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The Weekly is a highlight of the work the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is doing to strengthen you and our churches for God’s glory.

Son of a sheriff’s deputy charged with burning of historic black churches

Over the span of ten days last month, three historic Baptist churches belonging to African American congregations were burned down in St. Landry Parish in Louisiana. All three of the churches—St. Mary’s Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church—had been in the area for more than a century. Authorities have charged Holden Matthews, the 21-year-old son of a sheriff's deputy, with committing the crimes.

During a bail hearing Louisiana Fire Marshal Butch Browning presented extensive evidence pointing to Matthews, including images on the suspect’s cell phone that showed all three churches burning before law enforcement arrived. There was also a video on Matthews’ phone showing a conversation with a friend before the fires in which he talked about using gasoline to burn churches.

State prosecutors added new charges declaring the arsons are a hate crime and that they were racially motivated. The Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal’s department has said they were investigating a possible connection between the blazes and Matthews love of the music genre known as black metal.

This Week at the ERLC

Last week, the world mourned the tragic fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral. Russell Moore shares why buildings and place should matter for Christians.

Why should Christians should get involved in government and the public square? How can we effectively engage politics? Chelsea Patterson Sobolik answers these important questions in her piece for Revive Our Hearts.

Dan Darling shares why the resurrection is good news for our bodies. Read his thoughts here.

What is artificial intelligence? What are the moral concerns about AI? Joe Carter answers some frequently asked questions about AI in his piece for The Gospel Coalition. Check it out here.

What You Need to Know

How does the gospel transform the way we see Judgment Day? Russell Moore reminds us that reflecting on Judgment Day can help us fight sin today. Read his new piece here.

When we are united to Christ, we are not to cringe before Judgment Day. This is because we have no case to make for our own innocence. God has already revealed our guilt, at the cross, and we have already agreed with his verdict, in our confession of sin and our ongoing repentance of it. Judgment Day happened for us, in a very real sense, already, at the Place of the Skull outside the gates of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

Does your family love good books? Are you looking for new books for your kids? Brittany Salmon reviews 4 new books to gift your child this spring.

​It can be difficult to wade through the many children’s books available, and I’m always disappointed when we spend money on books that are duds. So this spring I wanted to highlight four new books that have released within the year that have made their way to our children’s library and have received our family’s stamp of approval.

Defining others by their personality or interpreting their actions based upon a category ignores God’s work in others. If understanding personalities helps us sharpen our brother or sister, encourage them, or lovingly ask a question to better understand their motive, it’s good. If it leads us to accuse them, it’s not.

News From Capitol Hill

One highlight of the ERLC’s work in the 115th Congress was the passage of House Resolution (H.R.) 390 into law on December 11, 2018. H.R. 390 is the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018 sponsored by Reps. Chris Smith (R–N.J.) and Anna Eshoo (D–Ca.).

The world witnessed unspeakable violence against ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria during this devastating series of conflicts. Congress declared these tragedies as genocide in 2016 with the unanimous passage of H.Con.Res.75 in the House and S.Res.340 in the Senate. In March of that same year, then secretary of state John Kerry named the actions of ISIS what it is—a genocide, marking only the second genocide declaration by the executive branch in American history.

H.R. 390 came as a way of follow up on that genocide pronouncement. The ERLC supported this new law because perpetrators of genocide must be held accountable and the surviving victims desperately needed aid and humanitarian relief.

As the government implements this legislation, Travis Wussow welcomed two partners who played a significant role in passing this bill, David Trimble and Nathaniel Hurd, to the Leland House. David serves at the Religious Freedom Institute as director of the Center for Religious Freedom Education and Nathaniel is a senior policy advisor for the US Helsinki Commission. On this episode of Capitol Conversations, the group discussed the almost two year battle to provide emergency aid to persecuted minorities in Iraq and Syria. They also discuss how this bill is being implemented since its passage and what hope we have for the situation on the ground.

Featured Podcasts

This week on Countermoves, John Wilsey joins Andrew Walker to discuss a wide range of topics including American exceptionalism, inerrancy, and Baptist contributions to the American founding. Listen here.

What is the Equality Act? Why is this bill a major threat to religious liberty? Andrew Walker joins the DC Policy team to discuss background of this bill and the negative affects it would have. Check out their discussion here.

From The Public Square

Abortion rights group asks Supreme Court to strike Louisiana admitting privileges law
Devin Dwyer, ABC News

The justices in February voted to put the Louisiana law on hold.

Is Islam Receptive to Religious Freedom?
Paul Marshall, Christianity Today

The short-term outlook appears grim, says scholar Daniel Philpott, but there are grounds for hope.

Christian Adoption Agency Sues Michigan And HHS For Religious Discrimination
Madeline Osburn, The Federalist

Michigan foster families and St. Vincent Catholic Charities are suing the state of Michigan and Health and Human Services to allow the non-profit to continue its work placing the state’s foster children in forever homes.

Pentagon's transgender policy for military service to take effect, nearly two years after Trump tweeted about the ban
Elizabeth McLaughlin, ABC News

The policy requires service members to serve in their biological sex.