Explainer: What the Fulton case means for religious liberty

Last week the Supreme Court issued its unanimous ruling in favor of a faith-based foster care and adoption provider. In the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, all nine justices agreed that the city government of Philadelphia infringed on the free exercise rights of Catholic Social Services by refusing to renew that organization’s contract to serve as a foster care and adoption provider. But this ruling may have a narrow application and, as one Supreme Court justice noted, might not even provide lasting protection for Catholic Social Services.

This Week in Washington, D.C.

Last week, at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, attendees voted to pass a resolution on the genocide of the Uyghur population in China. As the resolution states, and as major news sources have rigorously reported, the Chinese Communist Party has continually committed heinous crimes against the Uyghur people, including “forced abortions, rape, sexual abuse, sterilization, internment in concentration camps, organ harvesting, human trafficking, scientific experimentation, the sale of human hair forcibly taken from those in concentration camps, family separation, forced reeducation of children, forced labor, and torture…” The SBC’s resolution stands firmly against these crimes and calls on the United States government to prioritize action to help the Uyghur people.

The Southern Baptist Convention and the ERLC have a robust history concerning upholding the dignity of and justice for all people. In 2018, the conference passed a resolution stating that the “persecution of religious minorities constitutes a significant challenge which threatens the dignity and worthiness of human beings,” as well as a 1999 resolution defining and standing against genocide or ethnic cleaning of any kind. The resolution on the Uyghur genocide continues this pattern of defending human dignity.

The ERLC has been working on behalf of persecuted people in China by advocating for the U.S. to make an official genoicde determination, advocating for Congress to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and advocating for Priority 2 refugee status for Uyghurs fleeing persecution.

From The Public Square

Baker fined for refusing to make transgender transition cake
Associated Press

A Denver judge says a baker who won a partial victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 for refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple violated Colorado's anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a birthday cake for a transgender woman.

How the Anti-Abortion Movement Used the Progressive Playbook to Chip Away at Roe v. Wade
Politico

The tactics that advanced civil rights have been put to work against abortion. Will Roe survive?

Sorry, Harvard, Fathers Still Matter—Including Black Fathers
Institute for Family Studies

Black boys are almost half as likely to end up incarcerated and twice as likely to graduate from college if they are raised in a home with their two parents.

DOJ: 2 states' transgender restrictions unconstitutional
Associated Press

The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging bans involving transgender people that target athletes in West Virginia and children in Arkansas.

What You Need to Read

Jordan Wootten with What’s the future of the global religious landscape? Three takeaways from the Pew Center projections

What does the future of Christianity in America look like? Better yet, what will the global religious landscape be like in a couple of decades? As secularism broadens its appeal and more and more people are religiously unaffiliated, we may find ourselves struggling to answer these questions. Or, we may simply be fearful of the answers.

Wendy Alsup with 4 ways to equip your kids to walk with friends who experience gender dysphoria

If you are a Christian who believes God created two distinct biological sexes to fully image him to the world, how do you walk faithfully with a son or daughter who is experiencing such a mental crisis? How can we equip our kids to walk faithfully with others as well? Here are a few principles that guide me, principles that I work to pass on to my children as well.

Josh Wester with Six reflections fom SBC21: Resolutions, a new president, and a spirit of unity

Regardless of which candidate we may have supported to succeed Greear, last week so many Southern Baptists were able to come together and remember how wonderful it is to partner with millions of other Baptist Christians through the SBC for the purpose of reaching and discipling the nations. From my vantage point, we were unified and filled with joy, and we left with confidence that the SBC has exciting days ahead of us.

This Week at the ERLC

Featured Podcasts

In this episode of the ERLC Podcast, Josh, Lindsay, and Brent discuss the shocking collapse of a surf-side condo in Miami, the SCOTUS ruling on free speech, the coronavirus variant likely to cause the next wave, the drop in U.S. life expectancy, and the new family members introduced on Sesame Street.

In this episode of the WeeklyTech Podcast, Jason Thacker is joined by Dr. Thaddeus Williams, Associate Professor of Theology at Biola University, to talk about his recent book, Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, and the role of social media in these divided times.