NBA Pulls 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte over “Bathroom Bill”

The National Basketball Association announced it will be pulling its 2017 all-star game out of Charlotte, North Carolina to protest that state’s law mandating that public bathrooms and locker rooms be used according to biological sex, rather than by subjective “gender preference.” Noting that the NBA will still be playing preseason games in China, North Carolina Rep. Robert Pittenger asked “Is the NBA implying China’s abhorrent violation of basic human rights is acceptable, but North Carolina saying men shouldn’t use the girls’ locker room is a bridge too far? . . . The unmistakable hypocrisy is clear to me.”

2016 Republican Platform One of the Most Conservative in History

The 2016 GOP platform, adopted at the Republican National Convention in July, calls for “a rebirth of constitutional government,” supports the public display of the Ten Commandments, and pledges to defend the conscience rights of all Americans in the face of the onslaught of the homosexual agenda. Still, some expressed concern that Republican nominee Donald Trump used the politically correct acronym “LGBTQ” in acknowledging those who identify as homosexual and transgender during his nomination acceptance speech, which was also the first such Republican speech in 36 years not to mention pro-life issues.

2016 Democratic Platform One of the Most Liberal in History

Meanwhile, the 2016 Democratic platform, adopted at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia a week later, calls for marijuana legalization; for further investigations into alleged police racism; eradication of the death penalty; and pledges to “fight for the continued development of sex discrimination law to cover LGBT people.” The platform also calls for the repealing of the Hyde Amendment, which bans tax money from being used for abortions, saying that “every woman should have access to . . . safe and legal abortion . . .”

Jihad Attacks on the Rise

Amidst the ongoing immigration debate taking place in the United States and Europe, Germany faced recent terror attacks in which Muslim immigrants killed and wounded dozens of people. In Munich, an 18-year-old man with dual German and Iranian citizenship killed nine people in a mass shooting. In Reutlingen, a Syrian refugee killed a woman with a machete, wounding five others in the process. The same day, another Syrian refugee detonated a suicide bomb outside of a music festival, wounding 15. President Obama has promised to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of September.

Poll Shows Americans Strongly Support Abortion Restrictions

Though Christians are often told their pro-life activism has come to naught, a recent Marist Poll shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans are currently in favor of significant restrictions on abortion—including 62 percent of those who identify as “pro-choice.” Sixty-two percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion (despite public funding being a plank in the 2016 Democratic Party platform), and those who believe in conscience protections for healthcare providers outnumber opponents by almost 20 points (56 percent to 37 percent).

Iowa Cracking Down on Freedom of Churches?

The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has issued an interpretation of the state’s Civil Rights Act indicating that churches could run afoul of the law if they engage in any “discriminatory” preaching or bathroom restrictions in events or worship services “open to the public.” There is an exemption in the law for religious institutions, but in order to be exempt, those institutions must be engaged in a “bona fide religious purpose”—as decided by the state. Two churches, (one with the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom, co-founded by Dr. Kennedy) have sued the state in federal court, opposing the interpretation as unconstitutional.