| | Judge stops Idaho university from punishing Christian students for opposing gay marriage | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, July 5, and today’s headlines include a judge issuing a temporary block to an Idaho university’s policy that censored Christian students, the latest Gallup poll on whether U.S. citizens are proud to be American, and details on the arrest of a person of interest in the July 4 shooting at an Illinois parade that left at least six dead and two dozen injured. | | Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a University of Idaho policy that barred students from discussing their views on same-sex marriage. Students Peter Perlot, Mark Miller and Ryan Alexander attended an LGBT event on campus in the spring to represent a biblical perspective on marriage and sexual ethics. When a student asked the trio about their views, they offered their perspectives and gave the unnamed student a note expressing an interest in continuing the dialogue. The university instead gave the students "no-contact orders," barring them from further communication with the student they had dialogued with. | | In issuing the preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the university’s policies against the plaintiffs, Nye noted the university specifically targeted the plaintiffs over their religious views, particularly their opposition to same-sex marriage. "Defendants’ orders targeted the viewpoint of Plaintiffs’ speech. Both students and professors expressed opposing viewpoints to the views expressed by Plaintiffs without any type of intervention, let alone punishment … The disparity in Defendants’ approach is what bothers the Court most about this case and leans towards a finding that Defendants’ actions were designed to repress specific speech," Nye wrote, further elaborating that "the Court agrees Plaintiffs have a high likelihood of showing Defendants violated the First Amendment by issuing the no-contact orders based on the content and viewpoint of their speech." Read more. | | P.S. Looking for a way to close out your week? Stay in the know with In Case You Missed It, a Friday-only newsletter that features a roundup of the top stories of the week and a selection of faith-based highlights. Subscribe here. |
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| July 4 shooting in Illinois leaves at least 6 dead, police arrest person of interest | | Police in Illinois have arrested Robert "Bobby" E. Crimo III as a "person of interest" in a Fourth of July mass shooting at a parade in Highland Park that left at least six dead and two dozen injured. One of the victims transported by the fire department was a "critically injured" child. Fire Chief Joe Schrage said crews were quick to the scene to help victims, with injuries including gunshot wounds "that varied from [the] abdomen to limbs." Schrage also said bystanders "were quick to tie tourniquets and do bleeding control which definitely assisted the fire department on scene" and that some injured spectators drove themselves to nearby hospitals or were taken by other parade attendees. Read more. | | Proud to be an American? Gallup poll shows slump in patriotism | | A new poll from Gallup has revealed that just 38% of respondents say they are "extremely proud" to be an American," the lowest figure since the company began asking the question more than 20 years ago. The pollster suggests the figure may not be surprising given that the poll was conducted between June 1 and 20, at a time when "a pandemic-weary public [was] struggling with the highest U.S. inflation rate in more than four decades." The poll, which surveyed a random sample of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, still found that 65% of U.S. adults have pride in the nation, while just 4% say they are "not at all proud." Republicans significantly outpaced Democrats, with 58% showing American pride compared to just 26% of Democrats and 34% of Independents. Read more. | | Dozens of Nigerians rescued from basement after waiting months for Christ’s return | | At least 77 people, including 23 children, were rescued after staying in a church basement to wait for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Police in Nigeria say. Pastors of the Whole Bible Believer Church in Valentino Area of Ondo town in the south-western state of Ondo had encouraged church members "to stay behind" and wait for the rapture or to be taken to Heaven at the Second Coming of Christ, a spokeswoman of Ondo State Police told media. Some had been kept in the church since late 2021. Police were made aware of the incident after parents of some of the children filed nuisance complaints, with one woman saying the church had possibly kidnapped her daughter as she was not allowed to register for her exams. The church's pastor, David Anifowoshe, along with his deputy, were arrested, BBC reported. Read more. |
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| I couldn't reconcile a good God with my life's traumas | | Author Cristina Baker writes about being a homeless, addicted teenager who was always asked to leave by family members who tried to let her stay with them. After a couple from her brother’s church let her move in under the agreement she attend church every Sunday, Baker says her life slowly began to change. While she initially couldn’t understand how a "good" God could have allowed her to experience the pain she experienced, she ultimately realized, "God is at work all the time in all of us. It doesn’t matter if we believe in Him or not." Read more. | | Celebrating America, despite our divisions | | Providence Forum Executive Director Jerry Newcombe discusses backlash to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, noting it was a pro-democracy move that "restored the Constitutional principle that ‘we the people’ should be in charge of our own lives through our elected representatives." Despite attempts to reframe the founders of the U.S. as deists or skeptics, Newcombe points out that nearly half of those who signed the Declaration of Independence had the equivalency of seminary degrees, and the majority were Trinitarian Christians. While the U.S. is continually working toward "a more perfect union," Newcombe concludes, "We’re not there yet—but there is a reason that millions from around the world still clamor to come to America. And it has nothing to do with faux ‘constitutional rights’ that were imposed on our founding document by previous courts." Read more. |
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| Evans pins racial division on the Church, calls for members to bridge the divide | | During a morning session at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in June, Oak Cliff Bible Church Pastor Tony Evans said the racial divide in the U.S. "was the failure of the pulpit and the failure of the Church which has put us in this ignominious situation today." Asserting, "If God can’t get the Church right, the culture can never become right," Evans called on believers to step forward with a plan to combat racial tensions. During the convention, former SBC President Fred Luter announced an initiative called The Unify Project, which is aimed at building racial unity in tandem with local churches. Working alongside The Urban Alternative, a Christian Bible teaching and resource ministry founded by Evans and his late wife, Lois, the SBC hopes the new initiative will "start a grassroots movement … to cross barriers of race, different denominations and groups, to begin to meet with people who are like-minded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to offer a Kingdom solution for the divisions that exist in our land," said then-SBC President Ed Litton. Read more. |
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| Skillet's John Cooper talks calling out far-left ideology despite backlash | | In this interview with The Christian Post, Skillet frontman John Cooper talks about the importance of speaking out against liberal ideology and post-modernism and some of the disturbing trends and philosophies he's seen permeate both the Christian music industry and the Church. While Cooper says he initially thought core beliefs like the exclusivity of Christ and a biblical view of sexual ethics and morality would be agreed upon as fundamental Christian beliefs, around 2012 he began to realize there was a change in the Christian music world as his peers increasingly drifted into progressive theology in response to cultural issues, acting based on emotions and the desire for acceptance instead of leaning on Scripture. "I just didn't understand what was happening," he recalled. "I didn't recognize it. And I was like, What is going on?" Watch the interview here. | | | | | | | | Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We look forward to seeing you again tomorrow! -- CP Editors |
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