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House Democrats Kill Amendment That Would Have Protected Religious Americans From Persecution Under LGBT Bill

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Democrats in the House of Representatives blocked an amendment that would have protected religious Americans from retaliation based on their opposition to same-sex marriage, in order to jam legislation furthering the LGBT lobby’s agenda through Congress’s lame-duck session.

House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. James McGovern shot down Republicans’ last chance of defending religious liberty in the ill-named Respect for Marriage Act on Monday when he refused to even let Rep. Chip Roy’s amendment solidifying First Amendment protections be brought to the House floor for a vote.

McGovern’s reasoning for bypassing procedural debate was rooted in the fact that Roy’s amendment would give the process of passing the RFMA a shelf life that could last well into the newly-elected Republican House.

Seeing as most of the Republicans in the current House oppose the RFMA on the grounds that it stomps on religious Americans’ right to act on their convictions about traditional marriage, McGovern and his Democrat allies weren’t keen on waiting around to see if the legislation would survive the new GOP-led House.

“If we were to amend this and it goes back to the Senate, for all intents and purposes, it’s dead for the year. And many of us believe that we have a court right now that is hell-bent on trying to reverse the rights for the LGBTQ community and we do not trust them to respect marriage equality in this country,” McGovern said to the rules committee on Monday. “When January comes along, the gentleman’s party will be in charge and you can bring one amendment after another to reverse the last 70 years of social progress, if the gentleman prefers. We will oppose you on that.”

(Read more from “House Democrats Kill Amendment That Would Have Protected Religious Americans From Persecution Under LGBT Bill” HERE)

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Holy War Erupts at VA Medical Center Over Bibles for Sale

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The American Center for Law and Justices confirms it has written to a gift shop at the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., suggesting that managers there quickly restore Bibles to the store shelves.

They were removed on the insistence of activists who apparently want to eliminate any reference to religion, even it those references are protected by the Constitution.

The organization explains the dispute isn’t complicated:

“The gift shop at the Albuquerque VA Medical Center is a business, not a charity. It selects and offers goods for sale that it believes will sell. If it offers goods that do not sell, it can reasonably decline to carry such goods in the future. Bottom line: The Bibles and other literature dealing with Easter were on display for sale because there was a demand for such items. That is a business decision, pure and simple. Such decisions are made daily by business owners. To say that a sound business decision regarding what products to offer violates separation of church and state is nonsense.”

The organization said it has written to the interim director of the facility “to inform her that her decision, rather than upholding the Constitution, actually violated it; to explain the applicable law; and to demand that the display of Christian literature be returned forthwith to the gift shop.” (Read more from “Holy War Erupts at VA Medical Center Over Bibles for Sale” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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U.S. Military Uses Religious Test Against Service Members to Enforce Vaccine Mandate

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Members of our military pledge their loyalty to the Constitution. Its First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. So, it would be perverse to force men and women in uniform to abandon their deeply held religious beliefs to serve their country.

Yet that’s what’s happening regarding the COVID-19 vaccine mandates — for which the normal rules seem not to apply. . .

Last September, an Air Force Academy graduate requested a religious exemption. As a Catholic, she objected to benefitting from vaccines developed or tested on cell lines derived from a procured abortion.

The reviewing chaplain denied her request. What’s troubling is that he did so on theological grounds. If this case were unique, we might not worry much about it. But this is just one example of many. . .

Take the case of the Air Force grad rebuffed in September. The chaplain reviewing her request claimed her objection wasn’t a “sincerely held belief.” Why? Because she conceded that she took other drugs, such as Tylenol, which he claimed had also been “tested” on such cell lines. (Read more from “U.S. Military Uses Religious Test Against Service Members to Enforce Vaccine Mandate” HERE)

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Federal Court Strikes Blow to Atheist Activists Attacking Religious Monuments

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A federal court ruled on Feb. 19 that a religious monument in a Florida city park does not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment. In an important victory for religious liberty, the 11th Circuit decided that the Bayview Cross, a 34-foot Latin cross erected in 1941, can remain standing. The monument represents the city of Pensacola’s history and serves as a symbol of hope. It was originally built to commemorate Easter sunrise services, a traditional Christian holiday.

In 2016, an atheist group sued to have the cross removed from the park and argued that it violated the establishment clause. Surprisingly, a district court judge ruled in the group’s favor and said the monument must come down because “the City’s maintenance of the cross violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.”

Becket, a religious liberty organization, took on the case in defense of Pensacola and the Bayview Cross, arguing that while the establishment clause is certainly vital, a monument with religious undertones showcases historical value and authenticity and is not an attempt by the city to establish a formal religion.

At first, on appeal, the 11th Circuit Court affirmed the lower court’s ruling because even though it seemed like the judges wanted to keep the monument up, they were bound by Supreme Court precedent. Then, the city of Pensacola asked the Supreme Court to review the case, and while that was pending, the Supreme Court ruled on American Legion v. American Humanist Association, a similar case regarding an old, historic cross monument. In that case, the Supreme Court held that a 32-foot Latin cross sitting on a piece of public land in Bladensburg, Maryland, did not violate the establishment clause despite another nonreligious group’s arguments.

Now, this federal court has essentially tossed out its own previous ruling and made a new decision based on the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision. The new federal court decision also noted that an atheist group suing the city over a monument that’s almost 80 years old, causing significant expense and commotion, just because the group is “offended” is “just plain wrong.”

(Read more from “Federal Court Strikes Blow to Atheist Activists Attacking Religious Monuments” HERE)

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University Officials Held ‘Personally Liable’ for Discrimination Against Christian Group

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A federal court ruled University of Iowa officials must pay out of their own pockets for discriminating against a prominent Christian student group, calling the university’s conduct “ludicrous” and “incredibly baffling” during a hearing last week.

Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa ruled Friday that the University of Iowa and its officers violated constitutional law when they kicked InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and other religious groups, off the campus in June 2018 for requiring leaders to uphold Christian beliefs — but giving a pass to secular student groups that also have leadership requirements.

The university limited the Christian group’s access to campus after being there for over 25 years, froze its bank account, shut down its website and advertised that it was “defunct” for lack of student interest, according to court documents. This violated the Christian group’s free speech and free exercise rights, the court ruled.

“It’s rare for a federal judge to call out a public university for ‘ludicrous’ and ‘incredibly baffling’ violations of the First Amendment,” Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel at Becket, who represented InterVarsity and BLinC, told Fox News. “But it was necessary here. The court already told the University of Iowa to stop picking on one Christian student group. The University responded by doubling down and kicking out Christian, Muslim and Sikh groups. That was obviously wrong. And it’s even more clearly wrong once you consider, as the court did, that it was also unfair.” . . .

“We must have leaders who share our faith,” Greg Jao, director of external relations at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, said in a statement. “No group — religious or secular — could survive with leaders who reject its values. We’re grateful the court has stopped the University’s religious discrimination, and we look forward to continuing our ministry on campus for years to come.” (Read more from “University Officials Held ‘Personally Liable’ for Discrimination Against Christian Group” HERE)

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Once Again, Progressive Anti-Christian Bigotry Carries a Steep Legal Cost

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Last summer, in the days after the Supreme Court decided Masterpiece Cakeshop on the narrow grounds that Colorado had violated Jack Phillips’s religious-liberty rights by specifically disparaging his religious beliefs, a bit of a skirmish broke out among conservative lawyers. How important was the ruling? Did it have any lasting precedential effect?

For those who don’t recall, the Supreme Court ruled for Phillips in large part because a commissioner of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission called Phillips’s claim that he enjoyed a religious-freedom right not to be forced to design a custom cake for a gay wedding a “despicable piece of rhetoric.” The commissioner also denigrated religious-liberty arguments as being used to justify slavery and the Holocaust.

While all agreed that it would have been preferable had the court simply ruled that creative professionals could not be required to produce art that conflicted with their sincerely held beliefs, the question was whether Justice Anthony Kennedy’s strong condemnation of anti-religious bigotry would resonate beyond the specific facts of the case. For example, what would happen if, in a different case, state officials called faithful Christians who seek to protect the religious freedom of Catholic adoption agencies “hate-mongers”?

In the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, it turns out that such rhetoric has cost the state a crucial court ruling, granted a Catholic adoption agency a vital victory, and demonstrated — once again — that anti-religious bigotry can (and should) carry substantial legal costs.

The case is called Buck v. Gordon. My friends at Becket represent St. Vincent Catholic Charities, a former foster child, and the adoptive parents of five special-needs kids. The facts are relatively complicated, but here’s the short version: St. Vincent upholds Catholic teaching by referring same-sex and unmarried families who seek foster and adoption recommendations and endorsements to agencies that have no objection to providing those services. There is no evidence that St. Vincent has prevented any legally qualified family from adopting or fostering a child. In fact, same-sex couples “certified through different agencies” have been able to adopt children in St. Vincent’s care. (Read more from “Once Again, Progressive Anti-Christian Bigotry Carries a Steep Legal Cost” HERE)

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Christian Artists Celebrate Religious Freedom Win

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In response to their stunning victory at the Arizona Supreme Court, Christian artists Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski are proudly standing for “artists everywhere.”

As The Daily Wire’s Hank Berrien reported on Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Duka and Koski would not be in violation of Phoenix’s ordinance on discrimination if the pair refused to use their artistic talents to create custom invitations for a same-sex wedding. Appearing on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, the artists said the victory was deeply important to them, as Christian artists.

“We are super excited,” Koski said, as reported by Fox News. “Ever since Joanna and I were little girls, we had a dream of being artists and starting a business, and we are just so overjoyed that the city recognized our rights as artists. This was super important to us to stand for artists everywhere across the country. We do serve everybody and love everybody, but it’s just certain messages that we cannot promote in our business because of our faith.”

Joanna Duka said the case comes down to whether or not the government should be able to threaten artists with jail time if they do not promote certain messages.

“Can the government force artists by threat of jail time to create art that promotes messages inconsistent with their values?” asked Duka. “For Breanna and I, that includes certain messages about marriage that violate our faith, that includes messages that promote racism or incite violence, exploit women, or demean any member of any community, including the LGBT community. So that’s why we’re extremely excited the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled in favor of artistic freedom and the right of artists, not the government, to decide what messages we can and can’t promote.” (Read more from “Christian Artists Celebrate Religious Freedom Win” HERE)

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If China Prevails in Hong Kong, Religious Freedom Could Be the First Right to Disappear

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The world is watching while a record number of Hong Kong residents flood the streets protesting encroachment by China into their way of life. While news coverage has rightly focused on Hongkongers’ defense of their civil liberties, the faith community should be particularly troubled about the future of Hong Kong’s religious freedoms. . .

Under an agreement between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Britain, which ruled Hong Kong for 156 years until 1997, the people of Hong Kong were supposed to be able to live freely in their capitalistic society under a “one country, two systems” model until 2047. The Hong Kong protesters see the extradition bill as an attempt by China’s Communist Party to demolish their way of life and discard their freedoms. . .

Religious persecution is rampant in communist China. Pew Research has named it the fifth most oppressive nation on the planet when it comes to restrictive laws and policies on religious freedom. Since the 19th century, religious groups have suffered greatly in China, with as many as 100,000 lives lost during the Boxer Rebellion and scores of Buddhist and Christian practitioners murdered during Mao Zedong’s reign of terror. . .

Christians are a frequent target of the religious police, often being banned from attending church services or imprisoned because of their faith. In 2017, a Christian pastor, her daughter and her toddler grandson were arrested and the two women were detained after singing a religious song in public (not their first run-in with police). Catholic bishops, who are historically only installed by the Vatican, are strictly appointed by Beijing alone.

There are countless reports of Chinese government officials arresting, torturing and physically abusing members, including children, of both registered and unregistered religious groups. Christians are far from the only people suffering under Xi’s crackdown. As many as 3 million Chinese citizens who practice the supposedly state-sanctioned religion of Islam have been transported to “counterterrorism” camps, where they are tortured until they renounce their faith. (Read more from “If China Prevails in Hong Kong, Religious Freedom Could Be the First Right to Disappear” HERE)

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American Pastor Released From Turkish Prison Astounded at the Rate the U.S. is Imploding

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The evangelical Presbyterian pastor whose two-year imprisonment in Turkey sparked a geopolitical firestorm issued sobering words for Americans during a religious liberty conference last week.

Pastor Andrew Brunson lived as a missionary pastor in Turkey for decades until being detained in October 2016, following an alleged failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His arrest sparked a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the U.S. in which President Trump involved himself personally.

During an interview at the Western Conservative Summit, held annually by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, Brunson claimed that the Judeo-Christian basis for American values is eroding.

“First of all, I think it’s coming to the U.S., that there will be persecution,” he said. “I was isolated for a few years, and coming back to the states was almost like coming back to a different country in many ways. And I’m really astounded at the speed with which, I think, the U.S. is imploding.”

“There are any number of issues where it seems that it’s no longer enough for a person of faith to get along with, or to serve, or to treat well someone they disagree with,” he continued. “And I think that the political business, media, celebrity class, and also academia, it seems that there’s much more of a demand that people of faith approve of, that they validate, that they celebrate things that they actually disagree with.”

(Read more from “American Pastor Released From Turkish Prison Astounded at the Rate the U.S. is Imploding” HERE)

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State Department Hosts World’s Largest Religious Freedom Event

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Lead by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the State Department kicked off the world’s largest religious freedom event in Washington D.C. Tuesday morning at the second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Hundreds of activists and diplomats from all over the globe will be in attendance this week.

“We’ve invited more than 100 foreign delegations, more than 1,000 representatives here. And I want to just be here as we kick this off today for a moment to say my personal welcome,” Pompeo said during his opening remarks. “We’ve got folks from civil society and from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Falun Gong, and other secular backgrounds. We welcome you all. You all traveled from far corners, distant places around the world.”

The ministerial will take place over the course of three days and conclude on Thursday with a visit from Vice President Mike Pence.

“We all agree that fighting so that each person is free to believe, free to assemble, and to teach the tenets of his or her own faith is not optional – indeed, it is a moral imperative that this be permitted. All people from every place on the globe must be permitted to practice their faith openly – in their homes, in their places of worship, in the public square – and believe what they want to believe,” Pompeo continued. “This week, we need input from all of you on how we can best advance that religious freedom…I want you to know that America’s commitment to religious freedom will never waver. We stand with you and for you in each stage of this fight.” (Read more from “State Department Hosts World’s Largest Religious Freedom Event” HERE)

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