The Equality Act (read a quick summary here) is a threat to people of faith across the country. But are evangelicals partly to blame for it?
Evangelical theologian Matthew Lee Anderson has a long piece in Christianity Today (May/June 2021) arguing that evangelicals must realize our own role in the rise of the militant LGBT movement and its political successes.
The story that evangelicals are (merely) victims of progressive aggressors not only fails to account for the ways in which the LGBT movement was shaped by populist evangelical rhetoric and tactics. It also forgets that the gay liberation movement was a direct response to the systemic and pervasive exclusion of lesbian and gay individuals from the structures of our public life—including from America itself.
Anderson, a professor of ethics and theology at Baylor University, expands on his point. The Christian right, he writes, rose in the 1970s in opposition to the cultural excesses of the sexual revolution. It is surprising that he does not mention Roe v. Wade, which was certainly a larger motivator for the religious right than gay rights. As the Christian right rose to a position of political and cultural influence, Anderson argues, it weaponized biblical truths about sexuality (which Anderson accepts) in a way that “demeaned and disrespected our LGBT neighbors.”
An attempt to repeal Illinois’s parental notification law failed to advance out of committee before the end of the legislative session, leaving Illinois’s 1995 law requiring parental notification before a minor undergoes an abortion intact. The parental notification lawis the last remainingrestriction on abortion in Illinois after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law in 2019 legalizing abortion up until birth for any reason, repealing abortion clinic regulations, and requiring all health insurance plans to cover abortions. That year abortion rates in Illinois increased by 10%.
Like Minnesota, Illinois requires parental notification, but not consent, before a minor undergoes an abortion. The parental notification lawis not only the last remaining abortion restriction in Illinois, it is also a policy that has widespread support among parents, including parents who describe themselves as pro-abortion. Removing this law would take away the last protection Illinois offers to the unborn while also attacking parental rights and teens’ relationships with their parents. The Illinois Parental Notification of Abortion Act points out that abortion can lead to long-term medical, emotional, and psychological harm and that it is not in a minor’s best interest to keep their parents in the dark.
Catholic Social Services has been providing adoption and foster care services in Philadelphia for many years. However, the city arbitrarily denied them the right to continue placing children in homes because they affirm that marriage is between one man and one woman, and declined to work with same-sex couples.
After a protracted lawsuit, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, the Supreme Court today ruled unanimously in favor of Catholic Social Services and their right to serve the children of Philadelphia. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, with concurring opinions from other justices. Chief Justice Roberts wrote
CSS [Catholic Social Services] seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else. The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.
On January 1, a California state law allowing male inmates who identify as female to request transfer to women’s prisons went into effect. Since then, the state has received over 250 transfer requests from men asking to be transferred. According to documents obtained by Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF), more than one man who has already been transferredhas been convicted of sexual assault. Due to a similar policy in Washington state, Washington Correctional Center for Women currently houses a serial rapist. Connecticut and Massachusetts have both passed similar legislation.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Abigail Shrier explains that, unlike most men’s prisons, women’s prisons do not separate inmates based on the severity of their crimes. Also unlike men’s prisons, Central California Women’s Facility in Cowchilla, which currently houses eleven male inmates, houses eight inmates to a room, with a sink and toilet inside the cell and only a cowboy door for modesty. This allows neither privacy nor escapefor women who are uncomfortable or feel unsafe being housed with male prisoners.
Recent polling data reveals that the radical abortion agenda being embraced by the political leftis not even popular with their own base. In a nationwide survey, the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List found that “53% of likely voters are more likely to vote for a Republican candidate who supports a 15-week limit on abortion versus just 28% of voters who prefer a Democratic candidate who supports unlimited abortion up until the moment of birth. Independent voters break strongly to the GOP side by a 54% to 18% margin.”
This is especially relevantas the Supreme Court considers Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case challenging Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks. The Court has agreed to rule on the central question of “Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.” This case could significantly undermine Roe v. Wade and play an essential role in ending abortion.
In a recent video from Take Charge MN, Rashad Turner, a former leader of Black Lives Matter explained why he left the organization. “I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies,” Turner said,
Black lives do matter. However, after a year on the inside, I learned they had little concern for rebuilding black families, and they cared even less about improving the quality of education for students in Minneapolis.
A year and a half after he founded the Saint Paul chapter of Black Lives Matter, Turner left and is now engaged in a movement that is seeking to rebuild families and expand access to quality education.
“I went for two appointments and after the second one I had my letter to go get on cross-sex hormones.”
“[My therapist] didn’t really go into what my gender dysphoria might be stemming from. We only did a few sessions.”
“When everything that I set out to do was done, I still felt incomplete.”
These are the words of the young men and women who recently spoke to 60 Minutes about why they left the transgender movement. In each case, they sought help for gender dysphoria and depression and were very quickly put on a path toward cross-sex hormones and surgery only to experience regret after the fact. Sadly, stories like theirs are becoming all too common. Amid a rise in rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) the transgender movement continues to push for unquestioning affirmation when a young person is struggling with the feeling that they were born in the wrong body and encourage young adults, teenagers, and even young children to undergo puberty-blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries.
This year marks 23 years since Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide, and as in previous years, the reasons that patients sought to end their own lives were primarily loss of autonomy and a decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable. Additionally, over half expressed a concern that they were “becoming a burden” to their family and caregivers. In other words, fear and discouragement have been major factors motivating people to end their own lives, and rather than being offered help and hope, they were offered lethal drugs.
And yet, as people continue to turn to assisted suicide out of fear, the assisted suicide lobby consistently calls for the erosion of any safeguards that are in place. This is because the logic of assisted suicide allows no limits. Even when proponents claim that safeguards will be in place, those safeguards without fail begin to erode within decades or less. Dr.Joshua Brisoce, a hospice and palliative care physician and professor at Duke University, recently pointed out where the logic of assisted suicide leads, writing,
If suffering warrants assisted suicide, why should seemingly arbitrary limits like terminal illness or even autonomous choice limit it? For surely non-terminally ill, incapacitated patients can suffer — and for longer than a cancer patient with 6 months to live!
Recent reports have found that the U.S. birthrate dropped by 4% in 2020, bringing the number of births in the U.S. to the lowest number since 1979. While it is not unusual for birth rates to decline during a season of economic and political uncertainty, it is unlikely that this year’s drop is just a “blip on the radar” considering that birth rates were declining prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and hit a 32-year-low in 2018.
Alongside the drop in birth rates, there are also rising rates of hopelessness and despair among young Americans, a rejection of marriage and family, and a growing embrace of anti-natalism, an ideology that believes people have an obligation not to have children,usually rooted in fears of a looming climate catastrophe.
When HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra was nominated to his current role, pro-life leaders rightly pointed out that Becerra has a longstanding record of abortion extremism. During his confirmation hearings, when he was asked directly why he had voted against a ban on the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortions, Becerra refused to give a straight answer. Now, in a House subcommittee hearing, he has denied that partial-birth abortions are illegal.
In a hearing for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee on Wednesday, Representative Gus Bilirakis asked Becerra if he agrees that partial-birth abortion is illegal. In response, Becerra claimed that “there is no law that deals specifically with the term partial-birth abortion.” This is not true. Partial-birth abortion is specifically prohibited in U.S. Code § 1531. Representative John Joyce pointed this out later in the hearing and also drew attention to the fact that the law gives a clear definition of partial-birth abortion. Even though Representatives Bilirakis, Joyce, and Dan Crenshaw all pressed Becerra on the issue, he refused to say that partial-birth abortion is illegal or that he would enforce the law.
Recent polling data from the Pew Research Center suggests that 59% of Americans support legalized abortion in all or most cases. This is one percentage point lower than it was at this time in 2020, but it is still a tragically high number. If this poll is representative of real views, a majority of Americans would vote to keep this murderous practice legal.
The pro-life movement has spent decades fighting to make abortion not just illegal, but unthinkable, and we will continue to fight until that is the case. In order to successfully eradicate abortion, the fact that the majority of Americans are ambivalent or supportive of abortion needs to change. So we have to ask ourselves, what can we do to change people’s hearts and minds on abortion?
President Biden has demonstrated a radical commitment to advancing the abortion lobby’s agenda during his first 100 days in office, but on the state level, the pro-life movement has been making major strides! Over 500 pro-life bills have been introduced across 46 states since January of this year. Of those, 61 have been signed into law, and abortion activists are worried.The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute writes, “If this trend continues, 2021 will end up as the most damaging antiabortion state legislative session in a decade—and perhaps ever.” In just four days last week, 28 pro-life laws were signed in seven different states!
The Guttmacher Institute compared this year’s wave of pro-life legislation with 2011, the year they previously considered the most devastating to the abortion industry since abortion was legalized in all 50 states. By this time in 2011, 42 pro-life laws had been signed.
After watching biological males win their athletic events, fouryoung women in Connecticut stood up to the policy that cost them titles, opportunities, and potential scholarships. This week, a federal judge dismissed their case challenging the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy allowing biological males to compete in female athletics. Rather than weigh the merits of the case, the judge dismissed it as no longer relevant because the two male athletes who had been competing have since graduated. With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, the four athletes are appealing the ruling.
In 2017, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) began to allow biological males who identify as female to compete in female athletic events. Very quickly, two male athletes, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood began to dominate in girls’ track and field, and young women watched by the sidelines as their athletic events were won by young men. Alliance Defending Freedom has noted that two male athletes had, between the two of them, taken 15 women’s state championship titles and more than 85 opportunities to participate in higher-level competitions from female track athletes in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons.
Sometimes engaging in political conversations is like pulling teeth. It’s no wonder that many Christians have little desire to engage with politics because it is too divisive, too complicated, or just not worth the effort. They would rather focus on heavenly things and loving people outside of politics. These are worthy goals, but people inside politics need the love of Christ too! Government is instituted by God and rulers are appointed by God. Thus both are potentially fruitful areas of ministry. I want to show how we canfocus on heavenly things and loving people within the political realm - without compromising the gospel message.
On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Sometimes pastors use Colossians 3:2 as a reason for not engaging in politics. “Set your mind on things that are above, not on earthly things.” But we need to remember the Lord’s Prayer, specifically when Christ says “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Christ sits on a heavenly throne and when God sets up rulers and nations He is giving them authority. Romans 13 begins with Paul outlining that governing authorities are instituted by God. Our earthly governments are a reflection of a heavenly Kingdom. While our rulers are flawed they are nevertheless chosen and put in power by God for specific purposes. While we may not know or understand those purposes God is certainly working through politics for the advancement of His Kingdom. If the Ruler of Heaven and Earth is so invested and involved in our politics, then shouldn’t His people follow suit?
The Biden administration is appealing a federal judge’sruling affirming that religious hospitals should not be required to perform gender transition surgeries in violation of their deeply held beliefs.
In January, U.S. District Court Judge Peter Welte cited the Religious Freedom Restoration Act when he ruled in favor of Sisters of Mercy, an order of nuns committed to providing medical care to people in need. The Biden administration wants to see this ruling overturned and has filed an appeal in hopes of forcing religious hospitals to comply with the transgender agenda. Recently appointed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is leading the charge.
In the past week, more than 600 Minnesota Family Council supporters contacted their state senators asking them to support school choice and girls’ sports, and those actions had results! On Thursday the Minnesota Senate approved a bipartisan education budget bill that empowers families with school choice options and protects athletic opportunities for female athletes in Minnesota!
The bill includes the language from Senator Carrie Ruud’s Save Women’s Sports bill that would preserve women’s sports by ensuring that biological males are not allowed to compete in female athletics and clarifies that any school that allows male athletes to compete on girls’ sports teams is in violation of Title IX and existing Minnesota laws that protect athletic opportunities for women and girls.
The bill would also create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) that would equip parents to pursue educational opportunities that fit their family’s values and their children’s educational needs. Under the ESA program, when a parent chooses to withdraw their child from public school, the child’s share of state education assistance would be deposited into a savings account that parents would be able to use for tuition and fees at a different school, online learning, instructional material, or other educational expenses.
These provisions are good news for Minnesota’s families! They recognize that parents are the ones who are ultimately responsible for their children’s education and equip them to pursue an education that is the best fit for their students, and they recognize the biological differences between men and women and preserve fairness and opportunities in light of those differences.
In a recent Guide for Journalistsencouraging reporting that promotes the LGBT agenda, GLAAD, a pro-LGBT activist group, smeared pro-family organizations and the Promise to America’s Children coalition as “attacking” young people with gender dysphoria and lobbying to advance an “agenda of hate.” This simply is not true. Promise to America’s Children is a promise to protect and treasure America’s children, recognizing their value and dignity and to refuse to allow them to be sexualized and used.
Children deserve to be protected, valued, and loved, not used as political pawns to advance a radical sexual agenda, which is why Minnesota Family Council is part of the Promise to America’s Children coalition.
Promise to America’s Children pledges to protect children – body, mind, and heart– from harmful sexual ideologies.This means treasuring children’s minds by protecting them from pornography and other graphic sexual content; equipping kids with education that is tailored to their needs as identified by their parents - not bureaucrats or self-appointed "experts"; ensuring their right to free speech, including their right not to be compelled to promote messages that violate their consciences; and protecting their rightto receive counseling that their parents determine is safe, appropriate, and in their best interest.
It also means honoring children’s bodies by protecting their right to safety and privacy in sex-specific spaces such as locker rooms, restrooms, and showers; maintaining fairness and safety in sports by recognizing biological differences and not forcing female athletes to compete against males;and protecting children from dangerous, experimental “treatments” that cause permanent damage to their physical bodies while failing to alleviate their mental distress.
A Letter to Pastors and Churches from Pastor Jeff Evans, Director of the Minnesota Church Ambassador Network
The Chauvin trial has come to a close. Christians around the state have a wide range of opinions and emotions. Some are relieved, some celebratory that justice has been served, and others concerned that justice may not have been served. No doubt, you have been asked what you think about all that has transpired. You may be hearing (or delivering) a sermon on this very topic this Sunday. While we don’t pretend to know all the right responses to such a multifaceted issue, there are a few things we think are essential for everyone to consider.
First, compassion for the family of George Floyd. He was a human being made in the image of God. No verdict will bring him back to his family and friends.
Second, human justice has been rendered through our court system, and needs to be respected. “…[T]here is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). Such justice, though human (and therefore always imperfect and incomplete), is part of God’s mercy toward society. We should give thanks to God for the trial administered by Judge Cahill, the service of the jurors, and the long hours put in both by the prosecution and defense. What’s more, compassion and justice belong together, so let us thank pastors and lay leaders who prayed and worked hard for peace in the streets of our cities, and for the constitutional right of free and non-violent expression. Let us also pray for Derek Chauvin, and the other officers who participated in the tragic events of May 25, 2020.
On Monday evening, Bloomington became the ninthMinnesota city to adopt a so-called “conversion therapy ban.” Other cities that have adopted these bans include Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Duluth, and Rochester. With Bloomington joining their ranks, that means the five largest cities in Minnesota have adopted counseling bans. These draconianbans prevent minors who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria from receiving counseling to help them live in accordance with their biological sex.
By policing what a licensed counselor or therapist may say to his or her clients, these bans inappropriately infringe on the relationship between mental health care providers and their clients. Under Bloomington’s ban, mental health professionals can be fined $500 for their first violation and $1000 for subsequent violations if they offer counseling that does not fall in line with the LGBT agenda.
It is not the place of elected officials to determine who gets counseling care and who doesn’t, and yet that is exactly what these bans do. These bans prevent families and individuals from pursuing and licensed professionals from offering counsel that accords with their Christian beliefs.
For young people struggling with gender dysphoria, counseling bans leave them to be ushered into social transition and medical “treatments” that carry tragic life-long effects and do not improve mental health outcomes. The vast majority of minors struggling with gender dysphoria who do not “transition” become comfortable with their biological sex by the time they reach adulthood.
A recent Politico interview with Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson promised far more than it delivered. The title of theinterview, “Planned Parenthood vs. White Supremacy” implied that the interviewer would be asking hard-hitting questions about the abortion giant’s complicity in advancing the goals of the eugenics movement and their current focus on targeting minority communities for abortion. In a display of the media’s refusal to hold the abortion industry accountable, the interview was little more than a PR stunt for Planned Parenthood.
Instead of pressing in on the abortion industry’s ongoing racism, the interviewer was quick to emphasize McGill Johnson’s past role in crafting an implicit bias and diversity training for Starbucks a few years ago and offered no pushback when she downplayed the company’s racist legacy, insisting that she was committed to “shifting [the] infrastructure” of racism by continuing to expand abortion.
