A brick of Oscar Wilde aged Irish cheddar sitting on my kitchen table has led to this meditation on a word from God: “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning” (Ecclesiastes 7:8). The label has a picture of the dandified playwright and this quote: “The only way to get rid of a temptation … is to yield to it.”

The ACLU on Friday filed suit against North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom bill,” claiming the compromise legislation adopted earlier this year still infringes on transgender rights. The bill, approved by Republicans and Democrats in March, removed a previous requirement that people use restrooms in public buildings based on their biological sex, not their gender identity. But ACLU lawyers accuse Republican lawmakers of creating confusion by suggesting possible prosecution for people who enter multi-user restrooms that don’t correspond to their birth sex.

Despite claims this week’s Church of England General Synod resulted in no doctrinal changes on the issue of sexuality, conservative Anglicans are lamenting the three-day meeting, saying the Church stepped away from Biblical Christianity and mocked God’s Word. 

Defense Secretary James Mattis last Friday delayed the implementation of a policy allowing transgender individuals to enlist in the armed services. The deadline for the Obama-era rule to take effect was the following day, July 1.

Charity finance analyst Guidestar agreed Friday to remove “hate group” designations temporarily from 46 Christian and conservative nonprofit groups. Guidestar began using the designations issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) earlier this year. It describes SPLC as a civil-rights advocacy organization, but the group’s primary purpose is to advance the gay rights agenda. It uses its “hate group” labels to describe any individual or organization that holds to Biblical definitions of marriage and gender.

Teen pregnancies in England fell dramatically after cuts to sex education program funding, according to a new study. 

The analysis, published in the Journal of Health Economics last month, examined the effect of budget cuts to government-run teen pregnancy-prevention programs—including sex education, free condoms, and access to the “morning after pill”—in the last decade.

The results surprised the authors and frustrated sex-ed advocates. 

The Scottish Episcopal Church voted today to allow clergy to marry same-sex couples, the first Anglican branch in Britain to permit gay marriage. Church members voted to remove the doctrinal clause describing marriage as a “union of one man and one woman,” putting the Scottish Church at odds with the official stance of the Anglican Communion. The decision required the backing of at least two-thirds of each house of bishops, clergy, and laity at the annual synod meeting in Edinburgh.