July 3, 2019: US groups urge Pope not to change Lord’s Prayer; record number of girls seek sex change; SCOTUS religious schools case
Daily Radio Script – Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post.
— U.S. groups implore Pope Francis not to change the Lord’s Prayer
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Two conservative groups in the U.S. have launched a petition asking Pope Francis to keep the current English wording of the Lord’s Prayer after the Italian version was recently changed.
The Ruth Institute and Life Site News created an online petition on Monday urging the pontiff not to change the prayer’s wording that asks God: “Lead us not into temptation.”
The pope has indicated that he might change the wording to say: “Do not abandon us to temptation.”
In defense of their argument that the Lord’s Prayer does not need to be changed, biblical scholar Father Reto Nay said:
“The text of the 'Our Father' is passed down to us in the New Testament, which was written in ancient Greek. The phrase ‘and lead us not into temptation’ is contained both in Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4 with identical wording. This means that the wording of the prayer cannot be blamed on a transmission error or misunderstanding.”
On May 22, the Vatican officially enacted a change to the Italian version of the Lord’s Prayer, also commonly known as the “Our Father.”
— Record number of British girls, young children are seeking gender transition
Physicians at a gender clinic in England say they’re seeing a significant increase in the number of girls seeking a gender transition.
The Tavistock clinic in London, England’s sole child gender clinic, said 74% if its patients since last year have been girls. The clinic is also seeing an increase in referrals for younger patients.
From January through April, 54% of patients referred to the clinic were 14 years old or younger.
1,740 girls and 624 boys were referred to the clinic.
The youngest patients the clinic has seen this year were 3 years old," the U.K. Sunday Times reports.
— Supreme Court to decide if religious schools in Montana can get tax credit
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a religious freedom case centered on whether religious schools in Montana can be eligible for a state tax credit on scholarships.
In an order released last Friday, the court granted a petition in the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue.
John Bursch of the religious freedom legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed an amicus brief in the case, told The Christian Post:
“No government should treat people worse just because they are religious. Montana is singling out religious schools and refusing to treat them equally with non-religious schools.”
“For now, students and parents are being barred from opportunities meant for everyone just because they chose a religious school. That’s not only unfair, it’s illegal.”
In 2015, Montana passed Senate Bill 410, which allowed tax credits for donations of up to $150 to either private school scholarships or educational programs in public schools.
— Hong Kong protests continue
Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through Hong Kong on Monday to demand expanded democracy on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to mainland China.
Hong Kong, which has a population of approximately 7 million people, has been part of China since 1997, yet still operates with its own currency, legal system, and police force. The "one country, two systems" arrangement with mainland China remains fraught with tension, highlighted by recent protests in which millions have taken to the streets.
Christians who participated in the protests are said to have sung the song "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord."
The Christian Post reported last month that 2 million protesters took to the streets to show their opposition to both police brutality and a proposed law that would extradite suspected criminals to mainland China to be prosecuted. Protesters also demanded the resignation of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who is backed by China.
Demonstrators fear the Chinese government will employ the proposed extradition law to target and effectively silence their critics.
Recent survey data reveals that a majority, 52.9%, of Hong Kong residents do not see themselves as Chinese but as "Hong Kongers." Only 10.8% said they identify as Chinese, the lowest percentage since 1997.
To read more stories from a Christian perspective, visit www.christianpost.com
