Archbishop demands action on campus "intimidation" and "lack of free speech"

From Premier-

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on the Government to put pressure on universities over reports of "no-platforming, intimidation and lack of free speech".

The Most Rev Justin Welby told ministers at Westminster that "mere exhortation" was not working.
The leading Anglican made the intervention as peers heard just five universities were known to have adopted an agreed definition of anti-Semitism.

The archbishop, who is President of the Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ), said: "We hear numerous reports of no-platforming, of intimidation and lack of free speech.
 
"I accept fully that the universities are autonomous but will the minister look for ways in which pressure can be applied to ensure these standards are kept?

"Because mere exhortation, would she agree, is not really working."

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Archbishop-demands-action-on-campus-intimidation-and-lack-of-free-speech

‘The Stuff of Tyranny’: Christian Baker Who Refused to Make Gay Wedding Cake Scores Major Victory

From Faith Wire-

A California judge ruled in favor of a Christian baker who has been under fire over her refusal last August to make a same-sex wedding cake, finding that the state cannot force her to act against her sincerely held beliefs.

Cathy Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery, won her victory on Monday, with Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe drawing an interesting distinctive in the case.

Had Miller declined to make a cake that was already made and on display, he said she would have been guilty of discrimination.

But the cake the couple requested had not yet been made, and, according to KBAK, the baker offered the couple another means to get their cake at a different establishment. Lampe went as far as to say that forcing someone to violate his or her religious beliefs would be “the stuff of tyranny,” KGET-TV reported.

More here-

http://www.faithwire.com/2018/02/06/the-stuff-of-tyranny-christian-baker-who-refused-to-make-gay-wedding-cake-scores-major-victory/

Petition urges Jamaica to ban anti-LGBT U.S. pastor

From The Washington Blade-

Jamaica is among the more than 70 countries around the world in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized.

Bishop Howard Gregory, who is the head of the Anglican Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, last July said lawmakers should repeal the colonial-era sodomy law.

“What happens in privacy between consenting adults should be beyond the purview of the government,” wrote Gregory in a letter he sent to members of a parliamentary committee who are studying the issue.

Liberty Counsel Chair Mathew Staver is among those from the U.S. who have traveled to Jamaica in recent years in order to attend events organized by groups that oppose efforts to repeal the law.

More here-

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2018/01/02/petition-urges-jamaica-ban-anti-lgbt-u-s-pastor/

Some pastors praise Trump order, others worry over integrity

From Minnesota-

All Saints Church in Pasadena, Calif., felt the Johnson Amendment’s effects firsthand. The IRS investigated the liberal Episcopal congregation over an anti-war sermon by a former rector days before the 2004 presidential election. That pastor did not endorse a candidate but suggested Jesus would condemn the Iraq War and then-President George W. Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive war.

The church was not penalized, but it racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees over three years.

The current rector, the Rev. Mike Kinman, said the church supports the rule and that the clergy’s task “is to interpret our faith for the common good,” not to entangle faith in partisan politics. He called Trump’s order “supremely unhelpful” and said it could open the door to people who want to buy endorsements or route money to political campaigns.

More here-

http://www.salina.com/sections/religion/some-pastors-praise-trump-order-others-worry-over-integrity/article_7eb0d8f0-e6d1-5a44-bd8b-ffb8c1283b49.html

Trump order lets faith leaders blend politics in sermons

From California-

The Very Rev. Paul Blanch from the All Saints’ Episcopal Church is also part of the same forum. Blanch hails from the United Kingdom and has been in Redding for two years, and although he’s not yet an American citizen, he knows what it’s like to live in a country where faith and politics cross.

“I come from a country where church and state are intertwined,” he said. “In the U.S., the strength and the genius of the Founding Fathers was the separation of church and state.”

From his standpoint, Blanch believes the order promotes bigotry, especially against women and LGBTQ groups. And having served and counseled a diverse crowd of people in the past, especially those who were asked to leave their church because of their sexual orientation, he sees the order as “contrary to the gospel” serving only white Christian Americans.

“It will give people legally the right to exercise prejudice,” he said. “It makes me question how long I can stay in the US.”

More here-

http://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2017/05/07/trump-order-lets-faith-leaders-blend-politics-sermons/101288010/

also here-

http://www.myplainview.com/news/politics/article/Trump-order-makes-some-preachers-ecstatic-others-11126333.php

Greater 501(c)3 Freedom

From The Living Church-

Churches in the United States may now exercise more freedom of speech on political issues, thanks to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on May 4.

The order directs the IRS to use “maximum enforcement discretion” of the regulation, which prohibits churches and tax-exempt groups from participating in campaigns and endorsing candidates. Churches and other 501(c)3 organizations that stray into political speech risk losing tax-exempt status.

Trump signed the order on the National Day of Prayer at the White House. “This financial threat against the faith community is over,” Trump said. “No one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors.”

More here-

http://livingchurch.org/greater-501c3-freedom?platform=hootsuite

A Pastor Fights Against Government Restrictions on Political Sermons

From The Daily Signal-

In a matter that deals more directly with what pastors oppose, the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, faced a near two-year investigation from the IRS after a 2004 sermon opposing the war in Iraq. The IRS dropped its investigation, but the church reportedly spent $200,000 in legal bills.

Tax-exempt status should not be conditioned on what a pastor says from the pulpit, contends Christiana Holcomb, ADF legal counsel, calling the law an unconstitutional infringement on free speech and the Establishment Clause.

“We have welcomed the IRS to really enforce this so we can make a challenge to the law, and make the public aware that any regulation of a pastor’s sermon is a clear violation of the Constitution,” Holcomb told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “But even without going to court, the IRS has used intimidation, bullying, and harassment tactics.”

More here-

http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/22/a-pastor-fights-against-government-restrictions-on-political-sermons/