Displaying items by tag: North America

President Biden has announced a new pilot programme that empowers individuals to privately sponsor refugees coming to America. Through the programme, Welcome Corps, groups of five individuals or more can raise funds to sponsor a refugee. Once the refugee arrives, these people will help them secure housing, employment, and education as they integrate into American life. Christians are called to care for the persecuted and vulnerable. The narrative of Scripture reveals God’s heart for the immigrant and the refugee, who are valuable people made in His image (Matt. 25:35-40).

South Dakota signed into law a bill that prohibits healthcare professionals from using drugs, hormones or surgery to alter the appearance of the sex of a minor. Under the Help Not Harm Act, healthcare professionals who violate the law will lose their professional licence or certificate. If they have already begun a course of treatment on a minor, that treatment must stop. If immediate termination of the treatment would harm the minor, the treatment may be ‘systematically reduced,’ and must end by 31 December 2023. The Institute for Research and Evaluation of Scientific Evidence stated, ‘Cross-sex medical treatments are not beneficial to children. There is evidence of harmful impact, and gender dysphoria in children usually goes away on its own by young adulthood, if “transition” is not encouraged. This avoids the harmful effects of such interventions.’

America’s largest Protestant denomination is grappling with gender issues and politics. The recent Southern Baptist Convention expelled its largest and most prominent church, Saddleback Church in California, because it installed a woman pastor. Saddleback still operates as a church, and its members will not be overtly impacted. But Southern Baptist leadership’s ejection of such a high-profile member church underlines their struggles with gender, sexuality, abuse, politics and race, including criticisms from an energetic right flank that the group is drifting to the 'woke’ left. The convention also removed other churches over women holding certain leadership roles, and a Florida church over a sex abuse case. Saddleback was founded by pastor Rick Warren, who built a national profile thanks to the then innovative posture as ‘seeker-sensitive,’ attuned to those unfamiliar with, or wary of, traditional church experiences. He also wrote the best-selling book ‘The Purpose-Driven Life’.

Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck was raided by 15 to 20 armed federal agents banging on his door in the early hours of the morning. They treated Mark like a terrorist. This massive show of force sparked fierce criticism and questions about whether the Biden administration was using the FBI for political purposes ahead of a heated election. His appearance in court was demanded in the case of United States of America v Mark Houck. He faced up to 11 years in prison and a $350,000 fine as the government claimed a violation took place. Houck vehemently disagreed, saying they were arresting Catholic protestors like terrorists. When the ‘Not guilty’ verdict was announced his supporters in the courtroom wept tears of relief. They had taken on Goliath - the full might of the American government - and won. They later prayed outside the federal courthouse, thanking God for being with them in spirit and truth.

In what might be the latest sign of things to come, a rabbi in New York has become the first Jewish teacher to deliver a sermon written entirely by artificial intelligence. Before teaching on Genesis 44, Rabbi Joshua Franklin of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, told his congregation that his AI-written sermon was, in fact, written by ChatGPT. Following the crowd’s reaction and applause, Franklin said the real issue is how AI will impact what the world considers spiritual. He asked, ‘How does spirituality function in a world that’s driven by data and driven by information?’ AI has jumped from simple task management to being used to design self-flying planes, paint works of art and consider ‘moral dilemmas’ for AI-driven ‘driverless’ cars.

Protests in Memphis on 27 January blocked a major highway and small-scale demonstrations were held elsewhere when over an hour of video footage was released of police violently arresting Tyre Nicholas twenty days earlier. There were no signs of Tyre resisting arrest. He was beaten unnecessarily and died in hospital three days later. Five officers were charged with his murder before the videos were released, to avert anticipated protests against police violence. Protests are spreading. Two thousand miles away in Los Angeles, demonstrators vandalised eight businesses and one person in possession of spray paint and a glass-breaking tool was arrested for felony vandalism. Marchers met in Hollywood, and Black Lives Matter continue to press for an end to traffic stops by police.

At the time of writing, 19th January America is about to hit their debt limit, meaning the government is not allowed to borrow any more money - unless Congress agrees to suspend or change the cap, currently almost $31.4tn (£25.4tn). Since 1960, politicians have moved to raise, extend or revise the definition of the debt limit 78 times - including three just in the last six months. But Republicans recently took control of the House of Representatives and are calling for spending cuts, raising concerns that politicians will delay acting this time - leading America to intentionally default for the first time in its history. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has estimated that special measures can buy time for the US until at least June, at which point the government will no longer be able to pay its bills. A true economic catastrophe - unpaid defence contractor payments, Social Security cheques, received by retirees and salaries of government employees, including the military, will all be affected.

The US government has paved the way for pharmacies to sell mifepristone, the first of a two-drug procedure for medication abortions. Mifepristone is used first to block progesterone and cause the unborn baby to die over several days. It is followed by misoprostol, which causes painful uterine contractions which expel the deceased baby from the mother’s womb. Retailers CVS and Walgreens will seek government certification to dispense the drug to women with a doctor’s prescription. Women could then take it at home, despite documented medical risks. Pro-life leaders say the new regulation will turn neighbourhood retail pharmacies into participants in killing unborn children. Peer-reviewed data from California, Finland and Sweden show that chemical abortions result in higher rates of medical complications than surgical abortions. A pro-life research organisation said emergency room visits associated with chemical abortion increased by over 500% from 2002 to 2015. During those years chemical abortions increased from 4.4% to 34.1% of total abortions.

On 2 January two pastors, Al and Vivian Robinson, made headlines after going out into horrific snowstorms to save people trapped in 12-foot snow drifts that might have frozen them in record breaking -20C wind chill. They had recently sold a rehabilitation centre, and every mattress and bed stored in their church was used by the 154 people they rescued. The previous day they had purchased two weeks’ worth of food for their large family, who were expected for the holidays. That food fed around 130 people in the only building in the area with electricity. People slept and ate in the warm church. The way all these factors came together to meet their community’s needs didn’t surprise Al, who said God equipped them for the moment.

Mauna Loa volcano is the largest active volcano in the world. On 1 December the alert level code was upgraded to red, the highest classification. The lava flow is mostly contained within the summit, but residents have been placed on alert and warned about the risk of falling ash. The US Geological Service said the situation could change rapidly. The eruption of Mauna Loa has two active fissures feeding lava flows downslope, while other lava flows are travelling north. They are reaching a relatively flat area and beginning to slow down; as this happens, the lava will spread out and inflate. Pray for the safety of the many visitors rushing to observe the spectacle. Pray for the residents worried about emergency response and resources that may be available to assist those at risk. Updates here