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.

Explainer: What you should know about China’s internment camps

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China claims Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities in internment camps are there because they had been “infected” by the “virus” of Islamic radicalism and must be quarantined and cured. That’s one of the findings in a series of leaked papers recently obtained by The New York Times.

The documents reveal how the Communist Party organized mass detentions of Muslims, and how the “re-education” process was communicated to the public. For example, officials in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China, were directed to tell people who complained to stay quiet and be grateful for the Communist Party’s help.

The documents also provide instructions about how authorities should respond to students whose family members are in the internment camps. When students ask of their detained relatives, “Did they commit a crime?,” government officials are to respond that they had not, but rather, “It is just that their thinking has been infected by unhealthy thoughts” and that “Freedom is only possible when this ‘virus’ in their thinking is eradicated and they are in good health.”

China did not deny the authenticity of the documents but accused the New York Times of trying to discredit the country’s counterterrorism tactics.

This Week at the ERLC

• Russell Moore spoke with Christians at Veritas Church in Iowa City about the twin values of civility and courage. He also participated in a Q&A session moderated by Jeff Dodge, a member of the pastoral team at Veritas Church and a member of the ERLC Leadership Council. This event was part of the ERLC's Faith and Healthy Democracy project that seeks to help Christians better understand our chaotic public square and engage our current cultural moment.

• Russell Moore was also on the Love Thy Neighborhood podcast talking about Dr. John Perkins and on the Managing Leadership Anxiety podcast.

• The ERLC hosted a live recording of The World and Everything In It from WORLD Radio. Dan Darling and Trillia Newbell appeared as guests on the show.

• Dan Darling and Josh Wester spoke to Green Hill Church about issues surrounding gender identity and sexuality. 

• Dan Darling did several interviews for his book, The Characters of Christmas, including The Gospel Centered Family and Exposit the Word. He also wrote an article on work for Made to Flourish.

• Travis Wussow is in Hong Kong meeting with local leaders, pastors, and government officials, and filming interviews for an ERLC project.

What You Need to Know

• Can you imagine living in a country where the government shut down the internet to control its people? That’s exactly what happened in Iran recently. Jason Thacker explains the situation here. 

Iranian leadership is reminding their people that their basic rights of speech, autonomy, and personhood are subservient to the needs of the government. The freedom of speech and conscience are basic to our democratic order. Our system of government in the U.S. recognizes the God-given rights of the individual and the basic liberties we enjoy. In 2016, the United Nations declared internet shutdowns and government censorship as violations of basic human rights.

• Cameron Presson’s life and perspective changed after serving at a homeless ministry. Drawing from his experience and the lessons he learned from the men and women he encountered, he has written about five principles to keep in mind when ministering to the homeless. Find more information here.

What most men in the shelter needed from me wasn’t solutions. It wasn’t advice. What they needed and craved was someone to look them in the eyes and ask them their story. They needed a friend. As Harper Lee writes in To Kill a Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point-of-view . . . until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” We Christians have a lot of walking to do.

• Shaoey Chapman, daugher of Steven Curtis and Mary Beth, had an idea for a student initiative after a trip to Haiti that was unhindered by social media. The Pause Campaign challenges her peers to put down their phones and live on purpose. Catherine Parks writes about the initiative here.

This hope, born out of adversity, has led Chapman to take an active role in the organization that bears her name (Show Hope was originally “Shaohannah’s Hope”). As she watches her peers be challenged and changed through the Pause Campaign, it represents more than just an idea; it’s a testament to the work of grace and hope in her own life. And she looks forward to seeing it continue in the future.

News From Capitol Hill

The ERLC’s vice president of public policy, Travis Wussow, traveled from Washington, D.C., to Hong Kong this week. He was there in a particularly tumultuous time of increased police crackdown. Travis and ERLC filmmaker Scott Wade met with local leaders, pastors, and government officials, and were filming interviews for a project the ERLC is working on.

The pro-democracy protests remind the world of the dignity of freedom and the dangers of authoritarianism. As the ERLC published in an explainer in August, for many months, hundreds of thousands of protestors in Hong Kong have been demonstrating in opposition to legislation by China’s communist government that would allow citizens of the semi-autonomous region to be extradited to mainland China. Human rights activists—including many Christians—worry that dissenters and critics of the Chinese regime could be extradited to a location where they might be subjected to abuse and torture.

Although the extradition bill has been fully withdrawn, Hongkongers worry that it could be resurrected, and the bill itself has raised worrying questions about the future of the relationship between Hong Kong and the government in Beijing. Activists are now also calling for democratic reforms to ensure that Hongkongers have the right to elect their chief executive and legislative council, a right they do not currently enjoy.

In support of the Hongkongers stand for freedom, the U.S. House and Senate both nearly unanimously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The ERLC policy team was pleased to see these bills pass as the legislation would block American exports of certain crowd control items to the Hong Kong police force and also allows for sanctions on those found responsible for human rights abuses in the region. The bill now goes to the White House for signature.

For a special episode of Capitol Conversations, Wussow joined Jeff Pickering by phone from his Airbnb over Kowloon Bay to talk about the week and how Christians ought to think about these events. Listen here.

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From The Public Square

Half of Pastors Say the Opioid Epidemic Has Hit Their Church
Aaron Earls, Christianity Today

The demands of addiction can go beyond typical spiritual and physical help offered by congregations.

Undercover Pro-Life Activists Are Punished for Exposing Planned Parenthood
Alexandra DeSanctis, National Review

A jury in San Francisco district court has found pro-life activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud, breach of contract, and trespass and violation of state and federal recording laws.

Content in Canadian sex-ed videos called 'deception'
Tess Schoonhoven, Baptist Press

Sex education videos in Canada targeted to children ages 9-12 include details on transgenderism, masturbation and sexuality, according to a Nov. 15 CBN report.

What Families Should Know About Video Game Addiction
Sarah M. Coyne, Institute for Family Studies

There are nine main criteria that families should consider when deciding whether a child or spouse has a true problem with video games.