News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Students work at their desks at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021. The law passed last year says schools must display the national motto in a “conspicuous place” but only if the poster is “donated” or “purchased by private donations.” A new law requiring Texas…
A new law requiring Texas schools to display donated "In God We Trust" posters is the latest move by Republican lawmakers to bring Christianity into taxpayer-funded institutions. Under the law, Senate Bill 797 , which passed during last year’s legislative session, schools are required to display the posters if they…
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, foreground, speaks to supporters at Wearhouse 25 during a party to kick off her re-election bid for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District seat, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Grand Junction, Colo. You can say I came out of the womb a Baptist preacher. In fact, I’m Baptist…
Friends and neighbors, The United States Constitution spells out Americans’ fundamental rights in relation to their government. While this document may have been written nearly 235 years ago, it still stands as a unique, exceptional beacon of freedom and is used every day in our lives. This week, I will…
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. ( WJHL ) — A Wisconsin-based organization wants the City of Elizabethton to take down the three iconic crosses on Lynn Mountain that overlook the city. The crosses have been there for decades. The Freedom From Religion Foundation says it wants the crosses removed because they are located…
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Wisconsin-based organization wants the City of Elizabethton to take down the three iconic crosses on Lynn Mountain that overlook the city. The crosses have been there for decades. The Freedom From Religion Foundation says it wants the crosses removed because they are located on city…
Blasphemy and Apostasy Punished; Winter Olympics — Thawing of China’s Treatment of Religious Minorities? China May Restrict Religious Expression Following Olympics; Streaming Online a Godsend for Churches and the Isolated; City Restricts Church Homeless Outreach Blasphemy and Apostasy Punished Ken Mayer is licensed under CC BY 2.0 In scores of…
Three families are suing Maine to require the state to pay tuition to the religious school of their choice. These families and the First Liberty Institute, the Christian Nationalist quasi-law firm defending them, believe freedom of religion includes forcing the state to finance religious education. However, freedom of religion also…
Is America a Christian nation? Should it be? What does it even mean for a country to be a Christian nation or a nation of any other religion? These were among the questions Pastor Jim Eaton of Mosaic Church in Frederick, Md., and I discussed for the National Day of…
“Global Respect Act” Disrespects Religious Liberty; Christians Win in European Court of Human Rights; Chinese Communists “Walk in Footsteps of Taliban”; To Forward a Spiritual Revival? University and Smithsonian to Study Role of Religion in Jan 6 Capitol Riot; Patheos Pulls Plug on Negative Religious Criticism “Global Respect Act” Disrespects…
FILE – Gov. Asa Hutchinson answers questions from the press Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, during the weekly briefing at the state Capitol. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff) Religious social media posts from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are unconstitutional, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said in a letter to the…
FILE – Gov. Asa Hutchinson answers questions from the press Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, during the weekly briefing at the state Capitol. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff) Religious social media posts from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are unconstitutional, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said in a letter to the…
FILE – Gov. Asa Hutchinson answers questions from the press Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, during the weekly briefing at the state Capitol. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff) Religious social media posts from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are unconstitutional, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said in a letter to the…
“Because of Mebane’s conviction that the diversity of our strongly-held beliefs makes us greater, not weaker. And because of our commitment to show respect to all faiths, beliefs, and perspectives, Mebane’s City Council will no longer open with an invocation.” — Ed Hooks, Following a complaint lodged by the Freedom…
Following a complaint lodged by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Mebane council members will start their meetings with a moment of silence instead of a prayer. This is according to Mebane Mayor Ed Hooks, who during the Dec. 6 regular session said the city would transition from prayers to a…
Oklahoma Capitol (File Photo) OKLAHOMA CITY — As Christian supporters Monday erected what is believed to be the state’s first nativity scene in recent years inside the state Capitol, one watchdog group warned the state also must allow other displays on the same topic in the future. Alex Hilton, the…
Nine Iranian Christians from Rasht facing national security charges. Currently at least 20 Christians are jailed in Iran because their faith was deemed a threat to the Islamic republic’s national security. Of the more than 100 Iranian believers imprisoned since 2012, all have faced similar charges. Read This Issue More…
(Photo : house.gov) President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion spending bill is set to impact even Americans’ religious freedom, a conservative group said recently. The spending bill raises questions as to how funding will funnel into things like access to abortion and how it will create friction between pro-choice and pro-life…
An icon of Christ damaged by shellfire at St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) Church in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2017. To mark the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church [this month], the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) calls upon evangelicals to unite in praying for the area of Europe where the church…
Faith-based social services are funded by the federal government through your taxes, even though that can lead to discrimination and a lack of those very services. The 1999 Charitable Choice Act allowed federal taxes to fund faith-based social services. Still, it limited these services to “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families…
Attorney David Betras As I have noted in this space a number of times, private companies and government entities have the power to impose vaccine mandates. The seminal case on the issue, Jacobson v Massachusetts, was decided by the Supreme Court in 1905. In the 116 years since, courts have…
Catholics attend a Christmas eve mass at a Catholic church near the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province, December 24, 2012. | Reuters/Jason Lee/File Photo Though Chinese Christians are banned from honoring their own martyrs, they are now required to pray for communist soldiers who died in the war with imperial…
Churches want to turn American democracy upside down by advocating for representation without taxation. To meet the requirements of tax-exempt nonprofits, churches and secular 501(c)(3) charitable organizations “may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate at all in campaign activity…
A lawsuit alleges that a civic association and its director’s constitutional rights of free speech and equal protection under the law were violated by the denial of an application to raise the Christian flag during a celebration at Boston City Hall. Image courtesy of Liberty Counsel Aug. 9 (UPI) —…
Photo illustration by DNY59, iStock) A 7.5-year-old lawsuit that began when the Denver Sheriff Department’s chaplain denied a kosher diet to a detainee has ended on Monday, after the federal appeals court based in Colorado ruled that the chaplain deserved immunity for any infringement on the man’s free exercise of…