Author J.K. Rowling sparked a social media debate about transgenderism over the weekend for arguing that biological sex isn’t a social construct, and for implying that transgender logic is harming women’s rights.

The controversy began when Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, criticized a news headline that referenced “people who menstruate.”

“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” Rowling tweeted.

Rowling wrote in a follow-up tweet that she has “spent much of the last three years reading books, blogs and scientific papers by trans people, medics and gender specialists.”

After receiving pushback, she explained her position in a series of tweets.

“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” she tweeted. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.

“The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women – ie, to male violence – ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences – is a nonsense,” she wrote.

“I respect every trans…

Kanye West set up and paid for a college savings plan to cover tuition costs for George Floyd’s daughter.

West set up the college fund for Floyd’s 6-year-old and also donated to legal services for Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. He also made donations to many black-owned businesses in Chicago and marched with protesters in Chicago.

Floyd was the black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck. Floyd fell unconscious and later died.

Arbery was a black man who was shot and killed while he was running in Georgia in February.

Taylor was a black woman who was killed when police raided her home in March in Kentucky.

The officers involved in the death of Floyd have been arrested and charged. Meanwhile, demonstrations and protests have continued across the nation, calling for an end to police brutality and racism.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who subdued Floyd, is due to appear in a Minneapolis court on Monday. He has been charged with second-degree and third-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter.

The three other officers involved in the incident have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. 

A visitation for Floyd was also scheduled for Monday in Houston, Floyd’s home city.

Protests were marked with violence in the beginning, but have become largely peaceful,…

Utah Senator Mitt Romney joined with protesters Sunday in a march at the U.S. Capitol.

He told reporters that he wanted to support “ending brutality.”

“Black lives matter,” he said.

The march, called Faith Works, was organized by evangelical Christians from local churches in Washington, D.C. Romney is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been open about his faith in his public office.

Romney also posted a photo on Twitter of himself at the demonstration.

Over the weekend, Romney also tweeted a photo of his father, George W. Romney, participating in a civil rights march in the 1960s. George served as governor of Michigan.

Demonstrators sang “Amazing Grace” as they marched and held signs bearing Bible verses and “Black Lives Matter.”

Tyler Bowen, a member of Grace Meridian Hill, said the march was about showing how Christians also support ending police brutality and racism.

“There is a branch of the evangelical church— like we saw today— that is standing up against these issues, is speaking out, and believes that Jesus is calling them to speak out,” he said. “Speaking out is being faithful to his commandments.”

Joshua Little, who works at the evangelical Christian human rights group International Justice Mission, said some 2,000 people participated in Sunday’s march.

“It represented a unified show of support of churches in the D.C….

The wife of Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is apologizing following her husband’s apology for some comments he made in a recent interview. 

As Christian Headlines previously reported, Drew Brees stated in an interview with Yahoo News that he would never agree with anyone “disrespecting the American flag” and that the national anthem “shows unity.”

Following the interview, Brees issued an apology Thursday morning that he “completely missed the mark” as he was blasted for his previous comments.

Amidst all backlash on Brees, others came to his defense such as famed NFL Coach Tony Dungy.

“I don’t downgrade Drew for that,” Dungy said, according to Faithwire. “That’s what he said. He may not totally understand. It may have been not exactly how he wanted to express it. But he can’t be afraid to say that.”

President Trump also addressed Brees’ remarks on Twitter in a word of criticism.

“I am a big fan of Drew Brees. I think he’s truly one of the greatest quarterbacks, but he should not have taken back his original stance on honoring our magnificent American Flag,” the president wrote.

Then on Friday, Drew’s wife, Brittany Brees made an apology of her own in a lengthy post on Instagram, as reported by the New York Post. 

“WE ARE THE PROBLEM,” Brittany stated in her opening words. “I write this with tears in my eyes and I hope you all hear our…

Tim Keller, a well-known speaker, theologian and author is calling for prayer following his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer.

“Less than three weeks ago I didn’t know I had cancer,” Keller wrote on social media. “Today I’m headed to the National Cancer Institute at the [National Institutes of Health] for additional testing before beginning chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer next week in New York City.”

An article by Mayo Clinic states that pancreatic cancer begins within one’s tissues of the pancreas — “an organ in your abdomen that lies behind the lower part of your stomach.”

The article also noted that “pancreatic cancer is seldom detected at its early stages when it’s most curable”.

For that reason, symptoms do not manifest “until after it has spread to other organs.”

At more advanced stages of the disease, people with pancreatic cancer experience several symptoms including abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and fatigue. 

While Keller stated that he “felt great and had no symptoms”, his doctors counted it as an “incidental pickup,” which Keller saw as “providential intervention” concerning the doctors’ detection of the cancer.

“I have terrific human doctors, but most importantly I have the Great Physician himself caring for me,” he asserted. “Though we have had times of shock and fear, God has been remarkably present with me through all the many tests,…

A Nevada sheriff says he won’t enforce a state restriction limiting churches and houses of worship to 50 attendees during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Lyon County Sheriff Frank Hunewill was named as a defendant in a May lawsuit by a congregation, Calvary Chapel in Dayton, Nev., challenging the state’s order. 

But in a filing with the court last week, Hunewill says he won’t enforce the state’s restriction.

“Lyon County law enforcement officers have not and will not be using their limited resources monitoring church attendance and/or parishioner’s adherence to social distancing recommendations,” Hunewill said, according to the Associated Press. “Whether the plaintiff’s services included more than the governor’s recommended number of parishioners or … adhere to the recommended social distancing during the worship services is not a priority of Lyon County law enforcement.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom filed the suit against Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and other officials, arguing it discriminates against churches and violates the First Amendment’s protections of religious freedom, free speech, and assembly. ADF says the congregation will adhere to strict social distancing and sanitation measures.

The ADF suit questions why Sisolak exempted numerous businesses – including bars, body piercers, museums, water parks, fitness facilities, movie theaters and…

(RNS) — Jemar Tisby and Pastor Tyler Burns, co-hosts of the five-year-old Pass the Mic podcast, are used to dispensing their views on black Christian life from behind the microphone.

In the wake of the death of George Floyd under the knee of a white policeman, the leaders of the nine-year-old The Witness: A Black Christian Collective find themselves trying to speak to white believers.

On Thursday (June 4), Tisby, the author of “The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism,” and Burns, lead pastor of New Dimensions Christian Center in Pensacola, Florida, talked to Religion News Service about race relations and policing and what people — including white evangelicals — need to do differently as the country faces these issues anew.

“A lot of times white people, in particular, like to treat racial justice like a light switch that they can flick on and off,” said Tisby, who hopes this time around that won’t happen.

“It is not enough for us to simply say nice things at this moment,” added Burns, who has taken to the streets in protests in Pensacola. “Black people are tired and we’re going to continue. That’s just the history of who we are. But we cannot do this alone. It’s impossible for us to do this alone. And so we need co-laborers and we need allies.”

The interview, a portion of which is set to be featured on Religion News…