It’s Wednesday, December 20th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (
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By Jonathan Clark
Chinese Christians continue to be persecuted
Members of Early Rain Covenant Church continue to face persecution from the Chinese government. Five years ago, authorities arrested over 100 members of the church located in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. The initial arrests resulted in a nine-year prison sentence for Wang Yi, the church’s pastor.
Church members faced new detentions on Sunday, December 10, which was also International Human Rights Day. The latest persecution came after the church planned an online prayer meeting to commemorate the initial crackdown in 2018.
Mervyn Thomas with Christian Solidarity Worldwide said, “These mass police operations against house churches show the Chinese authorities' utter contempt for universal and inalienable human rights.”
Chinese earthquake kills 127 people
Speaking of China, the country experienced its deadliest earthquake in years on Monday.
A 6.2-magnitude quake hit China’s north-central Gansu Province, killing at least 127 people. The disaster left hundreds more injured and thousands of buildings damaged.
China is no stranger to deadly earthquakes. A quake in Qinghai Province took 2,700 lives in 2010. And the deadliest earthquake in recent decades killed nearly 90,000 in 2008 in the province of Sichuan.
Colorado rules Trump is ineligible to be on presidential ballot
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state's primary ballot, reports The Epoch Times.
It declared that President Trump's speech on and before January 6, 2021, "was not protected by the First Amendment" because it was speech that was "likely to incite such imminent lawlessness and violence."
They concluded that Trump is disqualified from holding office, according to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in Section 3 because he “engaged in insurrection.”
However, the court suspended its ruling until January 4, 2024, "pending any review by the U.S. Supreme Court."
If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to review the issue by January 4, the Colorado Secretary of State will be required to continue to include President Trump on the primary ballot. Otherwise, his name will be removed.
Appearing on Fox News Channel, George Washington Law Professor Jonathan Turley drew this conclusion.
TURLEY: “There was a series of barriers in applying this provision to bar Trump. … In order to establish that he was engaged in insurrection, they go back to speeches in 2016, and they basically daisy chain these speeches to say, ‘Look, he's been at this for a long time.’ I think that the factual and legal basis of this opinion is really so porous that the Supreme Court will make fast work of it.”
This makes Colorado the first and only state to disqualify President Trump from appearing on a state primary ballot.
President Trump has announced he will appeal the decision.
Michigan city compelled to give $825,000 to Catholic farmer over discrimination
A Michigan city agreed to an $825,000 settlement with a Catholic farmer in a religious liberty case.
Steve Tennes with Country Mill Farms sued East Lansing in 2017 after officials barred him from the city’s farmers market for his Biblical beliefs about marriage.
Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Earlier this year, a federal district court sided with Tennes, saying he is free to participate in the market.
Kate Anderson with Alliance Defending Freedom said, “We’re pleased to favorably settle this lawsuit on behalf of Steve so he and his family can continue doing what Country Mill does best, as expressed in its mission statement: ‘glorifying God by facilitating family fun on the farm and feeding families.’”
Steve appeared on NewsMax TV.
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