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  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

Briefing: Illinois family killed in ISIS attack, House approves transgender ID change bill

ib2newseditor —  May 30, 2017

The Briefing

Illinois family killed in ISIS attack in Egypt
An Illinois man and several of his relatives, including two sons and a grandchild, were among 29 killed during an ISIS attack on a church bus in Egypt. Family members say the bus was full of Christians on their way to a remote Egyptian monastery when they were attacked by members of the Islamic state.

Illinois House approves transgender ID change bill
The Illinois House has endorsed a plan to make it easier for transgender people to change their birth certificates. The bill would allow transgender citizens to change their gender designation with authorization from a medical professional confirming they have undergone medically appropriate treatment. Current law requires proof of a surgical operation.

Evidence against Planned Parenthood disappears from YouTube
Last week, lawyers for The Center for Medical Progress released more footage of abortionists discussing late-term abortions at National Abortion Federation conventions. The video, along with other footage under temporary injunction after a civil suit filed by the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and Planned Parenthood, disappeared from YouTube after U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered it taken down.

TX governor signs bill to ‘shield’ pastors’ sermons
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed legislation that prohibits Texas government agencies from subpoenaing the sermons of religious leaders. Four of the five Houston pastors whose sermons became the target of a sweeping 2014 subpoena “fishing expedition” by City of Houston attorneys and then-Mayor Annise Parker joined the signing ceremony.

Christian school bans pregnant teen from graduation
Despite a public outcry and growing pressure from national antiabortion groups to reconsider, Heritage Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland says that senior Maddi Runkles broke the school’s rules by engaging in intimate sexual activity. In a letter to parents Tuesday evening, school principal David R. Hobbs said that Runkles is being disciplined, “not because she is pregnant but because she was immoral. … The best way to love her right now is to hold her accountable for her morality that began this situation.”

Sources: News Channel 20, US News, Baptist Press, World Magazine, Washington Post

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It’s time to update the marriage map

Meredith Flynn —  February 27, 2014

Marriage_Map_New

NEWS | Meredith Flynn

At the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in June, Birmingham pastor David Platt chuckled when a fellow panelist asked him to give an update on his state and same-sex marriage. Alabama was standing firm, Platt said. No one would have argued with him eight months ago.

But court rulings have fallen like dominoes across the country over the past several days, making same-sex marriage a nearing reality for even the most conservative states.

A federal judge in Kentucky today ordered officials to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The state’s Attorney General has asked for a 90-day delay to determine whether to appeal a Feb. 12 ruling that overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

And Texas on Wednesday became the latest state to have its ban on same-sex marriage overturned by a federal judge. Like in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia and Kentucky, the ruling was immediately stayed, pending appeal.

The rulings came after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Monday that state attorneys general do not have to defend laws they view as discriminatory. From the The New York Times: “Mr. Holder was careful not to encourage his state counterparts to disavow their own laws, but said that officials who have carefully studied bans on gay marriage could refuse to defend them.”

Even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in June, the Bible belt seemed the least likely region to embrace a new definition of marriage. But the rulings in Kentucky and Texas (and traditionally conservative Utah) make one wonder where it might happen next.

PolicyMic.com asked the same question last summer, but in reverse. They listed the top 7 states least likely to support marriage equality, with Mississippi in the top spot. Sixth on the list was Utah. And at #4, Kentucky.

What a difference eight months makes.

Meredith Flynn is managing editor of the Illinois Baptist newspaper.

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