The following articles have been selected because they are informative, instructive, entertaining, or simply interesting. Articles appearing in Your Friday Five do not represent an endorsement.
French on an important issue.
The True Extent of Religious Liberty in America, Explained, David French
It’s true that this carveout does not allow the religious organization to discriminate on other grounds (such as race or sex), but it does allow them to filter out all applicants who do not share the group’s faith. This has a profound impact on the relevant applicant pool and (along with the First Amendment) permits employers to require that applicants agree to the organization’s statement of faith.
An important discussion on human life.
Palmer Williams on dignity, disability, and COVID19, ERLC Podcast
Jeff Pickering and Chelsea Patterson Sobolik welcome attorney and advocate Palmer Williams to the roundtable to talk about how the pandemic uniquely highlights the importance of policies that protect people with disabilities. Palmer also reflects on how her life was changed when President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Supreme Court refuses to hear abortion case.
Pro-life challenge hits dead end, WORLD
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear arguments against buffer zones around abortion businesses. The plaintiffs in the two cases said rules regulating speech outside of abortion facilities violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The city of Chicago requires pro-life advocates to get verbal consent to approach someone within 50 feet of a facility like Planned Parenthood to hand out information, counsel, or protest. An ordinance in Harrisburg, Pa., prohibits congregating or demonstrating within 20 feet of an abortion business.
A statement on racism and the gospel.
An Evangelical Statement: The Gospel Opposes the Sin of Racism
Today’s situation requires more than a statement, but certainly no less than a statement. As evangelical academic voices, we condemn racism as contrary to Scripture and to the evangelical gospel. Evangelical history includes positively many voices for justice and pioneers of abolitionism, such as William Wilberforce, but also negatively those who assimilated the values of their surrounding unjust culture. Yet the basis of evangelical faith is Scripture, climaxing in the good news of Jesus Christ.
Americans wrongly see humanity is basically good.
Americans Don’t See Human Life as ‘Sacred’, Joe Carter
The research also finds that almost seven out of ten of Americans (69 percent) see human beings as “basically good.” A majority of every population subgroup examined adopted that view, ranging from a little more than half to more than three-quarters of those groups (including 70 percent of evangelicals). The segment least likely to say “people are basically good” are people with a biblical worldview (52 percent).