In today’s News:
Comfort dogs deploy for victims of wildfires
Lutheran Church Charities K-9 comfort dogs Aaron from St. John’s in Napa, Calif, Micah from Light of the Valley in Elk Grove, Calif., and Reuben from First Lutheran – Yuba City, Calif. and their ministry teams were invited by the principal and counselors from Foothill Adventist School in Angwin, Calif., which was destroyed by the Glass Fire. On Tuesday, the comfort dogs visited with children and staff at a new temporary location at Pacific Union College Elementary School in Angwin, their first day back at their interim school. The comfort dogs and their handlers worked with counselors to help children process a very difficult time.
Court protects two Colorado churches
Two Colorado churches and their pastors are currently protected from the state’s enforcement of capacity limits and face masks during worship services thanks to an order handed down by a federal judge on Oct. 15. This decision came following a lawsuit against federal and state officials for an array of religious freedom violations. Thomas More Society Special Counsel Rebecca Messall and Co-Counsel Brad Bergford, who are representing the congregations and their pastors, were pleased with the order. Denver Bible Church and its pastor, Robert Enyart, and Community Baptist Church and its pastor, Joey Rhoads, asked the court to enjoin enforcement of orders related to Colorado’s gubernatorially mandated capacity limits on worship services and face mask requirements. Currently, Colorado imposes capacity limits on houses of worship that are more severe than those that apply to other so-called critical businesses whose settings pose a similar risk of covid-19 transmission. The state also allows a variety of exceptions to its facial-covering requirement where it recognizes that removing a mask is necessary to carry out a particular activity.
Administration continues its fight against global abortion
President Donald Trump’s administration continued to push back against global abortion advocacy this week with a declaration proclaiming that “The preservation of human life and the strengthening of family” are foundational to society. The Independent reports United States leaders joined five other countries in signing the Geneva Consensus document last Thursday. The action sent a statement to The United Nations that the killing of unborn babies in abortions is not a “human right,” as the U.N. Declaration Of Human Rights claims, according to the report. The other countries that signed the declaration Were Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia and Uganda, the report states. This is not the first time the trump administration has fought for unborn babies’ rights at the U.N. In September, United States and Vatican representatives criticized the inclusion of language promoting “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights,” including abortions, in a U.N. covid-19 response resolution. In August, U.S. Ambassador Andrew Bremberg also slammed the international agency for “perverting” human rights by advocating for the killing of unborn babies in abortions.
