Explainer: What you should know about veterans
Yesterday was Veterans Day, the official holiday in the United States that honors people who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Because veterans represent less than 10% of the total U.S. adult population, an increasing number of Americans are unfamiliar with veterans and issues related to them.
A Message From Our Friends at Prison Fellowship
God calls us to seek justice. But how should Christians respond?
Outrageous Justice, a free small-group study from experts at Prison Fellowship, offers Christians a place to start. Explore the criminal justice system through a biblical lens and discover hands-on ways to pursue justice, hope, and restoration in your community.
Click the button below to get your free copy of Outrageous Justice, featuring a study guide, videos, and a companion book today!
This Week in Washington, D.C.
On Nov 9, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Ramirez v. Collier, an important case for the religious liberty of death-row inmates and their ability to receive spiritual counsel in their last moments on earth.
John Ramirez sued Texas prison officials in August for refusing to permit Dana Moore, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, to minister to him while he is executed. Ramirez requested that Moore be allowed to physically touch him and audibly pray in the execution chamber. The lower courts rejected his request to postpone his execution, but on September 8, just hours before the execution was scheduled to take place, the Supreme Court justices granted a stay and fast-tracked his appeal.
The ERLC filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to protect the religious freedom of Ramirez by allowing him to have a Southern Baptist pastor lay hands on and pray for him when he receives a lethal injection.
For Further Reading: Explainer: Religious liberty case for Texas inmate heard at the Supreme Court
A Message From Our Friends at The Good Book Company
The Adventure of Christmas
These simple 10-minute family devotions for Advent, with graphic-novel-style illustrations, explore the Gospel accounts of the first Christmas in an engaging way, and will help families keep Christ at the heart of their celebrations. An accompanying Advent Calendar is also available.
From The Public Square
Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Role of Chaplain in Execution Chamber
Religion Clause
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in Ramirez v. Collier. In the case, a convicted murderer is suing for permission to have his pastor lay hands on him as he receives a lethal injection. The 5th Circuit affirmed a Texas federal district court's refusal to grant a stay of execution, but the Supreme Court granted a stay and scheduled early oral arguments in the case.
After FBI spying, Muslim Americans ask Supreme Court to OK religious bias suit
ABC News
Three Muslim Americans subjected to FBI surveillance inside their places of worship will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow a religious discrimination lawsuit against the agency to move forward despite government concern about national security.
French Catholic Church offers own assets to compensate sex abuse victims
Politico
France’s Catholic Church agreed on Monday to financially compensate tens of thousands of sex abuse victims by selling its own assets or taking on loans. The move comes one month after a landmark inquiry found an estimated 216,000 children were sexually abused by members of the clergy between 1950 and 2020.
Supreme Court Rejects Catholic Hospital's Case Involving Transgender Patient
Yahoo News
The Supreme Court is declining to wade into a case involving transgender rights and leaving in place a lower court decision against a Catholic hospital that wouldn’t allow a transgender man to have a hysterectomy there.
What You Need to Read
Jill Waggoner with 5 reflections about my pro-life, whole-life convictions
The 2021 funeral for Capt. Edward Glenn Walker has become one of the defining moments of my life for many reasons. As I looked around the room that day, I considered so many things — my family, my community, my country — and experienced an immense amount of gratitude. Yet, I knew there were even greater truths about eternal things revealed, rooted in an eternal God, that were just as present as well: the dignity of all people, the honor of self-giving and the power of love that transcends time.
Jason Thacker with 3 words that will shape digital culture for good and cultivate virtue in the public square
One of the most countercultural things we can do in the midst of information overload — especially with the constant allure of projecting ourselves as omnicompetent online — is to simply say “I don’t know”. While it may sound trite and doesn’t entail that we cower from speaking truth, it reminds us that we are indeed finite and limited in what we actually know. We simply aren’t designed — nor do we need — to have an opinion or draw an immediate conclusion about the onslaught of information we face each day.
Eliza Huie with How should I respond if my child sees pornography?
When your child sees pornography, instead of considering the situation a crisis, see it is an opportunity to shepherd your child. It may be an opportunity you wish you could avoid and never had, but, like many moments in parenting, this situation can lead you to deeper dependence on the Lord for wisdom, discernment, and grace. As a parent, you can use this as a teaching opportunity, a gospel opportunity, and an opportunity for change.
This Week at the ERLC
- Brent Leatherwood sent a letter to President Biden encouraging him to include the input of evangelical Christians and other faith leaders in the federal government’s work on the use of artificial intelligence and other issues in technology ethics.
- Chelsea Patterson Sobolik talked to Baptist Press about the ERLC's work to extend protections against predatory loans to all Americans.
- Jason Thacker is editing a new volume on Christian ethics in a digital age entitled “The Digital Public Square” with B&H Academic Books due out November 2022.
Featured Podcast
On the Digital Public Square podcast, Jason Thacker talks to Dr. Ray Ortlund, a longtime pastor and the author of The Death of Porn: Men of Integrity Building a World of Nobility about a gospel vision for combating pornography in community.
