A roundup of important news from around the interwebs.
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There has been much outrage surrounding the arrest of an Albertan pastor for refusing to hold church services in line with provincial health guidelines. To understand why Pastor James Coates made the decision he did, take the time to read his full statement explaining his motives, which can be found here. The Gospel Coalition has also put together a good overview of the case titled “What You Need to Know about the Arrest of Pastor James Coates.” Christians strongly disagree on this case. Some state that this is overt persecution (which Christians in China and North Korea might have something to say about) while others believe that Coates and others are compromising public Christian witness during a pandemic. Both sides deserve careful consideration.
On that note, here’s my take on why governments in Canada have ignored and marginalized churches to such a degree, published in Convivium Magazine.
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It is looking increasingly likely that President Joe Biden will successfully sign the Equality Act into law. I’ve written about the implications of this dangerous legislation before (I did a longform interview on “the future under the Equality Act” on my podcast) so I won’t review all of the implications here again, but if you’re unaware of what they are, take a few minutes to read this summary over at First Things.
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The Economist—a well-known and prestigious magazine—has been doing heavy lifting on the transgender issue for quite some time and has been predictably dubbed “transphobic” as a result. Their latest expose, titled “Little is known about the effects of puberty blockers: That has not stopped clinics prescribing them enthusiastically” is worth the read. I’m grateful that there are a handful of media outlets doing work on the dangers of puberty blockers (the BBC, surprisingly, has also published some ground-breaking reports.)
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Some of you may have read my February 11 article on the British Columbian government requesting an injunction that would give them the right to detain people suspected of planning to attend a church service. That request, you’ll be happy to hear, has been dismissed by the court.
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South Carolina’s heartbeat bill was blocked by a judge the day after being signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster.
