Welcome to Higher Ground, a newsletter and website dedicated to helping families of faith navigate a chaotic world with rigorous reporting, commentary and analysis on national, global and cultural issues.
The Supreme Court’s ruling last week in 303 Creative v. Elenis has brought hope to Christian business owners who believe the ruling affirming the First Amendment’s rights of free speech and free exercise also applies to their individual cases.
“In Friday’s ruling, the justices said Colorado could not force a Christian website designer to provide a service she felt would violate her religious beliefs,” The Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner writes. “Writing for the majority, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch said Colorado’s law would ‘compel an individual to create speech she does not believe.’ He said, ‘The First Amendment tolerates none of that.’”
See how other business owners are responding.
Actor Jim Caviezel’s ‘Sound of Freedom’
In other news, “The Passion of the Christ” star Jim Caviezel joined Higher Ground to discuss human trafficking, faith under attack and his role in the new film “Sound of Freedom.”
Mr. Caviezel plays the role of Tim Ballard, a government agent turned vigilante in a quest to rescue children ensnared in the sex trafficking trade. The story is based on the experiences of the real-life Tim Ballard, who joined Mr. Caviezel for the interview. Watch the powerful discussion.
Moms group hits back after being slapped with ‘extremist’ label
Parent activists with Moms for Liberty, an organization advocating against controversial content in U.S. education, particularly teaching gender identity topics to elementary and middle school students, hit back after the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center placed the group on its infamous “hate map,” labeling them “extremist.”
The Times’ Kerry Picket detailed how Allison Shipp, one of the moms, responded during Moms for Liberty’s annual summit.
“When you break it down, to have something so simple as moms, dads or parents concerned about what’s going on in their schools labeled as extreme — that seems pretty silly to me,” Ms. Shipp said. “The reality is, we want all parents, even ones that we might not agree with, to have that voice, even at the school board meeting, because it affects their children as well.”
Americans’ crumbling faith in institutions
Meanwhile, polls show Americans have an increasing distrust in organized religion, government, public education, science and law enforcement. But what does that mean, why does it matter and what do experts believe will unfold as a result?
As The Times’ Sean Salai writes, some experts are “reluctant to catastrophize the situation,” with experts delivering “nuanced assessments that weighed the positive and negative effects of crumbling traditional bedrocks.”
Deborah Carr, a sociologist who directs the Center of Innovation in Social Science at Boston University, told Mr. Salai the future in regard to these eroded beliefs is uncertain.
“We just don’t know what the worst possible outlook will be in a few years,” Ms. Carr said.
Sarah Sanders: Kids’ chalk drawing of cross stays
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders rejected a D.C. group’s request that the chalk drawing her kids made featuring a Latin cross be removed from the entrance to the Governor’s Mansion.
The artwork, posted online last week, was rebuked by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which sent a four-page letter criticizing the display, Mr. Kellner writes.
The large artwork shows a cross at the center of various colors drawn to resemble a stained glass window.
Museum of the Bible brings scripture to life
On another note, Jeff Kloha, the Museum of the Bible’s chief curator in the District of Columbia, spoke with Mr. Kellner about the museum’s fascinating exhibits and current efforts to bring more tourists into the fold after the COVID-19 pandemic curbed indoor gatherings. “Scripture and Science,” one new exhibit, is sparking rave reviews.
“[Kloha] said the displays, which include the Communion set astronaut Buzz Aldrin used on the moon as well as ET’s communicator device, are ‘helping people walk through these key questions that people have and how science and people of faith approach those questions. So the response has been very, very positive,’” Mr. Kellner writes.
In our opinion
Times columnist Billy Hallowell takes aim at Planned Parenthood’s recent tweet claiming the “idea of virginity comes from outdated — let’s be real, patriarchal — ways of thinking that hurts everyone.”
“The absurdity of the statement … almost takes one’s breath away for its bombastic clinging to untruth and its total lack of self-awareness,” Mr. Hallowell writes, explaining exactly why he’s stunned by the statement.
Religious freedom requires vigilance to survive, writes columnist Jan Figel. Vigilance is critical for the rule of law and religious freedom to be respected in free and democratic countries, writes Mr. Figel, who became the chief negotiator for Slovakia to enter the European Union and became its first EU commissioner.
“Evil remains widespread because it has strong allies: Indifference, ignorance and fear. If we don’t care, if we don’t know, if we are scared to say or do something on behalf of the voiceless or the defenseless, evil flourishes,” he writes.
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