we were told by several sources that Revive Boston and YWAM evangelists did record 98 salvations and at least 15 recommitments to the Lord among regular people during street evangelism."  The Christian Post article went on to say:

“You could definitely tell a lot of prayer had gone before us due to the peaceful nature of interactions and openness of many, though definitely not all attendees, to dialogue with believers,” MacAskill said. The IFA Boston co-leader revealed that most of the attendees were “averse to being prayed for.”

“A lot of them had been raised Christian and had been hurt or oppressed by the church, so I think that’s something we as the Body of Christ need to learn from so as not to push people away from knowing Jesus,” she continued. “Several evangelists shared with me that although they were opposing the Church, many of them smiled or their eyes softened or even shed tears when they heard the name of Jesus and that He loved them.”

Nevertheless, MacAskill believes “seeds were sown,” and now she charged believers to continue to show the love of Jesus to the world: “We need to be faithful to continue to pray that these seeds will be watered and that other Christians will be called to show the love of Jesus to these people wherever they call home.”

The article noted that Boston was specifically targeted by the Satanic Temple after the city's refusal to allow a Satanic flag to fly at City Hall after the U.S. Supreme Court decision finding that it was incorrect for Boston to reject the Christian flag simply because it was religious.  Satanists also desire to offer prayers at city council meetings.