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.

5 facts about white-nationalist terrorism

This past weekend, the first of two mass shootings occurred when a man who feared a “Hispanic invasion of Texas” was replacing white Americans opened fire in a Walmart in El Paso, killing 22 and wounding dozens of others. This incident was the most recent example of the trend of domestic terrorism being carried out by white nationalists.

Here are five facts you should know about this ideologically motivated crime:

White-nationalist terrorism is a form of domestic terrorism that is carried out by those who espouse a white nationalist ideology. White nationalism is a political view that merges nationalism (i.e., devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation-state) with white identity (i.e., the belief that white people have interests in common based on race that must be defended). White nationalists are racial separatists who believe that to preserve the white race, other racial groups must be excluded or marginalized in “white states” (i.e., countries or regions that have historically had majority-white populations). White nationalists are frequently concerned about miscegenation and nonwhite immigration because it contributes to what they consider to be “white genocide” (i.e., the replacement of the “white race” by other racial groups). The terms white nationalist and “alt-right” are frequently used as synonyms—such as in the 2017 SBC resolution “On the Anti-Gospel of Alt-Right White Supremacy”—since they both espouse white identity.

This Week at the ERLC

The Nashville offices hosted a Leadership Lunch featuring an interview on adoption and the work of Show Hope with Emily Chapman Richards.
Jason Thacker is consulting with the Facebook Oversight Board this week in Menlo Park, California. Read more about the board here.
Dan Darling writes at Facts & Trends about 5 people most crucial to your leadership success.

What You Need to Know

Divorce is ubiquitous, and if you have children, it’s only a matter of time before they will encounter its effects. It’s important that you get ahead of the world’s teaching and explain to your children what the Bible teaches. Dane Hays, a counselor, has put together an article about how to approach this conversation. Read his thoughts here.

Having this conversation with your children is difficult, and that is not a surprise to God. It’s never easy to talk about sin and its effects on the world. We speak God’s Word about divorce to our children because we want to show that God has the final say on these matters. While we do so, may we also speak with the hope of the gospel to show that sin and brokenness do not have the final say.

The school year is just beginning, but it’s never too early to think about its end. Though it seems all-consuming, school is the start of a lifetime of education—one that is more than just getting good grades. Dan Darling writes about some of the lessons he’s learned since graduating that he wished he’d known before. Find out what they are here.

If you are a parent shepherding your children through school, a pastor preaching to youth, or a student navigating the various challenges of growing up, don’t underestimate the value of what the Lord will do through these impressionable years. Make the most of formal learning, but don’t just focus on studies and grades and accolades. Instead, concentrate on growing in Christ so that you can look back on these school days, amazed at how the Lord has directed your paths and displayed his faithfulness.

One of the most persecuted groups in the world are Christian women. Chelsea Patterson Sobolik writes about this startling fact in her latest article and gives us practical ways we can advocate for our sisters. Find out more here.

Religious persecution isn’t a thing of the past, ceasing when communism ended. Christians are heavily persecuted in many areas of the world. One in nine Christians will experience high levels of persecution, and gender-specific discrimination and persecution is rampant throughout the world. The United Nations estimates that approximately 200 million girls are missing from the world due to sex-selective abortions, abandonment, or intentional murder. In addition to the millions of females that are missing, women and girls are routinely abused and mistreated, physically and sexually.

News From Capitol Hill

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the messengers passed a resolution on the anti-gospel of alt-right white supremacy. Among decrying racism, the resolution also made clear our belief that the Kingdom of Christ is made up of a “multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language” in worship of our risen Savior (Rev. 7:9).

This past weekend, the U.S. was hit by more tragic mass shootings, first in El Paso, Texas, and then in Dayton, Ohio. The shooter in El Paso, through a manifesto posted online, claimed allegiance to the evil ideology of white supremacy as the motivation for his attack against what he believed to be “the hispanic invasion of Texas.”

David French of National Review joined Jeff Pickering and Travis Wussow on Capitol Conversations to discuss how this attack is connected with many others as this ideology of alt-right white supremacy is on the rise in the form of white nationalism and resulting in violence. A few years ago, David’s family faced a torrent of abuse from the alt-right and has sounded the alarm of this movement’s dangerous consequences.

If Christians are to combat this evil, we must see clearly how pervasive this ideology has become in political culture. Listen to the latest episode of the ERLC policy team’s podcast, Capitol Conversations: David French on the rise of alt-right white supremacist terrorism.

Featured Podcasts

On Signposts, Russell Moore is joined by author and advocate Kay Warren, who is the co-founder with her husband Rick of Saddleback Church in Irvine, California. She has been a tireless advocate for those living with mental illness, HIV & Aids, as well as orphans and vulnerable children. In this conversation, Moore and Warren talk about mental illness, loss, and the way that Warren processed the grief of losing her son, Matthew, to suicide. Listen to the conversation here.

How does a Christian approach end-of-life decisions with a human dignity focus that honors God? Katie Butler joins Dan Darling on The Way Home Podcast to talk about end of life care and her new book, Between Life and Death: A Gospel-Centered Guide to End-of-Life Medical Care. Katie is a trauma and critical care surgeon who recently left clinical practice to homeschool her children.

From The Public Square

Pro-Life Groups Renew Push for ‘Born Alive’ Bill
Rachel del Guidice, The Daily Signal

Beginning Monday, pro-life activists are renewing efforts to convince members of Congress, home for the August recess, to support a vote on legislation that would protect babies who survive abortions.

The Christian Case Against the Orphanage
Krish Kandiah, Christianity Today

Children need a stable family, not institutional care.

Child drowning rates decline from early 1980s
Phillip Resse, Kaiser Health News

The nation as a whole has experienced a similar, though less dramatic, decline, with drowning rates for children age 14 and younger now about one-third of what they were in the early 1980s.

Family in the Low-Trust Society
Aaron M. Renn, Institute for Family Studies

What happens when you can no longer trust that the government safety net or robust civil society will fully be there if you need it?