Weekly briefing: Amazon censors, foster care executive order, ruling favors NY religious gatherings |
| REUTERS/Abhishek N. ChinnappaEmployees of Amazon India are seen behind a glass bearing the company\'s logo inside its office in Bengaluru, India, August 14, 2015. |
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| We've compiled the top stories of the week. Here's what you need to know: |
| Amazon, YouTube censors group, content over LGBT stance |
| Christians and conservative groups continue to report cases of censorship by tech giants and, most recently, online retail giant Amazon. Regnery Publishing said Amazon won’t allow it to buy ad space to promote a new book critical of transgender ideology. The book is titled Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. |
| Amazon has also banned Family Research Council from its AmazonSmile program. FRC has been labeled by some as a “hate group” due to its biblical views on sexuality. |
| Meanwhile, YouTube censored a video where Walt Heyer spoke of his experiences and regret as a former transgender person and called it “a childhood developmental disorder that adults are perpetrating on our young people today.” It was labeled by YouTube as “hate speech.” |
| Read: Calif. bans travel to Idaho over laws banning boys in girls’ sports, sex on birth certificates |
| Trump signs executive order to strengthen foster care, faith-based partnerships |
| President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to strengthen the nation’s foster care system and calling on states and cities to work with faith-based and other charities. |
| The order comes as some states and localities have ended partnerships with Christian foster care agencies because they do not place children in the homes of same-sex couples. |
| “This guidance shall also make clear that faith-based organizations are eligible for partnerships under title IV-E of the Act, on an equal basis, consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution.” — Trump |
| There are more than 430,000 children in foster care nationwide. |
| Judge: NY can’t restrict religious gatherings more than it does secular businesses |
| A federal judge blocked New York officials from enforcing state restrictions on outdoor and indoor religious gatherings that are stricter than those imposed on comparable secular entities. |
| U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe issued a preliminary injunction Friday on behalf of two Catholic priests and three rabbis. |
| “The balance of hardships tips in plaintiffs’ favor. Indeed, in the absence of an injunction, plaintiffs’ religious activities will be burdened and continue to be treated less favorably than comparable secular activities.” — Sharpe |
| The ruling comes as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are imposing a two-week quarantine on anyone coming from states that are currently coronavirus hotspots. There has been a surge in coronavirus cases over the past week, particularly in the western and southern states. |
| Debates over confederate statues, slaveholders’ names |
| Statues of Confederate leaders and U.S. leaders, including George Washington, who held slaves have been torn down or vandalized by protesters in recent weeks following the killing of George Floyd. |
| Meanwhile, some black Southern Baptists have called for the removal of the names of former slaveholders from buildings at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship seminary of the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. |
| Read: Football players leave Liberty U. over ‘racial insensitivity’ |
| Interviews
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| Pastor AR Bernard speaks on racism, founding fathers, evangelicals and segregation |
| Glen Campbell's widow on God's faithfulness through singer's struggles with addiction, Alzheimer's |
| In case you missed it |
| Should Christian apologists be doing more to combat socialism? |
| Pray for |
| 15 Christians detained in Iran |
| Churches in Turkey attacked, blamed for pandemic |
| New releases |
| Albums: |
| My Tribute by Myron Butler (June 26) |
| Fear Not by Fearless BND (Jun 26) |
| Books: |
| Enter Wild: Exchange a Mild and Mundane Faith for Life with an Uncontainable God by Carlos Whittaker (June 16) |
| Mission 3:16: God’s One-Verse Invitation to Love the World by Paul Borthwick (June 9) |
