Pope Francis is condemning the “unacceptable” drifts towards euthanasia, characterizing efforts to deprive the terminally ill of the necessities of life as “neither human nor Christian.” In addressing the issue before a general audience Wednesday, he expressed support for "palliative care" that enables "every person who is preparing to live the last stretch of their life" to "do so in the most human way possible," but insisted that "we must be careful not to confuse this help with unacceptable drifts towards killing."

St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Athens in Tennessee hosted a community conversation about the recent decision of a local school board to remove the graphic novel Maus from its school curriculum in addition to discussing the lessons that the book and the Holocaust can teach Christians. The Athens-based McMinn County School Board voted unanimously in January to remove Maus from its middle school curriculum due to concerns over graphic adult content in the book, specifically "eight curse words" and a picture of a naked woman committing suicide by cutting herself with a razor blade. The book's removal garnered national outrage, leading many to buy the book as a form of protest and putting the graphic novel on the best-seller charts. The National Review's Kyle Smith recently wrote a column in which he was critical of the coverage the Maus removal story got, writing, "The book was not banned. Students in McMinn County are free to buy and read the book. It remains available in local public libraries.”

In January, Johns Hopkins published an extensive study about the destructive results of COVID-19 lockdowns, with the meta-analysis concluding that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects but have had negative repercussions economically and socially. The findings led the researchers to declare, "In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument." However, the report has received little acknowledgment by the media, writes Bill Connor, who asserts the media's iron fist defense of lockdowns while "slamming lockdown critics" has resulted in the industry censoring the report. Connor calls journalists out for this behavior, saying, "The Progressive Left, including allies in the media, cannot be allowed to continue their monopoly on what constitutes 'science' and suppress everyone else. Science comes from continually questioning and demanding proof. That didn’t happen with lockdowns, and hundreds of millions suffered."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a rule that would add sexual orientation and gender identity language to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, thereby ensuring that those who identify as LGBT receive "medically necessary" care, including "gender-affirming" surgeries and hormone "therapy." In this op-ed, Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., breaks down sex, gender, and the law, declaring, "[T]he department’s proposed rule circumvents the law and treats dubious treatments as essential health benefits in qualified health plans. This not only contradicts the best science and medicine, it’s a disaster for insurers, for medical providers, and, most of all, for those struggling with gender dysphoria."

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In this interview with The Christian Post, Lee Grady, author and leader of The Mordecai Project, discusses the challenges of discipleship facing the church today and how churches can better foster the spiritual health of their congregants. In addressing the decline of church membership in the U.S., Grady says, "I think that the overarching reason why we’re losing ground is that we didn’t pass the baton and we didn’t know how ... [I]f leaders don’t feel comfortable sitting down and having coffee with someone, or having a small group in their house, or meeting young people at a Starbucks, if there’s not that comfort level for that, then there’s going to be a huge breakdown." Keep reading.

Arkansas U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks has dismissed the 2017 lawsuit filed by Duggar sisters—Jill, Jessa, Jinger and Joy-Anna—stating that the reality TV stars failed to prove that police acted with bad intentions by leaking a report that allowed the sisters to be identified by media as having been molested by their older brother, Josh Duggar. The judge concluded that the Springdale Police Department didn’t intentionally look to cause the Duggar sisters emotional distress by sharing the report after the information was requested by a Freedom of Information Act request filed by In Touch Magazine. In December, Josh Duggar was found guilty by a federal jury in Arkansas of receiving and possessing child pornography and could face up to 20 years in prison.

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