Displaying items by tag: USA

The United States has admitted 40% fewer Christian refugees in the past year. As the US administration implements stricter immigration policies, almost 11,000 Christians looking for a safe place to go were reportedly refused entry. Christians from the Middle East who have lived in the USA for years are also affected. Dozens of Iraqi Christians are in detention centres, facing likely deportation. ‘This suggests that the president has no real interest in religious persecution or the tenets of religious freedom,’ said the director of Refugee Council USA. Last year the Pew Research Centre reported that the net number of Christian arrivals to the USA was shrinking. Figures released in the UK showed that during the first quarter of 2018, a ‘very low number of religious minority Syrians were recommended for resettlement by the UNHCR and resettled by the UK government’.

In Louisiana, Americans United decided to sue a school district earlier this year, asserting, ‘School officials throughout the school system coerce students into religious practices and subject them to unwelcome religious messages and indoctrination.’ They did not want prayers being delivered during school-sponsored events, school events held in churches, or teachers encouraging Christianity in the classroom. The school board voted to fight the lawsuit. Pray for their defence of Christian values to be successful in the law courts. In Pensacola, Florida, a panel upheld a ruling ordering the removal of a cross from a public park, stating that they were ‘bound by existing circuit precedent’. But two of the three judges said they were uncomfortable with the result, and called upon the full circuit court to overturn their own ruling. The argument is ongoing.

Hurricane Florence reached the Carolinas on 14 September. For days the president has been tweeting, ‘Be prepared, be careful, be SAFE’. Two years ago a category 1 storm caused $10.6 billion in flood damage and killed 25 people in the Carolinas. Florence is a category 2 storm with expected category 4 storm surges. It is moving slowly, and coastal areas could experience hurricane-force winds and hurricane conditions for 24 hours or more. Once it moves inland, flooding risk increases, with up to 25 inches of rain forecast (more in some areas). Residents were warned to evacuate not only for their safety, but for the safety of first responders. Pray for homeowners, farmers and businesses contending with a major flooding event; for the safety of first responders; for reliable electricity supplies to hospitals and emergency stations; and for the frail, vulnerable and elderly to be cared for, reassured, and made comfortable.

North Carolina Baptists on Mission and the North Carolina conference of the United Methodist Church have made a name for themselves during previous hurricanes and disasters by feeding people, clearing debris, gutting uninhabitable homes and rebuilding them. On 12 September, in preparation for Hurricane Florence, they were deciding how to deploy their volunteer armies and equipment. ‘God has opened a lot of doors and given us a lot of opportunity,’ said the Baptists. ‘We are thankful for that. We want to glorify God if we have opportunities to, and we’re looking for the best way to do that right now.’

Most Israeli Jews believe in God. The US is the most God-fearing country in the West. The figures for faith in God are almost identical for the two nations, leaving other ‘Christian’ countries far behind. At a time when Jewish settlers and evangelical Christians appear to run foreign policies in both Jerusalem and Washington, it is hard to escape the conclusion that religion has a pivotal role in the special relationship between them. Also the tense political relations between Israel and the EU and between the EU and Washington are defined by religious beliefs. Israelis and Americans view Europe as godless and decadent, while Brussels believes Israel and the USA are drifting into fundamentalist crazy-land. These specifics come from a recent poll by the Dialogue Institute that surmised, ‘Religious beliefs are also a reliable marker for political views’.

Donald Trump's former personal attorney and ‘fixer’ pleaded guilty to eight felony counts, including two that implicate President Trump and Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman who was found guilty on eight counts in a separate case. Meanwhile Trump is tweeting repeatedly that the campaign finance regulations Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to are not crimes. We can pray for America’s president and all who hold positions of authority and influence in government to be men and women who walk in righteousness, integrity, wisdom and truth. May any who are dishonest or irrational be removed from their positions of power. See

Police in Chicago have asked for more help to combat gun violence after over sixty people were shot in one weekend. More than thirty were gunned down during just one three-hour period on Sunday. Police said most shootings were gang-related. Donovan Price, a pastor and emergency administrator, said, ‘This is just out of control. It's a war zone going on right now. Chicago is just crazy.’ But in a country where it is easier to buy a gun than spray paint and there are nearly as many guns as people, not everyone wants stricter gun controls. President Trump has repeatedly vowed to intervene in Chicago, where law-enforcement officers have struggled with intractable violence problems. Pray for Trump to release enough federal help for control to be more successful.

The Christian relatives of Richard Russell say they are ‘stunned and heartbroken’ after the airline worker stole a passenger plane from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on 10 August, and was killed when he crashed 25 miles away. The FBI is leading an investigation, and President Trump was briefed on the incident, and tweeted his comments. The family said, ‘This is a complete shock to us. We are devastated by these events, and Jesus is truly the only one holding this family together right now.’ We can pray that their testimony of God’s favour in times of trouble receives as much media discussion as the terrible event.

Less than three months after winning a Supreme Court case backing his religious freedom of expression, Colorado Christian cake artist Jack Phillips is facing yet another battle. A new complaint was recently filed against him after an attorney asked him to make a cake pink on the inside and blue on the outside, representing a transition from male to female, to celebrate a gender transition. Phillips declined to make the cake, because of his religious beliefs. On 15 August attorneys representing him and his Masterpiece Cakeshop filed a lawsuit to fight this new complaint, which they said constituted a ‘doubling down of anti-religious hostility’ by Colorado officials. They said, ‘Colorado is ignoring the message of the US Supreme Court by continuing to single out Jack for punishment and to exhibit hostility toward his religious beliefs.’

Jamie Carlton posted a video on Facebook showing three children - Haylie, 13, brother Reagan, 6, and their friend Ashley - returning a wallet containing $700 to its rightful owner. The kids are heard saying, ‘We found your wallet outside your car and we just thought we would give it back to you’. One of them hides it by the door and says, ‘I'm going to put it over here so no one takes any money’. When the children were contacted, Haylie said that they thought it would be a good thing to do because they really didn't need the money. Jamie said, ‘This happened at my house in Aurora, Colorado. If this doesn't renew or at least refresh your faith in humanity, you need help.’