the Web Editors

A new short documentary, "What Happens When an Evangelical Church Welcomes LGBTQ Members," features Rev. Adam Phillips, a pastor in Portland, Ore., whose church was kicked out of the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination in 2015 when Phillips revealed his full acceptance and support of the LGBTQ community.

"I hadn't really grown up in a faith community, and the Covenant Church was my faith family," he says. "I poured myself into it, and for a long season they poured themselves into me. I was one of the young emerging leaders...to be the future leaders of the church."

On Dec. 6 German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for face-covering veils to be banned in Germany, reports the Washington Post.

“The full veil is not appropriate here, it should be forbidden wherever that is legally possible,” said Merkel, speaking to attendees of the Christian Democratic Union's conference. 

The Injustice Boycott has selected three locations that it plans to affect: New York City, San Francisco, and Standing Rock. The initiative will give the government leaders of those locations until Jan. 17, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to answer to the demands of local activists and organizers, and if those demands aren’t answered by that day, the Injustice Boycott will launch several actions against the city. These actions will include a tourism boycott of those cities; pulling money out of banks, financial institutions, and large corporations that either support racial injustice and police brutality in those cities or have not come out against them; and protests in the city that will be designed to shut down the work of businesses and city government.

1. Civil Rights Group Documents Nearly 900 Hate Incidents Post-Election

More than 300 included direct references to the president-elect.

2. New Sanctuary Cities in Texas Vow to Resist Donald Trump’s Deportations

“My message to the people who fear, justifiably, in their hearts what is to come, is that before they come for you, they have to come through me.” —Austin city council member Greg Cesar

3. Advent, Explained

All the things you didn’t know you didn’t know about this season of waiting.

By not hiding her HIV-positive status, Princess Kasune—an opposition MP in Zambia—is subverting the stigma of HIV/AIDS in her country, reports BBC News.

In 1997 Kasune tested positive for HIV and defied her husband’s desire to keep her status a secret. For this her church excommunicated her and her family disagreed with her decision.

“I long to see an HIV-free generation and hopefully a day without stigma,” said Kasune.

On Sept. 20 Scott was shot and killed by Vinson after officers surrounded Scott’s SUV, parked in front of Scott’s apartment, and Scott exited his vehicle. District Attorney Andrew Murray stated that Scott exited his SUV while armed and ignored commands from officers to drop his gun. However, Scott’s relatives stated that Scott was reading a book in his car, waiting for his son to arrive from school. Both Scott’s relatives and witnesses of the shooting reported that Scott was unarmed. Police stated that a gun was found at the scene.

Normand stood outside the mosque for several hours, his message of support and solidarity offering a striking counter to the more than 800 incidents of harrassment and hate crimes that have reportedly occured since Election Day.

In the last week, reports of police using concussion grenades, water cannons, and tear gas on members of the Standing Rock Sioux and gathered Water Protectors resulted in dozens of activists being hospitalized. What comes next remains to be seen. Over the weekend, the Army Corps of Engineers ordered an eviction of Oceti Sakowin Camp by Dec. 5. On Nov. 27, the agency updated its eviction notice to say it "has no plans for forcible removal. But those who choose to stay do so at their own risk ... [and] will be considered unauthorized and may be subject to citation under federal, state, or local laws."

Nearly 1,500 veterans, EMTS, and firefighters have pledged to arrive to camp on Dec. 4 to stand in support of the Water Protectors, and there are signs that the militarized response to the protests is wearing on North Dakota’s resources.

On Nov. 28 Dylann Roof announced that he will represent himself during his upcoming trial, and his attorneys will serve only as his stand-by counsel, reports CBS Channel 5 News from Charleston, S.C. Roof made this announcement during the trial’s jury qualification process. Roof is accused of fatally shooting nine African-American parishioners in their church — the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston — after they met for a bible study.