News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that protects…
In a recent decision, Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas recognized that federal law does not require churches and religious employers to hire employees who violate the organization’s religious beliefs concerning sexual conduct. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) must grant exemptions from Title VII…
A Supreme Court friend-of-the-court brief filed recently by freshly sworn-in Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar may prove that President Joe Biden ‘s administration is determined to reverse every last policy decision of the predecessor Trump administration, even on issues of religious liberty. The Court will hear on December 8 a case…
It was a narrow escape, but the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave LGBT legal activists a significant sigh of relief in a case involving transgender access to equality in health care. The court also appeared to take some heed of the fact that a Texas abortion ban under scrutiny…
Media eyes are trained on the U.S. Supreme Court’s December 1 argument on Mississippi’s abortion restrictions, preceded by a fast-tracked November 1 hearing about the stricter law in Texas. But don’t neglect the Court’s December 8 hearing and subsequent decision on tax funding of religious schools in the potentially weighty…
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case this term that pits the two religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment against each other — on a flagpole. At issue is a request by a Christian civic group, Camp Constitution, for the City of Boston to allow a…
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…
Sun rays fall through the clouds over the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) AP AP Upcoming church events Agawam – An enormous Fall Tag Sale will be held Sat., Oct. 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Agawam Congregational Church. Some Halloween…
As the COVID-19 public health emergency continues, vaccine mandates have been imposed in both public and private workplaces. These mandates include federal, state, and local requirements for certain employees to become fully vaccinated or risk termination from employment. This blog discusses the process for handling and accommodating employee requests for…
Free Exercise of Religion on a Slippery Slope – By Howard Sierer – Where do we draw a line limiting the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment ? For those tempted to answer that no limiting line should be drawn, read on. When religious beliefs lead to…
The media are prepping for the U.S. Supreme Court’s December 1 hearing on the strict Mississippi abortion law and the subsequent ruling. In a prior Guy Memo on religious "friend of the court" briefs filed on the pro-life side, I promised a second rundown when pro-abortion-rights activists weighed in with…
A 1982 Supreme Court decision involving Harvard Square restaurant Grendel’s Den could serve as legal precedent to overturn Texas’s recent law banning most abortions. A 1982 Supreme Court decision involving Harvard Square restaurant Grendel’s Den could serve as legal precedent to overturn Texas’s recent law banning most abortions, Harvard emeritus…
U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Catholic Social Services, a foster care agency that refuses to compromise its religious beliefs by placing children with same-sex couples. The High Court’s decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia has a significant impact on every area of the free exercise of…
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…
Texas’ recent bill banning most abortions after six weeks may be upended by perhaps the most unexpected group of all, religious zealots who worship Satan. The Satanic Temple has established a “religious abortion ritual” that they claim will be trampled on given the Texas law enacted in May that bans…
by John McClaughry A large insurance company has been flooding the television channels with an advertising slogan “Only Pay for What You Need”. It’s an interesting exercise to apply that idea to various public spending issues. Typically, at the state level, our elected legislature decides how the tax dollars they…
Church, Cologne Germany. (Photo: Katy Grimes) The Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi and Cornerstone Church in Fresno just won large lawsuits against Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose statewide COVID shutdown orders included churches. “Although Plaintiffs appreciate the government’s significant interest in and efforts to protect the health and safety of…
Earlier this year I wrote an article arguing that the local church is essential. No matter what the government says, God’s word makes it clear that believers are called to continue gathering together for fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25). The government can tell Christians to stop stepping over the entrance of the…
The New Life in Christ Church trustees own a home on Franklin Street in Fredericksburg that houses two coordinators of the church’s University of Mary Washington outreach ministry. Virginia law provides an exemption from property taxes for real estate and personal property owned by churches and exclusively occupied or used…
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 group of religious leaders have launched a Federal Court challenge to the NSW and Victorian health orders, arguing they should be allowed the same freedoms as supermarkets and liquor stores. They are seeking exemptions from measures that restrict freedoms in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, which has thrown…
Covid-19 has spurred an outbreak of a different kind: litigation. To combat the pandemic, officials imposed extensive community-level mitigation measures using their broad but largely untested emergency powers. In response, more than 1000 suits challenged orders shuttering businesses, banning indoor worship services, restricting travel, and mandating mask wearing. 1 As…
A federal judge will now decide if a lawsuit challenging UMass Boston and UMass Lowell’s COVID vaccine mandates should be allowed to continue after two students argued the universities’ enforcement of the policy violates their rights. The schools are being sued by Hunter Harris, a UMass Lowell junior from Medway,…
From Resurrection School v. Hertel , decided yesterday by Judge Karen Nelson Moore joined by Judge Bernice Donald: Plaintiffs argue that MDHHS’s Orders violate their sincerely held religious beliefs because they require students in grades K–5 at religious schools to wear a face covering. We do not question the sincerity…
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) —…