Feb. 8, 2020: Facilitating sexual exploitation; religious freedom; porn bill
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020
Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post.
— 'Dirty baker's dozen': 13 companies facilitating sexual exploitation
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Major corporations and one state are listed on the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2020 “Dirty Dozen List” of entities that are complicit in “perpetuating” sexual exploitation in any form. The nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to addressing the “full-spectrum” of sexual exploitation has put out an annual Dirty Dozen List since 2013.
The list serves as an activism tool to pressure companies with business practices that contribute to the sexual exploitation of people to change course. Among the companies on the Dirty Dozen List are Amazon, Google and Wish.
— Judge reverses convictions of aid workers who left food, water for immigrants
Four aid volunteers who left food and water for illegal immigrants who entered the country by way of the Arizona desert in 2017 had their criminal convictions overturned Monday by a federal judge who ruled that the government’s prosecution violated their religious freedom rights. The four volunteers serving with the No More Deaths ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tuscan said they were engaging in a “sincere” exercise of their religious beliefs.
The volunteers left food and water in an area of rugged landscape in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge near the border. Last January, they were convicted of violating regulations governing the refuge and faced fines and probation because they entered without out a permit, drove on restricted-access roads and left food and water.
The defendants argued that their actions were aimed at “mitigating death and suffering” and protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
— Utah bill to require warning labels on porn
A newly introduced proposal in Utah requires pornography to come with labels warning of "addictive sexual behavior" and "low self-esteem" among other ill effects in the latest legislative push against porn.
According to Utah state Representative Brady Brammer, the proposed label on pornography warns of impairment of “brain development, emotional development, and the ability to maintain intimate relationships.” The label would also warn that exposure to porn might also result in “the improper objectification of and sexual violence towards others, among other numerous harms.”
Those who refuse to affix the labels on graphic content could face fines up to $2,500 for every violation. Utah is among 15 states where legislatures have passed resolutions declaring pornography as a public health crisis, linking it to domestic violence and human trafficking.
— President Xi turning faith into 'tool for indoctrination of Communist ideology’
During a National Prayer Breakfast sideline event on religious persecution co-hosted by the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and 21Wilberforce, Bob Fu, the founder and president of China Aid, said that over the last two years, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “war on religion” has reached its “worst” in 40 years. He accused Xi of turning faith into a “tool for the indoctrination of Communist ideology.”
He said that all religious leaders in China are now required to pledge to obey the Communist Party’s ideology in their pulpit before they can be allowed to practice their religion. Millions of Chinese Christian children have also been forced to renounce their faith by signing a Communist Party prepared document.
— Mormon Church withdraws missionaries from Hong Kong, Macau
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says it is removing all 125 of its missionaries from the cities of Hong Kong and Macau amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
A flu-like illness, the coronavirus was first detected in China and as of Thursday evening has killed over 600 people and infected more than 31,000, the vast majority are located in mainland China.
The LDS Church says is does not have any missionaries serving in mainland China.
To read more stories from a Christian perspective, visit christianpost.com.
