#FacepalmFriday and Weekly Wrap-up

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#FacepalmFriday, abortion, Ben Sherman, Brochoice, Down syndrome, Fr. Vander Woude, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Marjorie Jeffrey, Preachers of L.A., Texas

(Photo credit: Paris Tuileries Garden Facepalm Statue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/4199675334/)

By Marjorie Jeffrey (@MarjorieJeffrey)

This week started off on a note of hope, but we’ll save the good news ‘til the end.

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Most of our readers have probably heard about the war on abortion going on in Texas. Yes, those hateful pro-lifers are trying to restrict abortion rights even further, by moving the last possible date at which a pregnant woman can get an abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks, which is just before the generally-accepted point of viability.

Via Emily Zanotti:

If that seems straightforward, even pro-science to you, you’re not alone: if a kid can survive outside the womb, than it’s kind of hard to make the argument that they are an inhuman parasite. But, whatever. This is abortion legislation, so the rules are made up and the points don’t matter. What matters is, we’re all like, ten Texas legislators away from starring in our own post-apocalyptic Margaret Atwood novel, where us poor folk are chained to beds and forced to have children against our will. Never mind that by the time the Texas deadline rolls around you’re more than four months pregnant, you’re an idiot who simply can’t make up her puny female mind about being a parent, and need to have available a procedure that most of the world (except Canada!) views as barbaric.

At any rate, it’s been fun to watch. (And who can forget pro-abortion activists shouting “Hail Satan!” in an attempt to drown out pro-lifers singing “Amazing Grace”?)

But a brave young man named Ben Sherman (a University of Texas undergraduate and Think Progress intern) came out in support of late-term abortion and lower health standards for abortion clinics with an op-ed entitled “Bro-Choice: How #HB2 Hurts Texas Men Who Like Women”. (Isn’t that homophobic? What about men who don’t want to have meaningless sex with women, but still advocate for their ability to kill their young?)

My favorite part:

Your sex life is at stake. Can you think of anything that kills the vibe faster than a woman fearing a back-alley abortion? Making abortion essentially inaccessible in Texas will add an anxiety to sex that will drastically undercut its joys. And don’t be surprised if casual sex outside of relationships becomes far more difficult to come by.

Read the whole thing here. And in case any of you want to try to give the young man the benefit of the doubt by believing that his statements must have been satirical, read his follow-up article here.

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Are you ready for a new reality show about the fabulous lives of Los Angeles pastors who are changing the world with their Ferraris, Rolexes, security details, and prosperity theology megachurches? Life is really hard for them, especially when it comes to their relationships with their girlfriends and the mothers of their children. (And doubtless for the children themselves, who don’t appear in the trailer for the show.)

The show is coming to you courtesy of Oxygen. The channel describes the new series as follows:

“Preachers of L.A. gives a candid and revealing look at six boldly different and world renowned mega-pastors in Southern California, who are willing to share diverse aspects of their lives, from their work in the community and with their parishioners to the very large and sometimes provocative lives they lead away from the pulpit.”

It’s about time there was a television show to highlight the daily lives of men of God and their baby mamas.

(h/t First Things)

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There was a ray of hope this week for those who believe that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made.

Many of you who are active on Facebook may have seen and/or shared this status on Monday:

URGENT!!!! Chance to Save a Life! Please share ASAP with your friends:

“There is a couple in another state who have contacted an adoption agency looking for a family to adopt their Downs Syndrome unborn baby. If a couple has not been found by today they plan to abort the baby.

If you are interested in adopting this baby please contact Fr. Vander Woude IMMEDIATELY.
We are asking all to pray for this baby and the wisdom that this couple realize the importance of human life and do not abort this beautiful gift from God.

To contact Fr. VW call the office at Holy Trinity Parish (Gainesville, VA) after 9:30 or e-mail him immediately at
pastor@holytrinityparish.net. Please re-post.”

Well, that day, Father Vander Woude and the parish office at Holy Trinity received over 900 emails and hundreds of phone calls from all over the world, offering to adopt the baby. Three couples have been submitted to the adoption agency, and there seem to be plenty of backups if those fall through.

So much for those pro-life activists who don’t care what happens to babies after they’re born.

It’s an incredible story, which you can read more about at the Washington Times. God be praised!

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From all of us here at the IRD, to all of you out there, have a great weekend. See you in the pews!

Catholics, Evangelicals, Others Join Forces for Religious Liberty

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abortion, Catholic, Christianity, Contraception, HHS Mandate, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Kristin Rudolph, religious freedom

(Credit: Diocese of Scranton)

Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

Yesterday (July 2) a group of inter-religious leaders released a letter responding to the Obama Administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) final version of its contraceptive insurance coverage mandate. In a press conference at Washington D.C.’s National Press Club, four signatories gave statements explaining how the HHS contraceptive and abortifacient mandate violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom.

Dr. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Convention expressed frustration at Obama Administration’s response to religious liberty pleas, stating: “the government has given us word games and accounting tricks that amount to the same mandate, over and over again.”

“Our religious convictions inform the way we live,” Moore said. “We support freedom of conscience not only for ourselves, but for all,” he continued. Even those who do not profess religious belief “have an interest in the protection of these liberties … If the federal government can force organizations and businesses to pave over their own consciences … what will stop the government from imposing its will on your conscience next?”

Archbishop William Lori of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore pointed out the HHS mandate “divides our Church into three separate camp: houses of worship v. ‘accommodated’ religious institutions v. for-profit entities run by religious leaders.” He explained “the faith by which we worship on Sunday is the very same faith by which we act in the world the other six days of the week.” He noted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) “is still analyzing the specifics of the ‘accommodation’ … [but is] ‘very similar’ to its February 2013 proposal.”

Dr. Anne Hendershott, a self-described “pro-life Catholic” and sociologist at Franciscan University of Steubenville said she has “been happy to teach in schools where I would not be asked to contribute to causes that are contrary to what my Church teaches.” But now, the HHS mandate “will require me – as a faithful Catholic – to purchase insurance that my Church teaches is seriously immoral,” she explained.

“There are now over 60 total lawsuits against the mandate,” she said, and although lawsuits brought by religious non-profits like Franciscan University have been dismissed on grounds that they have not yet been injured by the mandate, Hendershott said “We have already been injured by this unjust mandate because our constitutional right to religious freedom has already been compromised … There is every indication that this will escalate.”

Dr. Yuri Mantilla, a professor of law at Liberty University School of Law emphasized the international recognition of religious freedom rights found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and promoted by the US around the world. “Violations of religious freedom in the United States and abroad are unacceptable. This is especially the case when they involve the protection of innocent human life … It is time to restore the great American tradition of respect for religious freedom as a fundamental civil right,” he stated.

“We think the issue here is the principle of conscience and free exercise of religion,” Moore stated in the Q&A time. He pointed out Americans already have broad freedom to use whatever contraception they choose, but it is an affront to religious liberty to expect those with moral objections to provide birth control, sterilization procedures, or abortifacients.

Archbishop Lori added that business and institutions have a particular “ethos” and prospective employees can turn down a job if they disagree with a potential employer’s view on contraceptives.

Moore said the next step is to “not back down,” continue petitioning the Obama Administration to reconsider, and “work with members of Congress toward a legislative solution.”

The letter’s signatories come from a wide variety of Christian denominations, including evangelical, mainline, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic traditions. IRD President Mark Tooley signed the letter and his account of the press conference can be found here.

The text of the letter is below.

Standing Together for Religious Freedom

We write as an informal and diverse group of religious leaders, theologians, lay practitioners and community servants. We believe the doctrines of our respective faiths require something of us beyond the walls of our churches, synagogues, temples, and other places of worship. Those faith convictions manifest themselves through our daily interactions among family, neighbors, strangers and institutions.

Further, we recognize the United States, at its best, is unique among the nations of the world when it defends the self-evident freedom of all people to exercise their faith according to the dictates of their consciences. This freedom contributes to the vibrancy of our nation. Unfortunately, this delicate liberty of conscience is under threat.

Through its contraceptive coverage mandate, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) continues to breach universal principles affirmed and protected by the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws. While the mandate is a specific offense, it represents a greater fundamental breach of conscience by the federal government. Very simply, HHS is forcing Citizen A, against his or her moral convictions, to purchase a product for Citizen B. The HHS policy is coercive and puts the administration in the position of defining–or casting aside–religious doctrine. This should trouble every American.

Many of the signatories on this letter do not hold doctrinal objections to the use of contraception. Yet we stand united in protest to this mandate, recognizing the encroachment on the conscience of our fellow citizens. Whether or not we agree with the particular conscientious objection is beside the point. HHS continues to deny many Americans the freedom to manifest their beliefs through practice and observance in their daily lives.

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Free exercise includes the freedom to order one’s life, liberties and pursuits in accordance with his or her convictions. HHS breaches the free exercise clause and federal statutes (passed with broad bipartisan support) by selectively denying some Americans this constitutionally protected right.

Americans afford each other broad liberties with respect to lifestyle choices. However, the federal government has neither a compelling interest nor the appropriate authority to coerce one citizen to fund or facilitate specific lifestyle choices of another. If the federal government can force morally opposed individuals to purchase contraception or abortion-causing drugs and devices for a third party, what prevents this or future administrations from forcing other Americans to betray their deeply held convictions?

Therefore, we call upon HHS to, at a minimum, expand conscience protections under the mandate to cover any organization or individual that has religious or moral objections to covering, providing or enabling access to the mandated drugs and services. Further, because HHS claims to be acting on authority granted it by Congress, we ask Congress to consider how it might prevent such offenses from occurring in the future. Any policy that falls short of affirming full religious freedom protection for all Americans is unacceptable.

Signatories and the original letter can be found here.

North Carolina United Methodist Conference Draws Attention to Gosnell Horrors

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abortion, Barton Gingerich, GBCS, General Board of Church and Society, Gosnell, Kermit Gosnell, Life, Matt O'Reilly, North Carolina Annual Conference, Pro-Life, UMC, United Methodist Church

(Photo Credit: Diocese of Camden Life and Justice Ministries)

by Barton Gingerich (@bjgingerich)

Many thanks to Matt O’Reilly for spotlighting the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (NCCUMC), which recently issued a resolution on the General Board of Church and Society’s belated coverage of the Kermit Gosnell hearings. The previous media blackout of event reached the status of scandal as journalists politely ignored the grisly trial, thus eliciting criticism from alternative pro-life outlets on blogs and social media. The GBCS seemed to wait for the public firestorm to die down during the initial outcry (and after a Twitter campaign by pro-life United Methodists). The national United Methodist lobbying arm offered up a rather anemic press statement condemning the extreme violations of Gosnell while sidestepping any pro-life affirmations.

Nevertheless, the North Carolinians thanked the GBCS for eventually addressing to the Gosnell trial (certainly outside the oldline activist norm). In its official statement, the annual conference resolved, “[T]hat the 2013 session of the North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church acknowledges, with moral revulsion, the horrific injustices that that emerged from the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell; and we pray that Dr. Gosnell would have a change of heart.” And the NCCUMC announced it would “write a letter to the General Board of Church and Society which: commends the General Board of Church and Society for its public statement on the Gosnell trial.”

As Matt notes in his post, the language remains somewhat problematic. Nevertheless, the resolution is to be commended, especially since the NCCUMC seemed to pass a slew of leftist resolutions–including a stridently pro-birth control statement. I for one am pleasantly surprised that an issue touching abortion passed through such a gathering. Maybe more annual conferences will gather up the courage to end the United Methodist silence on life issues and raise awareness on this moral crisis. Right now, church officials seem pleased to quietly drift along the social current.

Land Passes Baton to Moore in Final Address at Southern Baptist Convention

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abortion, comprehensive immigration reform, Dr. Russell Moore, ERLC, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Evangelical Immigration Table, Immigration, Immigration reform, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Jeff Walton, marriage, National Immigration Forum, Pornography, religious liberty, Richard Land, Russell Moore, Southern Baptist, Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists

Russell Moore (right), the new president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission explains that the ERLC will support principles, rather than specific legislation on immigration. President Emeritus Richard Land (left) led the commission for 25 years. (Photo credit: Illinois Baptist Briefing)

By Jeff Walton (@JeffreyHWalton)

In a spirited farewell, the outgoing head of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) called on Baptists to work towards revival and tackle a host of moral issues. Addressing officials at the annual gathering of the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston on Tuesday, Richard Land offered his final report as leader of the public policy office, fielded questions on immigration and watched as his successor, Russell Moore, set out his vision for the Southern Baptist public policy body.

“Unfortunately, we live in a target-rich environment when it comes to the moral issues we face as Christians,” Land warned. Listing sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage “as defined by God” and pornography as major concerns, Land saw a nation in peril from “self-inflicted wounds” more damaging than external enemies.

“I believe that the devil has figured out that the greatest weapon in his arsenal to destroy families and destroy lives in 21^st century America is hard core internet pornography,” Land diagnosed. “It is time that we quit playing like ostriches with our heads in the sand, that we understand and that we put on the whole armor of God to protect against the fiery darts of the evil one.”

Assessing America’s ills as “God-sized problems [that] can only be solved by God,” Land called for a “Christ-centered, life changing revival.” America’s future depends “not on what the lost people do, but what the saved people do,” according to Land, determining that “if we get right with God, lost people notice.”

The outgoing Southern Baptist official asserted the primacy of revival, the necessity of “getting right with God.”

“The salt of the law can change behaviors, but only the salt of the Gospel can change beliefs,” Land pronounced.

Calling upon Baptists to recommit themselves, Land declared: “We’re not going to be thermometers that reflect the temperature in society. We’re going to be thermostats that dictate the spiritual temperature in our society.”

Land and Moore fielded two questions from the floor between their addresses, both praising Land’s advocacy on a host of issues including abortion, marriage and religious liberty but also calling into question their advocacy on immigration reform, which went unmentioned in either official’s prepared address.

In the first question, Alabama Baptist State Convention President the Rev. John Killian noted reports on atheist billionaire George Soros’ funding the National Immigration Forum, of which the Evangelical Immigration Table is a project. Asked if the ERLC would participate in any political project “directly or indirectly funded” by Soros, Land did not directly address Soros’ funding and ERLC participation in the Evangelical Immigration Table. Instead, the outgoing Southern Baptist official responded that the ERLC was following instruction from a 2009 resolution “to pursue immigration policies that would find a pathway toward legal status for those who are here in an undocumented status with appropriate fines and penalties.”

“That is the kind of legislation we have been supporting and will continue to support because we believe that is what the majority of Southern Baptists want us to support,” Land explained, adding that such a policy “is not amnesty.”

Land described amnesty as “what Jimmy Carter gave the draft dodgers who went to Canada instead of serving in Vietnam” allowing them to return without penalty.

In the second question, South Carolina State Senator Lee Bright, who also serves on the ERLC, asked Moore if the ERLC was going to actively support “the 1,000 page immigration bill” under debate in the U.S. Senate.

“We are going to support principles, we are not going to support specific pieces of legislation,” Moore responded. “What we support is a just and compassionate approach to dealing with the millions of people in American society right now who are invisible, seeking a better future for their families. We also want to maintain the rule of law and the security of our borders.”

Interjecting, Land added that the present bill, if it is to pass, “will get a lot stronger on border security because it has to get through the House of Representatives.”

“They are being robbed, raped and brutalized,” Land said of the immigrants from whom he heard during his recent visit to New Orleans, where he reported immigrants would not go to the police to report crimes for fear of deportation.

“We need to give them an opportunity to come forward, pay a penalty, undergo a probationary period, learn English and if they want to stay here come under the protection of our laws,” Land summarized.

Moore praised his predecessor early in his own address, declaring that “no one stood more courageously toe to toe with the spirit of the abortion culture – the spirit of death — than Richard Land.”

A future generation may be asked if the Gospel applies to human clones, or if an artificially intelligent human cyborg could be baptized, or asked how we should deal with a Sunday School teacher who rents out her womb to an infertile family, Moore forecast.  Baptists, he predicted, may be asked “what does discipleship in action look like for the post-operative transsexual who comes to Christ and wonders ‘what does repentance look like for me?’”

Moore also predicted that future Christians may have to address questions that their forefathers did, but recent generations have not, such as “how to plant a church or preach the word when the government demands to see a license for a state-approved gospel.”

Moore promised the ERLC would push back against a world full of fallenness and injustice, where “too many children are disposed of as medical waste, languish in orphanages and foster care systems and live in the wreckage of a divorce culture robbing them of mother, father and home.” Moore also warned of lingering racism and identified challenges to religious liberty.

“We will stand with our chaplains – who show right honor to the authorities – but when they are told that they cannot pray in Jesus’ name, have the courage to stand up and say to Caesar ‘sir, I wasn’t talking to you, sir.’”

Charging that a government bureaucracy did not invent marriage and a government bureaucracy cannot reinvent marriage, Moore promised the ERLC would strive to model a healthy marriage culture.

Placing the ERLC mission in context, Moore observed that “our enemies are not persons of flesh and blood; our enemies are invisible principalities and powers in the air around us.”

“We follow a Christ who did not come into the world to condemn the word but so that through him the world might be saved,” Moore declared. “Even our harshest critic is a person whom we are seeking to see reconciled to God by the blood of Christ.”

“Satan is not afraid of culture warriors or values voters: Satan is afraid of a crucified Galilean who has a great deal of trouble staying dead for very long,” Moore determined, adding that Christians “have no reason to be fearful, sullen or mean. We are not the losers of history.”

“The worst thing that could possibly happen to us has already happened: we’re dead, we were crucified at the place of the skull under the wrath of God,” Moore declared. “The best thing that could possibly happen has happened: we are alive in Christ and our future is seated at the right hand of God and he’s feeling fine. Since Jesus is marching onward and since the gates of hell cannot hold him back, why would we be panicked or concerned about the Supreme Court?”

“Let’s target the right enemy and let us overcome,” Moore advised. “Not because we are a majority or a righteous remnant, but because we are blood covered sinners who know that if the Gospel can change us, it can change anyone.”

From the Brain of Bart: Yet Another Reason to Root for the Ravens?

Tags

abortion, Baltimore Ravens, football, marriage, Matt Birk, NFL, Planned Parenthood, President Barack Obama, Pro-Life, Roman Catholic

(Photo credit: Ben Liebenberg/NFL)

By Barton Gingerich (@bjgingerich)

The culture wars are heating up the gridiron. My beloved (and may I add reigning champion) Baltimore Ravens were all invited to visit President Barack Obama at the White House. One player declined: center Matt Birk. The reason for his boycott?  Birk informed KFAN-FM yesterday, “I would say that I have great respect for the office of the presidency, but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, ‘God bless Planned Parenthood.'” Birk continued, “Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year. I am Catholic, I am active in the pro-life movement and I just felt like I couldn’t deal with that. I couldn’t endorse that in any way…I’m very confused by (Obama’s) statement. For God to bless a place where they’re ending 330,000 lives a year? I just chose not to attend.”

The Super Bowl champion has six children. Birk has also defended marriage, urging against the Maryland ballot referendum on the Civil Marriage Protection Act which sadly garnered enough votes to redefine the institution for the state. A former Minnesota Viking, he authored an op-ed  in the Star Tribune last year to encourage the passage of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, which would have altered the state’s constitution to prohibit gay marriage. This measure was defeated in the fall election, and same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota last month.

All I can say to Mr. Birk is this: continue holding the line and being a sir. I now have two reasons to be a fan of yours.