U.S. State Department takes action against violators of religious freedom

More than two decades ago, the United States made a significant commitment to promoting religious freedom as a foreign policy objective with the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA Act). Designed to “strengthen United States advocacy on behalf of, individuals persecuted in foreign countries on account of religion,” the law authorized “actions in response to violations of religious freedom in foreign countries.”

The act also requires that the Secretary of State identify “countries of particular concern,” a designation reserved for nation’s guilty of particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The classification is used for countries that have committed “particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” including violations such as:

a) Torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;
b) Prolonged detention without charges;
c) Causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of those persons; or
d) Other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons. Nations so designated are subject to further actions, including economic sanctions, by the United States.

On Monday, the State Department released this year’s list of offenders. The countries of particular concern are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Nigeria was the only new addition for 2020.

This Week at the ERLC

The ERLC launched a new ebook titled A Parent’s Guide to Teaching Your Children About Gender by Jared Kennedy.

Russell Moore, Julie Masson, and Brent Leatherwood partnered with Prison Fellowship for a virtual pastors roundtable on Tuesday.

Jason Thacker was on The Local Youthworker Podcast discussing teens and technology. He was also quoted in Christianity Today about the ethical implications of gene editing.

You can now listen to the audio from the Associated Press and Religion News Service event about the future of the faith community which Russell Moore was a part.

What You Need to Read

Our kids need for us to celebrate these truths, and they need us to celebrate them. They need for us to celebrate the people God has created them to be as gendered persons. Celebrating our kids will give them confidence in God’s design. Like Buzz Lightyear, our kids need confidence both in how God has made them as well as how he has called them to live—all in line with their given gender.

Part of what I love so much about Advent is that it doesn’t carry the same expectations that Christmas sometimes does. There is no pressure to be cheerful, no need to get everything (or anything) just right. Advent is about waiting. It is about struggling with weighty thoughts and sitting with the reality that things aren’t as they were meant to be. It’s about accepting all over again that we need saving.

In my own view, personhood is not a set of functional capacities, but an ontological status. Every entity who is made in the image of God is a person. All Homo sapiens are made in the image of God. Therefore, all Homo sapiens are persons, regardless of other conditions.

News From Capitol Hill

As President Trump's term and the 116th Congress comes to an end, the ERLC is advocating for a variety of policies now as we also look ahead to President-elect Biden’s inauguration and the sitting of the 117th Congress in 2021.

During this Lame Duck session of Congress, the ERLC is advocating for critical policies like protecting the Hyde Amendment in the appropriations negotiations, as well as COVID-19 relief measures the charitable sector desperately needs. Looking ahead at the incoming Biden Administration, there are areas where the ERLC hopes to work together in an effort to seek national healing from the pandemic with just and unifying policies which respect religious liberty rights and First Amendment protections. Then there are also areas of policy where the ERLC expects to be steadfast in opposition, based on our biblical convictions, to some of the Biden Administration’s efforts.

Interestingly, the fate of the Senate remains unclear pending the Georgia Senate runoffs. Thus, the ERLC policy team is waiting to release it’s annual legislative agenda until mid-January after the Georgia election results and the balance of power on Capitol Hill is known.

While the planning for policy advocacy is important to our work, Travis Wussow, who leads the ERLC’s policy work, reiterated on this week’s Capitol Conversations podcast, what matters most:

"While policies and power hinge on the outcomes of elections, the ERLC’s mission to advance the issues that Southern Baptists care about here in D.C. remains steadfast."

Featured Podcasts

On the WeeklyTech podcast, Michael Sacasas, associate director for Educational Programming at the Christian Study Center of Gainesville, joins Jason Thacker to talk about the philosophy of technology and some of the most influential thinkers and writers in this area from the past.

On the Capitol Conversations podcast, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik and Travis Wussow join Jeff Pickering for a conversation about the ERLC’s priorities for the Lame Duck Congress and the Biden Administration. Then, China expert Michael Sobolik joins to discuss the Chinese Communist Party politics, the history of the U.S. China relationship, and what it means for human rights advocacy today.

From The Public Square

House Resolution Calls For International Repeal of Blasphemy, Heresy and Apostasy Law
Howard Friedman, Religion Clause

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday, by a vote of 386-3 passed House Resolution 512 (full text) calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy and apostasy laws.

Supreme Court rejects appeal to limit transgender students
Associated Press

The Supreme Court has declined to take up an appeal from parents in Oregon who want to prevent transgender students from using locker rooms and bathrooms of the gender with which they identify, rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Court Upholds Tennessee Measure Prohibiting Abortions Based on Sex, Race, or Down-Syndrome Diagnosis
Alexandra Desanctis, National Review

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that Tennessee may begin to enforce one component of a broader pro-life law that had been delayed by legal challenges and a federal judge’s temporary injunction.

Millions of hungry Americans turn to food banks for 1st time
Sarah Cohen, Associated Press

As a year marked by coronavirus nears an end, millions of Americans are depending on food banks to stave off hunger.