Monday, July 15, 2024

The 3 - July 14, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, highlights another court decision regarding the redefinition of Title IX language to include sexual orientation and gender identity.  Also, the library board in a key location regarding attempts to relocate objectionable books out of the children's section has established new policies. And, pro-lifers have been likened to terrorists in a military training presentation.

Title IX revisions continue to draw court action

Last Thursday, a federal district court ruled, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom's website "to immediately halt the Biden administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX while the lawsuit, Carroll Independent School District v. United States Department of Education, moves forward."

The website notes: 
On April 19, the administration announced it would redefine “sex” in Title IX rules to include “gender identity,” requiring schools to ignore the biological distinction between male and female in favor of “an individual’s sense of their [sic] gender.”
The Carroll district approved a resolution against the change, and it filed a federal lawsuit. ADF Legal Counsel Mathew Hoffmann, stated: “The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of ‘sex’ in Title IX upends our education system and ignores biological reality, science, and common sense. This dangerous and unnecessary rule change will have devastating consequences for students, teachers, administrators, and families. This court has joined other courts around the country in questioning the legality of the Biden administration’s attempt to undo the privacy, safety, and equal opportunities Title IX provides.”

ADF, as it notes, has already successful acquired four injunctions against the new rule and has already filed five lawsuits.

Alabama library sets new policy on protecting children from inappropriate books

In locations across the state of Alabama, local libraries are attempting to respond to parents' concerns about inappropriate material that is being made available to young children, including material of sexual nature.

1819 News reports that after new members of the Prattville-Autauga Library Board of Trustees were in place, that governing body "passed a series of policy changes related to the procurement and display of books that contain 'obscenity, sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance.' It also mandated age-specific library cards to ensure minors could not check out specific material."  This resulted in a federal lawsuit being filed against the board

The 1819 News article notes that recently...
...the board amended its rules, mostly conforming with the recently passed regulations from the Alabama Public Library System (APLS), which is required for libraries to continue receiving state funding. The APLS rules give specific guidelines of definitions for libraries to use when reviewing, relocating or removing books deemed "obscene" or "sexually explicit."
The code change requires libraries to develop policies to determine the materials appropriate for the collection or risk losing their public funding. They must have a policy in place for placing displays that highlight materials targeted at children. Libraries also must have guidelines to ensure that the children’s section does not have obscene or sexually explicit materials and that those materials cannot be purchased for patrons less than 18 years old.

Groups such as Read Freely Alabama and the Alabama Library Association have opposed the board’s resolution and the administrative code changes adopted by APLS, believing they violate free speech rights and discriminate against LGBTQ+ groups.
PEN America has been one of the leading national organizations that have been attempting to label parents who desire to protect the young hearts and minds of their children as "book-banners," even though the Prattville parents have stated their intent to relocate objectionable books, not remove them. The Freedom to Read program director for PEN America, Kasey Meehan, says, "The library is for everyone, but this policy appears to pave the way for a more narrow public sphere in which LGBTQ+ viewpoints are left out.”  Since LGBTQ+ is a label centered around sexuality - and from a Biblical viewpoint, deviant behavior, it is very easy to see why these so called "viewpoints" should not be included. 

Pro-lifers = terrorists according to U.S. Army presentation

According to The Federalist, a slide from a presentation at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) refers to certain pro-life organizations as domestic terrorists, and dozens of members of Congress are wanting answers.

The article at the Federalist website notes that "the probe seeks to uncover information about an anti-terrorism briefing slide recently used by Fort Liberty (formerly known as Fort Bragg) that classified pro-life groups such as National Right to Life and Operation Rescue as threats to the American homeland."

A letter sent to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth reportedly stated, “The American public expects the Department of Defense and its personnel to defend the homeland from actual terrorists, not Americans who seek protections for children in the womb..."  The lawmakers who signed on to the letter...
...demanded Wormuth provide more details on the aforementioned slides and individuals responsible for vetting such materials. They additionally requested the Army secretary explain what specific actions the branch is taking “to investigate the distribution of training materials depicting Pro-Life Americans as terrorists” and what “statutes or Army regulations were potentially violated and what action is the Army taking with regard to any offending employee.”

The article also reports that...

Fort Liberty’s public affairs office confirmed the slide’s authenticity to The Federalist on Thursday, claiming they were “not vetted by the appropriate approval authorities” and “will no longer be used” in future trainings. The office did not, however, respond to The Federalist’s follow-up inquiry on whether the “local garrison employee” responsible for creating the slides has been or will be punished or fired for their conduct.

No comments: