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williambarr

US Attorney-General Bill Barr has warned state and local governments about unjustly burdening churches during the coronavirus crisis.

“The United States Department of Justice will continue to ensure that religious freedom remains protected if any state or local government, in their response to COVID-19, singles out, targets, or discriminates against any house of worship for special restrictions,” said Barr.

“Even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers.

“Government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity.

“For example, if a government allows movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, and other comparable places of assembly to remain open and unrestricted, it may not order houses of worship to close, limit their congregation size, or otherwise impede religious gatherings.  Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens,” he added.

Barr said that the Department of Justice has filed a Statement of Interest in support of a church in Mississippi that held parking lot worship services. 

“The City of Greenville fined congregants $500 per person for attending these parking lot services – while permitting citizens to attend nearby drive-in restaurants, even with their windows open. The City appears to have thereby singled churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing,” said Barr.

“As we explain in the Statement of Interest, where a state has not acted even-handedly, it must have a compelling reason to impose restrictions on places of worship and must ensure that those restrictions are narrowly tailored to advance its compelling interest.  While we believe that during this period there is a sufficient basis for the social distancing rules that have been put in place, the scope and justification of restrictions beyond that will have to be assessed based on the circumstances as they evolve.”

Barr said that religion and religious worship continue to be central to the lives of millions of Americans. 

“Religious communities have rallied to the critical need to protect the community from the spread of this disease by making services available online and in ways that otherwise comply with social distancing guidelines.”

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A doctor in Korea has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail for killing a baby who survived an abortion procedure.

“Medical staff who participated in the operation have consistently said they heard the baby crying,” judges wrote in their decision.

“It is clear that the doctor killed the baby, who was born alive,” they added.

The doctor aged 65 years was convicted last Friday by the Seoul District Court for killing a 34 week old baby.

He reportedly placed the live baby in a bucket of water.

In Australia, a question on notice put by pro-life MP Mark Robinson revealed that 27 babies in Queensland had survived abortions in 2015 and were left to die.

In Western Australia, pro-life MPs have directed questions to the WA Minister of Health, the Ombudsman and the Coroner, revealing that at least 27 babies have survived abortions and were left to die between July 1999 and December 2016.

This means that at least one baby survives an abortion in Western Australia every year. In WA, The neglect of any human who is born alive is a crime according to the WA Criminal Code s290.

Answers to parliamentary questions have revealed that late-term abortions in WA are performed in two different ways.

Firstly, if there is expectation that the baby will survive the abortion, an injection of potassium chloride is administered into the foetal blood stream which causes the unborn baby to die from a heart attack prior to induced labour.

Secondly, if the baby is not expected to survive birth, potassium chloride is not administered and instead labour is induced through prostaglandin administered to the mother.

In 2017, FamilyVoice WA supported a 7000-strong petition calling on the WA Government to instruct the WA coroner to investigate these deaths. The WA Department of Health was not reporting these deaths to the WA Coroner, which resulted in the Ombudsman reporting he had no jurisdiction to investigate, and the Department of Child Protection was not alerted about these children

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A Christian baker who had a legal victory in the Supreme Court is being targeted with a third lawsuit over his refusal to bake cakes which push LGBT ideology.

Jack Phillips, a baker in the US state of Colorado, is being sued for refusing to bake a “gender transition” cake. 

Phillips rose to prominence when in 2012 he refused to bake a “same-sex wedding” cake.

The first legal action went all way to the Supreme Court which, in 2018, handed down a 7-2 decision in his favour.

The Christian Post reported:

The Supreme Court ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission has been seen as one of the more important modern religious liberty cases to reach the high court. Though a decisive majority of justices sided with Phillips, the scope of the ruling was narrow in that it focused on the Colorado Commission's lack of neutrality. The high court did not weigh in on the deeper conflict between anti-discrimination statutes and the free exercise of religion and free speech.

A later second action against Phillips, for refusing to bake a “gender transition cake” – blue on the outside, pink on the inside – was not pursued by the state after the baker countersued.

However, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Phillips:

The same attorney who filed the second complaint has filed another lawsuit against Jack in state court. This latest lawsuit seeks monetary damages and attorney’s fees from Jack. If successful, it could bring about financial ruin for Jack and his family.

But that shouldn’t happen because Jack serves all people—he just can’t express every message or celebrate every event that’s asked of him.

And he shouldn’t be forced to.

No American should be bullied or banished from the marketplace simply for living and working consistently with their faith. But this new lawsuit threatens to do just that.

The state court heard oral arguments in the current (third) case last Thursday.

The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion for it to be dismissed.

last supper
 
By David d'Lima

Ahead of the forthcoming Easter commemoration, please allow me to share the following often overlooked civic and political implications of the Last Supper.​
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Appreciation of the profound civic implication of the Last Supper requires a recognition of the meal's basis in the Passover. That commemoration from the time of Moses recollects God's judgement on a pagan nation whose leaders resisted the divine plan and persecuted Israel. 

In part the meal should remind us that God is angry with rebellious nations and will bring judgement to them.
Strange that our civic and church leaders are unwilling to at least raise the possibility of divine chastisement in relation to the current corona virus.
 
But if the leaders and people of the nations would repent and respond in faith, sinceChrist, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed(1 Corinthians 5:7), the judgement applicable to personal and national sins would be relieved.​
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The civic dimension to the Last Supper is further appreciated as we recognise Jesus speaking about civic authority and servant-leadership directly after the Passover meal, by referring to the Roman emperor in four ways, noted in the Gospel of Luke:​
  • Jesus highlightedthe kings of the Gentileswholord it over them(22:25); (some Roman coins have fire on the emperor's head to assert his divinity).​​

  • Jesus referred to those whoexercise authority over the people(22:25).​​

  • He used the termBenefactors(22:25) - a title of emperors as noted by Philo (Flaccus10) who wrote aboutour saviour and benefactor Augustus.

  • Jesus referred tothe one who rules, and required him to be like himself -one who serves(22:26); (hence a cross on the crown of monarchs in our inherited Westminster tradition and other Christian-based systems).​
His call for servant-leadership has greatly influenced nations that uphold the Christian worldview. Heeding that call, the builders of the Westminster system gave Britain and her daughter nations, including many in the Commonwealth, the ambition towards civic service - provided by ministers (servants) of State who administer departments that facilitate ministry, not bureaucracy.​
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Their vocation is refreshed as parliaments in the Westminster ethos open each daily sitting with prayer that God's kingdom come and his name be hallowed.​

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By Charles Newington

In Christian church services across the world, the story of the crucifixion of Jesus will be read again this Good Friday. This year, as the world is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, the suffering of Christ will have special significance.

One of the all too frequent tragedies of this pandemic is that so many people are dying alone or in the company of strangers, while their loved ones wait anxiously and praying for their recovery.

This is a special grief – that of not being close at hand when one’s loved one passes away. It seems an unforgivable absence.

What weight has been laid on the shoulders of health workers who become de facto family for the loved ones of the dying. How hard for them to convey a sense of the dignity and love of the dying when all around them are other people needing the same care. The health-workers on the front line are truly deserving of the nation’s gratitude.

I have been reflecting on the death of Christ and those who stood close to him in his final hours. Luke’s Gospel tells us that his mother was there, her sister, another friend and Mary Magdalene. Then a little further away stood John, the apostle in waiting.

Rome chose its most brutal and uncivilised form of execution for those who challenged or endangered its authority and social order. There is absolutely nothing to commend crucifixion. It was barbaric, excruciating and deliberately terrifying, sending a clear message to all that they should not mess with Rome. What Mary saw as she stood close would have been unrecognisable as her beloved son, disfigured and lacerated. What a model of a mother’s love.

With his dying breath Jesus gave John the responsibility of caring for his widowed mother – mindful of her part in his conception, birth and natural life. He commits her to the disciple with whom he had the most personal connection. John took her into his own home and cared for her as his own. What a model of a loving son.

Another person there was Mary Magdalene whom Jesus had liberated from the torment of seven demons. She was there in his final hours, she assisted in his hurried burial and returned again three days later at first light to attend to the customs for entombment. As she wept in the garden because of his missing body, the risen Christ made himself known to her. Her response was to fall in front of him and grab his feet.  What a model of a devotee.

The central figure, the crucified one, was in his suffering and death providing the world with a solution to the alienation and inexplicable suffering of human life and death. Why do we suffer? Why is God so distant, especially when we need him most? Why do we exist? There is no one-liner that carries the full scope of all that took place in Christ’s death. If we find it hard today, imagine those who stood close to the flayed frame of their Lord and Son on crucifixion day.

It was for us all – to settle any score, to pay any moral debt, to forgive any crime no matter how horrifying, to save any soul no matter how lost. The apostle Paul wrote “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their sins against them…”  The perfect Saviour.

In this time when we are being reminded of our own mortality, I encourage you to make this truth your own by the simple, heartfelt confession: “In Christ’s death, God was reconciling us all of us to himself, not counting our sins against us. I believe this applies to me and I’m thankful to God.”

Grant us all grace O’ God, to live these brief lives in loving dignity and thankful service. Amen.