Explainer: The deadly explosions that devastated Beirut

On Tuesday, two massive explosions occurred at the port of Beirut, killing at least 135 dead and injuring thousands.

The blasts occurred near highly-populated areas and tourist sites, damaging nearby landmarks, businesses, and homes, including Baabda Palace, the official residence of the Lebanese President. At least three hospitals were also damaged by the blast. Beirut’s governor says up to 300,000 people had been left homeless in the aftermath of the explosion.

While experts are yet to determine the official yield of the explosion, it is likely to be comparable to the Halifax Explosion of 1917, when a cargo ship carrying high explosives collided with another ship, resulting in the largest human-caused explosion prior to the atomic bomb.

The United States Geological Survey reported that the explosion registered a 3.3 magnitude, equivalent to a minor earthquake. Windows were blown out up to 15 miles away and reports suggest it was heard as far away as Cyprus, 150 miles away into the Mediterranean.

Where is Beirut?

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, a country which is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, with Cyprus to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. Beirut lies on the coast, on a peninsula that extends westward into the Mediterranean Sea.

Beirut is one of the oldest cities in existence. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century B.C., around the time of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt (based on an early dating of that event). The city is one of the most religiously diverse in the Middle East. Although a slight majority are Muslim, about 4-in-10 people in Beirut identify as Christian.

This Week at the ERLC

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik led the third installment of the Christian Women at Work series. The topic was Racial Issues in the Workplace.

Jason Thacker was on WORLD radio discussing the big tech hearings.

What You Need to Read

While many will continue to claim that faith and science are simply at odds with one another and that AGI development is just around the corner, Christians can remember and have hope that even with our wildest attempts or innovations, we are simply not able to change our own human nature nor create something like ourselves. As amazing new technological innovations continue to rise, we can step back and praise God for the incredible, talented people creating these tools rather than focus on some desire to create something on par or even greater than ourselves.

Jesus is the truth. He is the only source of knowledge that is absolutely reliable. And he is not only available, but he is seeking us out (Luke 19:10). Christians should remember that as we make our way through these uncertain times. Just like my 6-year-old, we don’t have all of the answers. But Jesus does. And we may not know when this will end or how long it may last, but we can look to Jesus and listen for his voice.

This is the perfect time to let your kids be creative with how to raise money for Stand for orphans. Just last week, my daughter posted on social media that she is selling cookies and muffins for Stand this year. She raised over $350 in just two weeks by baking goodies. Another friend is selling leather earrings that she makes. And yet another friend is making stationary to sell. My son has a pressure washing/pet-sitting business, and he has decided to donate a portion of his profit to Stand. The options are truly endless.

News From Capitol Hill

Religious freedom in a time of a public health emergency has been a topic of much, sometimes heated, discussion this year. It’s the responsibility of all of us who are working to follow Jesus and love our neighbors to seek resolution through the tension COVID-19 creates between religious freedom or public health restrictions. The ERLC is hard at work on these issues, and there have been actions taken by the government that are both frustrating and encouraging.

An example of where it’s gone wrong: A few Friday nights back, the Supreme Court declined to hear an emergency appeal from the Ninth Circuit involving challenges brought by churches in Nevada on the governor’s reopening plans. The weekend the case was denied, Russell Moore was quoted in a story by the Associated Press and Christianity Today about the Court’s decision not to “bring sanity into this dispute over religious exercise in Nevada.”

“For weeks, churches in Nevada have faced unfair restrictions while the doors of casinos, restaurants, and bars have been flung wide open. As a nation, we are all facing an unprecedented global pandemic, and we must all work together to combat this virus. As virtually every court and almost every religious organization has affirmed: the state has legitimate rights and obligations to protect public health in an emergency such as this. Every restriction, though, must be both rooted in compelling interest and be consistently applied. Nevada from the start should have relied on pastors and religious leaders to be partners in combating Covid-19 as they have apparently done with casino magnates. Nevada’s insistence on treating churches differently than casinos is inexplicable and must stop.”

As the ERLC has repeatedly advocated in our engagements with governors’ offices and city halls around the country, churches must be treated the same as similar businesses, spaces, and activities. This case denied by the justices is an example of disparate treatment and a violation of the religious liberty of millions of Nevadans. Read more about this case and the ERLC’s response here.

An example of where it’s gone right: At the end of July, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights announced two new settlements, one in New York and the other in Maryland, that involved religious liberty conflicts in healthcare. The ERLC welcomed these settlements as they serve as an important guide for the entire healthcare industry combating COVID-19. These two cases, one involving a religious provider and the other involving a patient’s right to clergy visitation, prove that reasonable accommodations can be made to ensure safety in a way that does not infringe on these critical free exercise rights.

Individuals need not shed their religious beliefs to either provide or receive medical care. As Christians, and especially as Southern Baptists concerned with religious liberty, we need to be aware of possible infringements on religious freedoms, not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all people of faith. Read more about these cases and the ERLC’s response here.

For more in general on religious freedom and the pandemic, check out this podcast from Christianity Today, What Shocks Russell Moore About COVID-19 Church-State Disputes.

Featured Podcasts

The 2019-2020 term of the Supreme Court was one for the history books. The justice’s rulings give Christians a lot to consider on issues ranging from religious liberty and civil rights law to abortion jurisprudence and immigration rules. The ERLC filed amicus briefs in a number of these cases and our brief was cited by Justice Alito in the court’s opinion in the Guadalupe religious liberty victory. On Capitol Conversations, Russell Moore and Jeff Pickering joined the Capitol Hill ministry, Faith & Law, for a Friday forum event to reflect on what happened and what’s next.

In this episode of Signposts, Dr. Stephen Prothero joins Russell Moore to talk about religious literacy. Prothero is the C. Allyn and Elizabeth V. Russell Professor of Religion in American at Boston University. He is the author of Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (HarperOne, 2016), God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World—and Why Their Differences Matter (HarperOne, 2010), and the New York Times bestseller Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—and Doesn’t (HarperOne, 2007).

From The Public Square

Billy Graham statue to replace that of white supremacist in U.S. Capitol
Yonat Shimron, Baptist Press

A life-sized statue of the Rev. Billy Graham will be installed in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall collection sometime next year, replacing a statue of a white supremacist that both the state of North Carolina and the U.S. House want removed.

Christians Worry Hong Kong’s New Law Will Hamper Missions
D. Cheng, Christianity Today

Recent Chinese regulations on foreign interference extend into the diaspora and raise questions for longstanding ministries.

The Growing Threat to Religious Freedom in Health-Care Provision
Wesley J. Smith, National Review Online

Catholic hospitals around the country are on a collision course with the ACLU, the Democratic Party, and assorted social-justice secularists who insist that these religious institutions violate their own faith precepts in the provision of medical services.

Could These Evangelical Democrats Change the Party?
Rikha Sharma Rani, Politico

“The fundamental fear that some Democrats have is, ‘Are you trying to take the party back for Jesus?,’” said Ryerse.