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Archives For November 30, 1999

The Briefing: Saeed Abedini’s wife offers thanks, LGBT activists target Baptist schools

Lisa Misner —  January 19, 2016

The Briefing‘Saeed Is Free:’ wife offers thanks
Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of released Pastor Saeed Abedini, has thanked President Barack Obama, the Rev. Franklin Graham, the various groups that campaigned for her husband’s release, and the millions of people around the world who signed petitions for the cause. “I wanted to say thank you to all of you for having prayed and have wept with us, have signed petitions and have called your government officials. Thank you for having stood with our family during this difficult journey,” Abedini wrote on Facebook.

LGBT activist group targets Baptist schools
The homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign has targeted 23 institutions of higher learning with Southern Baptist ties in a report that also names 35 other colleges and universities with distinct Christian identities. The report, “Hidden Discrimination: Title IX Religious Exemptions Putting LGBT Students at Risk,” asks education officials to increase reporting requirements for these 58 schools because each was granted “exemptions of interest” relating to either “gender identity” or “sexual orientation” or both.

SBC entities: Mandate violates religious liberty
The Obama administration’s abortion/contraception mandate forces Christians to violate either their religious beliefs or the government’s rules, Southern Baptist entities have told the U.S. Supreme Court. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Jan. 11, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the International Mission Board (IMB) and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary — as well as Southern’s president, R. Albert Mohler Jr. — urged the high court to rule the controversial, federal regulation infringes religious freedom.

Boy and girl locker rooms going extinct on U.S. coasts
At the end of 2015, two human rights commissions over 2,800 miles apart enacted new rules that could be precedent-setting for the gender battle across the nation, including giving people the right to use whichever locker rooms and bathrooms they choose. Now, concerns abound in Washington State and New York City over bathroom safety and privacy in wake of the transgender policies enacted last month by unelected officials.

Catholic hospital can’t be forced to do sterilizations
A California judge declined Thursday to force a Catholic hospital to facilitate a sterilization procedure for a woman who’s having a scheduled C-section at the facility later this month. “Religious-based hospitals have an enshrined place in American history and its communities, and the religious beliefs reflected in their operation are not to be interfered with by courts at this moment in history,” Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith said.

Sources: Baptist Press, Christian Post, World Magazine

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Religious liberty: Christians feel rights endangered

Lisa Misner —  December 31, 2015
Editor’s note: After an often tearful year, the Christian’s counterattack is hope.  The enemy may use the events of last year to strike chords of fear, but in reporting them, we offer notes of hope for 2016. God is in control of this world, and whatever happens, this history being made before our eyes will turn people toward him. He is our hope.
This is our certainty as we anticipate the new year, our hope.

Torch-squareBy Lisa Sergent | When did we become the enemy?

In just a handful of years, we have come to understand what it means to be in the minority and to have our rights challenged. The Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states may serve as the line in the sand. Crossing that line happened quickly—not that Christians have moved, but the culture moved sharply to the left, putting followers of Christ on the defensive. Over half of all Americans approved of same-sex marriage, and the divide is even greater among younger people.

And so it was that in 2015 religious liberty really became an issue. Same-sex marriage may have been the flashpoint, but now the First Amendment rights of believers, pastors, and churches are on everyone’s minds. As never before, churches are asking legal, constitutional questions: Are we still protected? If so, how long will it last?

The growing divide between Christians and majority public opinion has led to increased concerns about religious freedom. In 2012, Barna Research found 33% of Americans believed “religious freedom in the U.S. has grown worse in the past 10 years.” In just three years that number grew to 41%. Among evangelicals that number is 77%, up from 60% in 2012.

Complicated response: A 17th-century Baptist stance that the government should stay out of all religious issues is a more tenable position in the 21st century than the “God and country” approach of the Moral Majority years, when evangelicals’ morals were in the majority. Today, Baptist leaders are having to advocate from a different posture.

When Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis was arrested in September for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, not all Christians agreed with her refusal based on her faith.

Fellow Kentuckian Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, framed the larger issue: “What this story reveals beyond the headlines is that the moral revolution on marriage and human sexuality will leave nothing as it was before… A legion of Christians struggle to be faithful in their own situations, responsibilities, and callings, and our churches will struggle to find a new relationship with an increasingly hostile government and society.”

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Through biblical lenses: How do we balance compassion and security?

Lisa Misner —  December 17, 2015
refugees
Each day thousands of refugees and migrants who arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after fleeing war and persecution in their home countries line up to take ferries to Athens. Photo by Jedediah Smith/IMB

By Staff

Evangelicals are “all over the place” in their reaction to the Syrian refugee crisis, in one assessment, a situation complicated many times over by the terrorist attacks that left 129 dead in Paris in November and now the killings of 14 by an Islamic couple in San Bernardino, California. First characterized as a workplace shooting, that attack that was soon revealed as motivated by religious extremism.

The call to aid refugees came as early as September as 1.5 million Syrians fled Islamic terrorist forces in their homeland, spilling into Turkey, sailing to Greece, and beginning an unprecedented migration across Europe. But the response from Americans, tepid from the beginning, chilled further as the shooting began.

“There’s a lot of confusion among Christians on the right response to Syrian refugees,” Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas told Baptist Press, “because many people do not understand that while we as Christians have one responsibility individually, the government has another responsibility.”

Individuals must “show compassion for these refugees,” Jeffress said, but “the government has another responsibility… to secure our borders.”

“Well, before we’re Americans we’re Christians,” Russell Moore contended in an interview with NPR. The head of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission advocate assisting Syrian refugees, citing Jesus’ teaching about the Good Samaritan.

“We have to be informed by a certain moral sense, which means we need to speak up for moral principle and for gospel principle regardless of who that offends,” Moore said. “We have to be the people who stand up and say ‘Look, vigilance is good, and prudence is good. But a kind of irrational fear that leads itself to demagogic rhetoric is something that we have to say no (to)—no, we’re not going to go there.”

Relatively few Syrian refugees have been admitted into the U.S. so far: 1,500 by one count, 2,100 by another. At present, governors of 32 states have refused resettlement of Syrians within their borders, despite what Time magazine calls an intensive vetting process which has been increased for Syrian refugees. (Illinois’ Bruce Rauner was the eighth governor to refuse to settle refugees.)

“The screening of refugees is a crucial aspect of national security, and we should insist on it,” Moore told BP. “At the same time, evangelicals should be the ones calling the rest of the world to remember human dignity and the image of God, especially for those fleeing murderous Islamic radical jihadis.”

Indeed, Christianity Today, which positions itself as a magazine of evangelical thought, has urged Christians to embrace the “unparalleled opportunity to love neighbors here and abroad, and to showcase the beauty of the gospel that proclaims good news to the poor, liberty for those stuck in refugee camps, and a new life for those fleeing from oppression.”

It should be noted that the editorial was published prior to the mass shooting in Paris, and since then, polls show evangelicals split on aiding refugees. “We want to protect ourselves from those who might hurt us,” the president of World Vision Richard Stearns wrote. “Jesus asks us to love our neighbors—regardless if there might be enemies among them.”

Not everyone agrees. “Christian charity means loving the safety of the neighbor next door at least as much as loving the safe passage of the neighbor far away,” wrote Michigan pastor Kevin DeYoung in a widely read blog post. DeYoung, whose church (University Reformed in Lansing) has extensive outreach to immigrants, says he doesn’t know what to do about our “broken immigration system.” But “the issues are of such a complexity that they cannot be solved by good intentions and broad appeals to Christian charity.”

WMU offers aid

Meanwhile, the Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation is working with an Arab ministry to help Syrian refugees living in Jordan. Currently, there are 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, but only a small percentage resides in official refugee camps. Those who live outside of the camps are not eligible to receive food or other assistance from the Jordanian government.

“Because of the increase in the number of refugees from Syria, we are seeing many families who are not being taken care of and have nowhere to turn,” says Ruba Abbassi of Arab Woman Today (AWT). “They need food, blankets and basic necessities.” The WMU Foundation has a long history of working with AWT.

The WMU Foundation is asking people to provide a blanket for $25, a heater for $50, or a month’s worth of food for a family for $100. Gifts can be directed to the WMU Foundation’s AWT Fund, 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242. Or visit wmufoundation.com.

– IB staff report, with reporting from Baptist Press, transcripts from NPR.org, ChristianityToday.com, and thegospelcoalition.org

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The Briefing: LifeWay list of top 500 SBC churches shows denomination becoming more urban

Lisa Misner —  November 10, 2015

Lifeway: SBC becoming more urban
LifeWay’s new list of the top 500 Southern Baptist churches shows the denomination is becoming more urban because the American population is becoming more urban. Among other findings the South—and particularly Texas—is the epicenter of SBC megachurches; and of the 20 largest SBC churches, 20% are predominantly non-anglo. Learn more findings.

Feds give Chicago school 30 days to let boy use girls’ locker room
A transgender female student has complained District 211 high school in Palatine has “set her apart from her female classmates and teammates.” The district however has “noted two concerns it had in giving full locker room access to the student: First, a biological male would have opportunity to see girls changing clothes, and second, girls might see the student’s ‘biologically male body.’ OCR said those concerns were ‘unavailing in this case,’ and called them a pretext.”

German Protestant church rejects the Great Commission
The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland says the passage in the Gospel of Matthew known as the Great Commission does not mean Christians must try to convert others to their faith. Their position paper states, “A strategic mission to Islam or meeting Muslims to convert them threatens social peace and contradicts the spirit and mandate of Jesus Christ and is therefore to be firmly rejected.”

Religious liberty key to refugee crisis, leaders say
Religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities are essential to resolving the escalating refugee crisis in Syria and other countries, human rights advocates say. The repressive role of a religious group against other religious adherents can be seen not only in Syria but in Burma, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Nigeria and Pakistan.

High court to hear GuideStone abortion mandate appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court (Nov. 6) agreed to hear appeals by several ministries, including GuideStone Financial Resources, to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate that would require certain ministries served by GuideStone to provide potentially abortion-causing drugs and devices or face crippling penalties.

Sources: Baptist Press, Religion News Services, ThomRainer.com

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The Briefing: Houston votes on ‘bathroom ordinance’

Lisa Misner —  November 3, 2015

The BriefingHouston votes on ‘the bathroom ordinance’

Today (Nov. 3), voters in Houston, TX go to the polls to cast their ballots for or against Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) —a proposed sexual orientation, gender identity, nondiscrimination law that includes regulations for the use of restrooms and locker rooms in the city limits.

The real reason China is ditching its ‘one-child policy’

After 35 years, China has announced that it will abandon its “one-child policy,” but not because the Chinese leadership has become prolife. According to the Washington Post, “The decision appears to have been driven by concerns that the country’s low fertility rate would create a crisis that eventually could threaten the legitimacy of Communist Party rule.”

University of California seeks to ban free speech

A new campus policy has been proposed at the University of California that seeks to limit freedom of speech so that students and faculty have the “right” to study or work “free from acts and expressions of intolerance.”

Baptist care for Syrian refugees

Southern Baptists have poured nearly $3 million dollars through BGR into relief efforts for Syrian refugees. These resources have helped fund projects in several countries and have been used for things like distributions of food, blankets, clothing and more.

KY Baptist university rekindles gender role debate

Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky., hosted the inaugural Christians for Biblical Equality lectures, named for an organization that advocates equal authority and leadership roles for men and women in families and churches.

Sources: BPnews.net, Christian Post, ERLC.com, Washington Post

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The Briefing: Southern Baptist pastor’s granddaughter shot in Ore. campus attack

Lisa Misner —  October 6, 2015

The BriefingA 26-year-old man who killed nine and injured perhaps nine others at an Oregon community college reportedly targeted Christians in the attack, said a Southern Baptist pastor whose granddaughter was shot and survived.

“The shooter asked a question, ‘Are you a Christian?’ And if they said yes, he said, ‘Good, because you’re going to see God in a second,’ and he shot them. My granddaughter hid and got a bullet through the leg,” Howard A. Johnson, founding pastor of Bethany Bible Fellowship (SBC) in Roseburg, told Baptist Press. “That’s pretty traumatic.” Read the entire story at BPnews.net.

ERLC goes to the dogs, cats, hamsters, birds…

The Ethic and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC and the Clapham Group, released the Evangelical Statement on Responsible Care for Animals Sept. 30. “Our treatment of animals is a spiritual issue,” said ERLC President Russell Moore. “The Bible is clear that our being created in the image of God does not lessen our responsibility to steward the physical world well, but heightens it. This statement is a reminder that the gospel transforms our use and care of animals as we see all of God’s glory reflected in his good creation.” Read the statement at EveryLivingThing.com.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief heading to South Carolina

The North American Mission Board mobilized two semi-trucks with supplies for South Carolina flood victims Oct. 5. NAMB will also deploy two recovery trailers as soon as roads in the areas are open. Like so many other facilities, the South Carolina Baptist Convention office building is nearly cut off at this time with flooded roads. Pray for the people of South Carolina and the disaster relief volunteers who will be sent to minister to them.

CP surpasses budget projection for fiscal year

The Southern Baptist Convention ended its fiscal year $1.1 million over its 2014–2015 budgeted goal and $2.5 million over the previous year’s Cooperative Program allocation budget gifts, according to Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.

Barna: Concerns over religious freedom have increased since 2012

A new study from the Barna Group reveals a significant rise in Americans’ belief that religious freedom is worse today than 10 years ago (up from 33% in 2012 to 41% today). The increase is the most marked by marked among Gen-Xers (29% to 42%) and Boomers (38% to 46%). While 34% of Millennials say religious freedom is worse today than it was 10 years ago, up from 25% in 2012.

Sources: Baptist Press, Barna Group, ERLC, EveryLivingThing.com

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The Briefing: Pope’s speech troubling, Southern Baptists say

Lisa Misner —  September 29, 2015

The BriefingTHE BRIEFING | Pope Francis’ historic address to Congress proved troubling in both its lack of clarity on moral issues and in its church-state impropriety, Southern Baptist leaders and pastors said.

Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the invitation by congressional leaders to the head of a religious body to speak to legislators was problematic. Baptists “historically have been very opposed to the United States government recognizing any religion or religious leader in such a way,” Mohler had told BP before the pope’s visit to Washington.

Bart Barber, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, told Baptist Press, “For Congress to treat a church as though it were a state and the head of a church as though he were the head of a state runs contrary to basic First Amendment principles of disestablishment.” Read more from Baptist Press.

Southern Baptist rep. announces bid for House Speaker

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has announced he is running for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. McCarthy and his family are members of Valley Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Bakersfield.  The House Majority Leader announced his bid Monday (Sept. 28) to replace John Boehner (R-OH) who resigned from the position last week.

Sandi Patty announces retirement

Five-time Grammy and 40-time Dove Award winner Sandi Patty announced her retirement Monday (Sept. 28) in New York City. “No matter what you do, there comes a time when you should step away. And mine has finally come,” shared the 59-year-old Patty.

Patty will embark on a yearlong farewell tour in Feb. 2016.

Rainbow Doritos introduced to support LBGT charity

Frito-Lay, the parent company of Doritos, has introduced rainbow-colored chips in support of the LBGT non-profit the It Gets Better Project. But, you won’t be seeing the Cool Ranch flavor chips on store shelves. They are only available through a $10 donation to the charity project.

CCCU accepts resignations of Goshen, EMU

The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Board of Directors announced the resignations of Goshen College in Goshen, Ind., and Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va. The two schools sparked dissension — and prompted other schools to withdraw from the council — after expanding their hiring and benefits policies to embrace same-sex marriage.

The board also appointed a task force to review CCCU categories of association to accommodate the changing face of religious liberty.

Sources: Baptist Press, CNN, KevinMcCarthy.House.gov, RNS. U.S. News

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The Briefing: No safe haven for Assyrian Christians, Sanders speaks at Liberty U, Navy Chaplain cleared

Lisa Misner —  September 15, 2015

The BriefingNo safe haven will be granted in the United States for the Assyrian Christians

The United States is the largest home to Assyrians, many of them driven out starting a century ago during the Armenian genocide. Yet the Obama administration has made clear it won’t shelter the Assyrian refugees forced from Syria or Iraq by ISIS.

“This administration will not issue visas for Syrians based on Christian faith.”

That was the word given to Anglican bishop Julian Dobbs by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. As a board member of Barnabas Fund, one of the largest relief organizations working in Syria and Iraq, Bishop Dobbs appealed to the State Department earlier this summer on behalf of the Assyrian Christians. The State Department said no.

Officials told Dobbs the Assyrians should use “people traffickers” to get across their borders to Turkey then appeal to the UN for refugee status.

9 things you need to know about refugees in America

Because of wars, conflicts, and persecution, there are more people around the world than at any other time since records began that have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge and safety elsewhere, reports the UN refugee agency. Currently, across the globe there about 19.5 million people are refugees, and about half are children.

The number of refugees admitted into the U.S. each year is decided by the President. Before the beginning of each fiscal year, the President, in consultation with Congress, establishes an overall refugee admissions ceiling as well as regional allocations. The total number of refugees authorized for admission in 2013 was 70,000. The largest regional allocation was to the Near East/South Asia region, which accounted for 46 percent of the authorized admissions number to continue accommodating refugee arrivals from Iraq, Iran, and Bhutan. Learn more about the laws, policies, and numbers regarding refugees in America.

Chaplain survives dismissal attempt

Navy Chaplain Wesley Modder has survived an attempt to force him out of the Navy after his commanding officer’s claims that Modder failed to show tolerance and discriminated against sailors of different faiths were not proven.

David Steindl, commander of the Naval Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn., said the evidence presented against Modder did not meet the standard of “gross negligence” or “disregard of duty.”

Capt. Jon Fahs had requested Modder be detached from duty last February for counseling sailors that premarital sex and homosexuality were wrong. Fahs said Modder had shown he was unable to function in a pluralistic environment.

“I am called by my faith to express love for all, regardless of the diversity of backgrounds from which they come,” said Modder, who is endorsed by the Assemblies of God. “I will continue to follow my faith in all things. I am grateful to be able to continue the ministry God called me to do.”

Bernie Sanders Seeks ‘Common Ground’ With Evangelicals at Liberty University

Speaking as an honored guest at Liberty University’s Sept. 14 morning convocation, Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders stated, “I came here today because I believe from the bottom of my heart that it is vitally important for those of us who hold different views to be able to engage in a civil discourse.”

Sanders noted he believed “we can find common ground” on issues like economic equality, family welfare, free higher education, and race relations.

“I am motivated by a vision which exists in all of the great religions, in Christianity, in Judaism, in Islam, in Buddhism, and other religions,” continued Sanders. “That vision is so beautifully and clearly stated in Matthew 7:12 and it states, ‘so in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.'”

Assisted suicide bill passed in Calif.

Approved by the California State Senate Sept. 11 and the state Assembly Sept. 9, the End of Life Option Act would allow physicians to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients, according to the Los Angeles Times. The measure heads for approval or veto to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has “expressed concern” about it but not articulated his position, the Times reported.

The California bill is modelled after Oregon’s so-called “death with dignity” law, but with several changes. California’s law would expire after 10 years if not reapproved by the legislature and would require doctors to consult in private with patients desiring to die in an effort to prevent coercion by friends and family members, The New York Times reported.

Sources: Baptist Press, Christian Post, ERLC.com, The Gospel Coalition, World Magazine

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Kentucky clerk’s jailing sparks debate among Christians, creates religious liberty questions

Lisa Misner —  September 8, 2015
Screen capture from WCPO

Screen capture from WCPO, courtesy BPNews.net.

BREAKING: Davis has been released from jail on the condition that she shall not “interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.”

COMMENTARY | The jailing of Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis by a U.S. District judge for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to her Christian convictions, has caused about debate among Christians about whether she should or should not resign her position.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler addressed the recent events on his blog, AlbertMohler.com. “The Christian church has long struggled to understand how Christian faithfulness is translated into faithful decisions in any number of political and legal situations,” he wrote. “How would a faithful congregation advise Mrs. Davis to fulfill her Christian commitment?”

He poses this and other questions which he answers, “There is no automatically right answer to these questions. Each can be rooted in Christian moral argument, and any one of these options might be argued as right under the circumstances.”

Mohler also examined the religious liberty issues raised by Davis’ incarceration, “Without doubt, the legalization of same-sex marriage will mean especially hard questions for Christians who hold government office — and especially those offices that deal most regularly with marriage.”

In a commentary, World magazine’s Marvin Olasky explains the difference between freedom of religion and freedom to worship. “Kim Davis is free to worship God in her church on Sunday mornings as long as she bows to the idol of same-sex marriage,” he wrote. “Otherwise, she stays in jail until she’s worn down or a judge’s heart changes. We have other national idols, such as political correctness and the welfare state, but this is the one in the spotlight now, and her refusal to bow is a big story.”

Over at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s website, President Russell Moore and Director of Policy Studies Andrew T. Walker, discuss the complexity of the issues involved. The two wrote, “We must be very clear about the distinctions here between persons acting as an agent of the state and persons being coerced by the state in their private lives. If the definition becomes so murky that we cannot differentiate between the freedom to exercise one’s religion and the responsibility of agents of the state to carry out the law, religious liberty itself will be imperiled.”

Sources: AlbertMohler.com, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, The Courier- Journal, World Magazine

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Marriage ruling, healthcare mandate raise religious liberty questions

Meredith Flynn —  August 10, 2015

NEWS | As the country marked the one-month anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, religious institutions continued to wrestle with the possible implications.

“The Supreme Court left unresolved what rights faith-based universities will have in regard to their religious liberty,” Gene Crume, president of Judson University in Elgin, Ill., told the Illinois Baptist. “The federal government controls financial aid for students, so there is a very real possibility that there could be restrictions to federal financial aid for faith-based institutions if they do not recognize same-sex relationships.”

Crume also noted that since the Court’s ruling, some leaders have favored protecting the tax-exempt status of faith-based universities that oppose same-sex unions, while others have called to do away with the protection for those institutions.
That particular concern arose during oral arguments heard by the Court prior to their decision, when Justice Samuel Alito asked if institutions like religious schools could lose their tax-exempt status if they opposed same-sex unions. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli responded that “it’s certainly going to be an issue.”

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) told The Weekly Standard in July that he had no “quick answer” about the “challenging area” presented by schools and their religious liberty concerns.

“There’s no question this was an historic decision, and now we’re going to go through a series of suggestions for new laws to implement it,” Durbin said. “I can’t predict how this will end. But from the beginning we have said that when it comes to marriage, religions can decide what their standards will be.”

The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service testified before a Senate committee in July that Christian schools will not lose their tax-exempt status if their policies oppose same-sex marriage, The Christian Post reported. But Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) was skeptical of Commissioner John Koskinen’s use of the phrase “at this time” in explaining the IRS’ position.

Lee told media, “While I greatly appreciate Commissioner Koskinen’s word that he will not target religious institutions for their religious beliefs, it worries me and it should worry every American that the IRS does not absolutely disavow the power to target religious institutions based on their religious beliefs, even if the current IRS commissioner has committed not to use that power for the time being.”

SBC entity appeals mandate
GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention announced last month it had filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court against a health care mandate that requires some companies it works with to provide abortion-inducing drugs.

While GuideStone and churches are exempt and will not have to pay penalties for refusing to cover drugs like the morning-after pill, the federal government has argued that other religious employers are protected by an accommodation in the mandate.

In a report on the Baptist Press website, GuideStone General Counsel Harold R. Loftin Jr., said the Southern Baptist entity “has, from the filing of our case, objected to the so-called ‘accommodation’ because the government is attempting to rewrite the terms of GuideStone’s plan” to use the plan “to provide access to drugs and devices GuideStone believes to be impermissible.”

GuideStone officials said they are optimistic that the Supreme Court will accept its appeal by the end of September, but regardless of the outcome, President O.S. Hawkins said the organization remains committed to the ministries potentially affected by the mandate if the Supreme Court upholds it.

With reporting from Baptist Press, BPNews.net

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