“The Constitution doesn't just protect freedom to worship in private—it protects the public exercise of religious belief, including where people worship together," Attorney General Sessions said. USDOJ
"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unveiled the annual report on international religious liberty on Tuesday, the first issued by the Trump administration." LA Times
California Bill AB-2943 is a remarkable piece of legislation, in that it legislates “questionable” science as fraud. AB-2943 affirms LGBT identity as natural: “(a) Contemporary science recognizes that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is part of the natural spectrum of human identity and is not a disease, disorder, or illness.”
The bill adds that an APA task force concluded “based on a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal literature on sexual orientation change efforts … can pose critical health risks” and that change, conversion, or repair therapies “are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable.”
Since the bill was brought forward, there has been controversy about whether or not AB-2943 bans the Bible, as assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate Travis Allen affirmed it would.
In light of the significance of this bill and the controversy it is generating, there are at least five concerns we should be considering:
"Navy officials are investigating complaints about the placement of a Bible in a public display about POW/MIAs at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, the service’s largest overseas medical facility." RNS
"The Rwandan government has been clamping down on religious leaders and churches. Over 700 churches and 100 mosques have been ordered to close. The government has arrested six pastors for 'illegal meetings with bad intentions.' This is in direct contradiction to Rwandan law that states that there can be no interference with the freedom of worship." WRNews
"The part of tax law that prohibits houses of worship from engaging in explicit political activity will remain intact for now, despite concerns that Republican lawmakers would try to repeal it in the latest massive federal spending bill they released this week." RNS
"California’s law faced its Supreme Court test. While one must always exercise caution in predicting case outcomes, the argument very effectively highlighted California’s extremism, and Justices Samuel Alito and Anothony Kennedy were the principal inquisitors." National Review
"A proposed law in California could outlaw helping people with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender-identity confusion. If passed, the bill, introduced last month by Assemblyman Evan Low, would be the most expansive ban on therapy related to sexual orientation and gender in the country." BPNews
