RELIGION HEADLINES SUN 8-3-25

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(SRN NEWS)  Germany’s top prosecutor has filed charges against a Syrian man in connection with a stabbing attack at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial back in February that seriously wounded a Spanish tourist.  Authorities say the suspect sought to use the crime as a way of being admitted to ISIS.  The man allegedly sent a photo of himself to members of the terrorist group before the stabbing to give the militants the opportunity to claim responsibility for the crime.  The violence occurred at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a field of nearly 3,000 gray concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin. 

(  )  Catholicism is on the wane in the Canadian province of Quebec — where it once dominated.  Today, dozens of churches are being transformed into everything from gyms and restaurants to museums and luxury apartments.  The rate of regular church attendance among Quebec’s Catholics has plunged from one of the highest in Canada to one of the lowest as religious faith in general declines across the country. For most of Quebec’s history, the Catholic Church was the most powerful force in the French-speaking province, with a firm grip over schools, health care and politics. But its influence faded during the 1960s. 

(  )  In its effort to protect female athletes in Olympic sports, the Trump administration provided the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee a detailed legal brief on how such a move would not conflict with the Ted Stevens Act.  That’s the landmark 1978 federal statute governing the Olympic movement.  Legal expert Jill Pilgrim calls the Trump guidance “a well thought-out, well-reasoned set of arguments.”  However, she predicts that the new policy will be challenged, either by individual transgender athletes or by states whose laws do not conform with the USOC’s new rules.  Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee is considering a ban on males in female sports that could settle the matter for the rest of the world. 

(  )  Legal groups are suing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming it is unlawfully refusing to enforce federal workplace protections for transgender workers.  Led by Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, the federal agency charged with enforcing laws against workplace discrimination has moved swiftly to comply with President Trump’s executive order to get the government out of the business of promoting transgenderism.  The EEOC has dropped several lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers and has subjected others to heightened scrutiny. The lawsuit also alleges that the agency halted payments to state and local civil rights agencies for investigating so-called “gender identity” discrimination claims.