In a statement on Friday, nearly 100 conservative leaders requested that the White House oppose the Equality Act, which many organizations say seriously threatens religious freedom. 

The Act passed the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month and is now facing a floor vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to make the act one of her top legislative priorities, according to CBN News.

The bill “prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. Specifically, the bill defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation,” according to a summary on Congress’ website.

Many organizations, including the Family Research Council, March for Life, Heritage Action for America, the Media Research Center, Judicial Watch, and American Values signed the statement.

“The titles of these bills belie their consequences, which will undermine parental rights, and the pro-life and conscience rights of medical professionals, make environments inherently unfair, unequal, and unsafe for women and curtail religious freedom for both religious organizations and people of faith,” the statement…

Australian rugby player Israel Folau has been found guilty of breach of contract by Rugby Australia for posting a Bible verse on homosexuality. 

As Christian Headlines previously reported, Folau, who was contracted with Rugby Australia until 2022 and was paid over $1M a year, was fired for posting 1 Corinthians 6:9, warning that drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, and idolaters will go to hell. 

Despite his termination, Folau requested a three-person independent hearing, according to the BBC. The hearing determined his breach of contract and will consider written statements from both parties before deciding Folau’s punishment. 

Folau had been warned about his posts previously. “At its core, this is an issue of the responsibilities an employee owes to their employer and the commitments they make to their employer to abide by their employer’s policies and procedures and adhere to their employer’s values,” Raelene Castle, chief executive of Rugby Australia said.

The rugby player has since lost two of his major sponsors since the post. As reported by CBN News, both Land Rover and Asics have let go of his contracts. “We champion inclusivity and diversity,” Asics wrote in a statement. “While Israel Folau is entitled to his personal views, some of those expressed in recent social media…

Legislative proposals that aim to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected are on track to becoming law in three southern states. Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia are all on course to pass the bills, which would make abortion almost completely illegal and protect the most vulnerable in our society – the unborn. 

The fetal heartbeat is usually detected at around six weeks, meaning that abortion will be close to completely outlawed if the bills succeed.

In Georgia, a proposed fetal heartbeat bill has earned the signature of state Governor Brian Kemp and will go into effect at the start of next year. “Our job is to do what is right, not what is easy,” Kemp said at the signing ceremony, according to the New York Times. “We are called to be strong and courageous, and we will not back down.”

“This is a historic day for Georgia,” added Catherine Davis of the pro-life organization, Human Coalition following the momentous occasion. “This is a day that many of us who have been in the pro-life fight for years and years and years didn’t really think it would be possible, in light of the politics of the issue.”

Georgia’s bill is set to go into force on January 1. 

The pro-life cause has enjoyed sweeping successes this year, with governors from Mississippi, Ohio and Kentucky all signing fetal heartbeat bills and lawmakers in South Carolina and…

Two days after a California school board approved new curriculum that includes LGBT history, parents of more than 700 students kept their children home in protest.

The Rocklin School District Board OK’d the curriculum May 1 by a vote of 3-2, requiring students in kindergarten through fifth grades to learn about the contributions of key LGBT figures in history and social studies curriculum, according to the Sacramento Bee. Rocklin is about one-hour northeast of Sacramento.  

A group of parents known as the Informed Parents of Rocklin had urged the board not to include the curriculum in elementary grades. 

The board’s action was in response to a new state law requiring schools to include the contributions of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” in history lessons. 

Unlike sex-ed, there is no opt-out for parents in the law. 

Parents of more than 700 students kept their children home on May 3, according to Sacramento’s Fox 40.  

“We believe that anyone who has made a significant contribution to society should, of course, be included in our history textbooks,” Rachel Crutchfield, spokeswoman for Informed Parents of Rocklin had said earlier in the week. “However, the concept of sexual orientation is far too complex of a topic for elementary-aged children to be introduced to at school. … Let’s let kids be kids.”

A…

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Yusuf Tulo and his sizeable family were worshipping in their home in eastern Uganda on April 28 when they heard their neighbors shouting, “Fire!”

Tulo, 35, had left Islam to put his faith in Christ last October. He still had three wives and 14 children dependent on him living on a homestead with more than one house in Bugwere village, and the house they used for worship was on fire.

When they went outside, however, something was not right; among neighbors standing around the house looking at the smoke, one said, “Please remain indoors – your lives are in danger.”

Tulo had been receiving threatening messages from Muslims for months, but faced with the danger of smoke coming from the house, he chose to remain outside. An hour later, the roof collapsed in flames and the house was charred.

“We lost everything in that house: beddings, clothing, books, documents and other household belongings worth more than $1,000,” Tulo told Morning Star News.

The village is in Kitantalo parish, Tirinyi Sub-County of Kibuku District, and Tirinyi police arrived at the scene an hour later.

Since then the family has been living with friends and neighbors – in intense fear for their lives, he said. Among the threats he has received, one text message read, “The burning of the house was just warning. If you continue…

The former cell of Asia Bibi is now being used to hold another Christian woman in Pakistan.

Asia Bibi was freed earlier this month and joined her family in Canada. She spent some eight years in a Pakistani prison on blasphemy charges and faced the death penalty. She was exonerated in 2018.

Her former cell in Pakistan at the Multan Women Jail is now being used for Shagufta Kausar, a 45-year-old mother and wife.

Kausar and her husband were both condemned to death by a trial court in February 2014. A prayer leader at a local mosque accused Kausar’s husband, Shafqat Masih, of sending blasphemous text messages from his wife’s cell phone with her “connivance.”

The couple was arrested, and a mob surrounded the local police station, demanding the husband and wife be handed to them to be killed.

Since the arrest, the couple has been waiting five years for the Lahore High Court to hear their appeal.

“The couple is innocent,” their lawyer Saif-ul Malook said, “and there is no legal substantial evidence available that proves they actually texted those messages.”

Malook also represented Bibi.

“Every legal case requires a different strategy and I have decided a different strategy for this case as per the facts and relevant laws,” Malook told CT.

“Sending false persecution news [in the West] does not help the Pakistani Christians…