RELIGION HEADLINES THR 4-23

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges alleging it improperly paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups without disclosing the payments to donors.  The Justice Department says the civil rights group defrauded donors by using their money to fund the same extremism that it claims to be fighting.  The SPLC denies the charges.  Over the years, the organization has sparked outrage amongst Christian ministries for designating any who oppose the LGBT agenda as hate groups.  Amongst those designated have been the Family Research Council and the American Family Association.

(  )  With the midterm elections looming, the Democratic Party is having an internal struggle over the role of the LGBT agenda in its platform.  After the 2024 presidential election, Democrats were divided over the role that LGBT issues played in their party’s losses.  The Trump campaign ran a series of advertisements criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting sex-change operations for people in prison and males playing on female sports teams.  Some moderate Democrats have argued that such stances are too unpopular with swing voters and need to be abandoned or at least downplayed.  Gay activists are pushing back.

(  )  Male athletes are now officially excluded from female events at the Olympics after the International Olympic Committee agreed to a new eligibility policy.  It aligns with President Trump’s executive order on women’s sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.  The IOC says “eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females.”  It is unclear how many men are competing in female sports at the Olympic level.  No man who is living as a woman competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, though a weightlifter did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

(  )  The marathon public Bible reading event continues in Washington, D.C. through Saturday.  America Reads the Bible is being live-streamed from the Museum of the Bible and on Tuesday featured President Trump reading a passage from Chronicles.  Other participants include Republican politicians and evangelical leaders.  The event is organized by Christians Engaged and is part of a larger project connecting America’s 250th birthday with a Christian vision. The reading includes the entire Bible, from Genesis through Revelation.  The marathon comes just weeks before the National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving on May 17th.