A student group has sued the Georgia Institute of Technology, claiming that they discriminated against them when they requested and were denied funding for an event featuring pro-life activist Alveda King.

The Students for Life at Georgia Tech filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

The suit names as defendants various Georgia Tech officials, the school’s Student Government Association, and the Regents of the University System of Georgia.

At issue was the SGA’s refusal last year to provide funding for an event featuring King, with the suit claiming that the funding was denied because of the speaker’s religious and pro-life views.

The suit also argues that speaker requests from other student groups “are routinely ‘fast tracked’ without any discussion” by SGA members.

“It is discriminatory and unconstitutional to withhold funding from student activity fees that students have already paid into simply because a group holds a pro-life, conservative, or religious belief,” states the complaint.

“The Supreme Court made it clear twenty years ago that if public universities wish to force students to pay student activity fees, then those universities have an affirmative duty to ensure that the funds are distributed in a viewpoint neutral manner—not by a simple majority vote.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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As some Americans including pockets of practicing Christians raise skepticism about how much of a threat the new coronavirus poses to their lives, a doctor leading the Samaritan’s Purse coronavirus response at a field hospital in Central Park warned Thursday that “it’s serious,” as residents welcomed the evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization.

While urging people not to be hysterical or dismissive of the disease, Dr. K. Elliott Tenpenny said Americans need to treat the coronavirus as “a serious disease.”

“This is not something to think this is the end of the world, but it is not something that’s also to dismiss,” Tenpenny told The Christian Post at the site of the field hospital Thursday. “It’s serious. It’s a serious disease. It’s not the end of the world. We’re going to make it through this, but it is serious and anyone that says differently I don’t believe they’re speaking truthfully.”

Tenpenny’s warning comes as White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx urged every state to begin practicing recommended social distancing guidelines after highlighting that data on the spread of the virus indicates not everyone is treating the virus with the seriousness it deserves.

“We’re only as strong as every community, every county, every state, every American following the guidelines to a T,” Birx said Thursday. “And I can tell by the curve (of infections) and as it is today that not every American is following it.”

Many Americans, like Brooklyn resident David Self, who traveled to Manhattan to observe the Samaritan’s Purse 68-bed field hospital that opened Wednesday adjacent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Central Park’s East Meadow, count themselves among the skeptics.

“I came from Brooklyn. I was here yesterday to just to check it out because the media is saying the hospitals are overwhelmed but I’m just not seeing that personally. I’ve been to three different hospitals: Lenox, Brooklyn, this one. It’s very quiet. Came by here yesterday, there’s no patients,” Self said. “I think this is being hyped beyond what it actually is.”

He said he was happy that the Franklin Graham-led Samaritan’s Purse had come to assist with the coronavirus crisis but added, “I don’t see what the problem is … there doesn’t seem to be anything to help out for.”

At least 245,573 Americans have been infected by the coronavirus and all states but Wyoming have reported deaths. New York is reporting more than 83,000 positive cases of the coronavirus and more than 45,000 of those have been reported in New York City alone. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that at least 2,468 people have died from the virus statewide and that hospitals will run out of ventilators in about six days.

“It’s like watching a slow-moving hurricane across the country, where you know the path that it’s taking,” Cuomo said.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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Amid recent reports of which countries are the safest, and least safe to be in vis a vis the coronavirus outbreak, Israel ranked first among the safest countries. This is partly due to strict measures and a high level of testing that came into effect relatively early. Today, Israel “only” has several thousand infected, and just crossed the threshold of 30 deaths. Tens of thousands of Israelis are under quarantine having been exposed to, or nearby, someone who has tested positive. While medically, Israelis find themselves in relatively good shape, there are other grave needs that impact Israeli society uniquely.

The ability to track this has been aided by Israel’s secret service using a technology meant mostly to combat terror, and a new app released by the Health Ministry that uses a similar technology to check if someone has been in proximity with someone who is infected. (I have downloaded the app and, thankfully, since the beginning of February, have not been near anyone with the coronavirus.)

Nevertheless, as a small country of 9 million, the economic havoc has been great and will have a negative trickledown for some time. Among other sectors of the economy, the tourism industry has all but been shut down following record years of increased tourism. Before the current crisis, Israel had a remarkably low level of unemployment, around 4%. Since then, more than 1 million Israelis have filed for unemployment, just shy of 25% of the workforce. This is unprecedented in Israeli history, even during periods that Israel suffered from record inflation, economic stringencies and rationing in the early years of independence.

As a result, today, the weakest sectors of the population have been among the hardest hit. In response, to help the most needy with immediate needs, the Genesis 123 Foundation has launched an emergency appeal for needy, poor families in Jerusalem in advance of the upcoming Festival of Passover and Easter, and has called upon Christians and Jews, and anyone who loves and supports Israel, to join in this season.

In response to an urgent request from the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the Genesis 123 Foundation responded instantly. She appealed to the Genesis 123 Foundation as an organization with a wide reach, building bridges among Jews and Christians, noting how immediate help was needed due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Most know of Jerusalem as the sacred ancient and modern capital of Israel, and Israel’s largest city. However, most are unaware that it is also Israel’s poorest city per capita, with large Arab and ultra-Orthodox communities each having relatively high rates of poverty in normal times. The Genesis 123 Foundation campaign will help people from all sectors of Jerusalem’s diverse population.

Deputy Mayor Hassan-Nahoum explained, “Israel took the correct but unprecedented measure of closing down schools and classes including those for at-risk and special needs children. This is causing incredible hardship for some 6,000 families in Jerusalem who have children in these schools, and whose families normally have the respite of a structured educational framework. Adding to the challenges of taking care of special needs children all day with no outside support, about a third of these families, 2,000 households, suffer from severe economic hardship.”

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Several national Christian groups, led by the AND Campaign, today announced an initiative to help small churches throughout the U.S. that are at-risk of closing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The effort, which also includes former NFL player Benjamin Watson, is called the Churches Helping Churches Initiative, and it’s targeted to assist congregations in low-income communities in urban areas that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 economic shutdown.

According to a recent Barna Group survey, thousands of pastors (7%) are unsure or not confident that their church will survive the coronavirus pandemic and nearly a quarter of American churches (22%) have already reduced staff hours, reduced compensation or laid off employees. Another recent Axios-Ipsos poll found that low-income Americans are now far more likely to be at risk of coronavirus infection or job loss.

This Churches Helping Churches Initiative urges larger, more stable churches to assist at-risk churches in their own community. On its website, ChurchRelief.org, the Initiative has provided guidance and best practices for how large churches can pursue this type of outreach.

In addition, to help encourage generosity by stable churches, this Initiative creates a Coronavirus At-Risk Church Relief Fund that provides $3,000 grants to small churches who are at risk of closing within the next three months due to a steep loss in financial giving. The initial goal of the fund is to raise at least $500,000 during the month of April from Christian donors, foundations and large churches. Already, the Initiative has secured the commitment of $100,000 toward the fund. The grants will be administered by the National Christian Foundation and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to at-risk churches.

SOURCE: Charisma News, D. J. Jordan

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“If we ever needed help, it is now.” Kyle Smith, secretary for communications, The Salvation Army USA Western Territory, said while monitoring and coordinating responses in Southern California—one of the largest epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. “We have closed many of our Family Thrift Stores to make shelters for the homeless and get them off the streets to help stop the spread of the virus. As a result, we desperately need financial support to keep our Adult Rehabilitation Centers open during this time.”

The Salvation Army’s ARCs (substance abuse centers) are primarily funded by thrift store purchases. Not only has the Army lost the revenue from those stores that provide aid to those who need assistance, meals, shelters and substance abuse counseling, but it has also shut them down to provide spaces for beds and to help the homeless during the epidemic. In doing so, the Army is not only providing thousands of new beds but thousands of meals as well. Its food distribution centers and pantries are working overtime as volunteers and staff put their own lives and families at risk to work on the front lines.

Smith shares that more hard-working people are asking for help than ever before. Many people already on the financial edge before the pandemic and who had never asked for assistance before are now are showing up at their facilities. The Salvation Army is known for its service to others without discrimination. And while some are hesitant to ask for help because the Army is strongly associated with a Christian worldview, now, even the skeptics are asking as never before. Consequently, the Salvation Army is fighting to meet the overwhelming physical as well as spiritual needs.

As a national board member for the Salvation Army and the co-founder of Cooke Media Group, a media production company in Burbank, California and the nonprofit, The Influence Lab, I have been assisting the Army on how to use media more effectively to communicate its needs and programs. Last September, Influence Lab Women—our initiative to women leaders in the media and entertainment industry, gathered at the Hollywood corps facilities to help serve and pray for the hundreds of homeless on the streets in Hollywood and to see the operation firsthand. I have also witnessed the almost daily updates from the National Headquarters as the national government and the Trump administration have recently recognized the Army as one of the leading providers for assistance to the public during the pandemic. As a result, I see just how great the need truly is and the many ways the Salvation Army is filling them.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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