Last week, it was announced the new president of Planned Parenthood, Dr. Leana Wen, had been fired from her high-profile post. In an opinion piece published at the New York Times, the physician cited “philosophical differences over the best way to protect reproductive health,” as the reason for her departure.

However, since then, many have speculated that the leading abortion provider may have forced Wen out of her job because she was keen for the organization to stop focusing solely on abortion and to take a more holistic approach in providing healthcare services to women.

Indeed, Wen herself noted that “there was immediate criticism that I did not prioritize abortion enough” after taking the job.

“While I am passionately committed to protecting abortion access, I do not view it as a stand-alone issue,” Wen wrote in the New York Times. “As one of the few national health care organizations with a presence in all 50 states, Planned Parenthood’s mandate should be to promote reproductive health care as part of a wide range of policies that affect women’s health and public health,” she added.

Dr. Wen also noted that she was met with opposition when attempting to include those who “wrestled with abortion’s moral complexities,” but who still supported a woman’s right to choose. “I…

Foster moms Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case against the city of Philadelphia because of its ban on religious agencies who refuse to compromise on their view on marriage, according to LifeSite News.

“The city of Philadelphia is threatening to close one of its most successful foster care agencies because it disagrees with their religious views on marriage — and foster kids are paying the price,” the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the women, said.

In March 2018, Philadelphia ended the Archdioceses of Philadelphia’s Catholic Social Services because of its teaching on marriage, which meant that foster kids were not placed in same-sex couples’ homes. According to CBN News, this view never affected any applicants, as no LGBTQ couple had ever applied to foster with the agency.

“It’s time for the Supreme Court to weigh in and allow faith-based agencies to continue doing what they do best: give vulnerable children loving homes,” said Becket senior counsel Lori Windham.

The new ban comes in light of Philadelphia’s overwhelming need for foster homes. The same month the ban became effective, the city issued a plea for 300 new foster families to take care of children who had been affected by the opioid crisis.

Fulton has fostered…

A new study found that people who know the most about religion have a less positive view of Evangelical Christians than those with less religious knowledge.

According to the Pew Research Center study, the people with the highest scores on Pew Research Center’s religious literacy quiz said they had worse views of evangelicals than other religions.

“Higher scores on the overall (32- point) religious knowledge scale tend to be associated with warmer evaluations of most religious groups,” the researchers wrote. “One exception to this pattern is evangelical Christians, who are rated most warmly by those at the low end of the religious knowledge scale.

Evangelicals were viewed on a warm/favorable to cool/unfavorable scale as a low 43 degrees. Meanwhile, Jews were rated 70 on the same scale.

The study also found that evangelical Protestants know more than the average American about the Bible and Christianity. Less said they knew more about other religious traditions around the world.

“It is crucial that evangelicals, both young and old, have accurate understandings of other religions. Insofar as Christians want to be fairly represented, so they need to do the same for others,” said Nijay Gupta, a Portland Seminary professor who has written about New Testament perspectives on interfaith relations.

“With social media…

The list of ways Chick-fil-A workers go the extra mile for customers now includes prayer.

Brittany Calden was eating at a Chick-fil-A at Madison, Ala., earlier this month when she saw long-time employee Stephen Spray talking to another customer. Soon, Spray put his hand on the customer and began praying for her, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. 

Calden, a professional photographer with Brittany Calden Photography, snapped a photo of the interaction. It has gone viral. 

“As a photographer, it was instinctual for me to document this moment,” Calden told Fox 5. “I find myself always searching for things that move me, and this was one of those instances.”

The moment caused Calden to tear up.

“He’s a hard worker and was wiping tables minutes before approaching the lady,” Calden said.

“Mr. Steve” as he’s known, has worked at the restaurant for nine years.

“Mr. Steve never fails to walk up to your table and ask how your day is going and always tried to make your day better than it was before you saw him,” Calden said.

Spray told Calden the “Spirit led him to pray for her.”

“I work at a place where if I’m led to pray for someone, I’m able to do that and I’ll do it right on the spot,” Spray told her. “People need prayer, encouragement, and love. That’s what we try to do here.” 

Chick-fil-A was No. 1 in the 2019…

Extremists in Middle Eastern countries have found a new way to target those who believe in Jesus through social media.

According to Open Doors USA, a nonprofit persecution watch group, terrorists hack into Christian’s Facebook accounts and post blasphemous messages against Islam to their feeds. Because criticism of Islam is against the law, these believers are arrested or experience heavy persecution.

An example is a 26-year-old Christian man named Fady Youssef Todary, who lives in Egypt. When he logged into his account, he discovered a message that he didn’t write on his Facebook account. He quickly posted a video explaining that his account had been hacked.

But the damage had been done and almost 100 people attacked his family’s home in Minya, south of Cairo. His parents successfully evaded the mob, but the home and all inside of it was destroyed. Police quickly calmed down the group, arresting some of the attackers. However, a few days later, the police returned to arrest Todary, his 19-year-old brother, and two of his uncles.

Todary’s family members have since been released, but Todary still waits for his trial.

Father Soliman, a local priest who knows Todary well, told Open Doors, “I know Fady very well. He is a peaceful person, and he would never post something negative about Islam. But there are people whose aim it is to fire up conflict between…