News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
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…
Image: Sebastian Pichler/Unsplash The Supreme Court ended Roe v. Wade . When the court finally got around to issuing the reprehensible 5-4 shadow docket decision on Texas’s bounty-hunting, 2-week abortion ban, which had already gone into effect and is spreading to other states , the utter dereliction of duty and…
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…
Illustration by Siddhant Jumde On August 29, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said his government would appeal the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court’s order on August 19 that stayed certain sections of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021. “The state government is firm on stopping forcible…
Agency: Attorney General Media contact: Lynsey Mukomel 517-599-2746 Public inquiries: 517-335-7622 LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a brief in support of the constitutionality of Virginia’s anti-discrimination law. The amicus brief was filed Friday Aug. 27 with the U.S. Court…
Agency: Attorney General Media contact: Lynsey Mukomel 517-599-2746 Public inquiries: 517-335-7622 LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a brief in support of the constitutionality of Virginia’s anti-discrimination law. The amicus brief was filed Friday Aug. 27 with the U.S. Court…
Press Releases (Hartford, CT) — Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a brief in support of the constitutionality of Virginia’s anti-discrimination law. The amicus brief was filed today with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the case of…
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 regressive and patently unconstitutional feature of recent anti-conversion laws enacted by different States is the criminalisation of inter-faith marriages by treating them as a means to convert one of the parties from one religion to another. While anti-conversion laws, euphemistically called in some States as laws on ‘freedom of…
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) —…
Seattle homeless encampment near school grows as school year set to begin Radio host Jason Rantz discusses why Seattle school board isn’t taking action towards removing homeless camp, as parents raise concerns While homelessness plagues the city of Seattle , one Christian group that looks to help those in need…
This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, the autonomy of faith-based nonprofits to hire only candidates who share their religious beliefs, and Apple’s attempt to shake up the process for contesting patent validity by expanding the jurisdiction of federal courts to…
According to a recent decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), employers may prohibit employers from wearing any visible sign of political, ideological, or religious conviction in the workplace under narrow conditions. After the decision, prohibiting employees from wearing headscarves remains impermissible. On July 15, 2021, the ECJ decided…
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…
Christian baker Jack Phillips has appealed a ruling that he violated a Colorado anti-discrimination law by refusing to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition. DENVER (BP) – Christian baker Jack Phillips has appealed a ruling that he violated a Colorado anti-discrimination law by refusing to bake a cake celebrating…
Employers in Clark County and around the state have recently announced vaccination requirements as a condition of employment As more and more employers in Washington state, including PeaceHealth and the Vancouver Clinic here in Clark County, announced they will soon require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination as a condition…
CANTON TWP. – The Canton Local school board will no longer begin its meetings with a prayer . Board President Scott Hamilton said Tuesday that the board made the decision to discontinue its longstanding practice of invocation after reviewing the laws and court cases surrounding the issue of prayer at…
Depositphotos.com image DENVER — A U.S. appeals court has ruled against a web designer who didn’t want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples and sued to challenge Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, another twist in a series of court rulings nationwide about whether businesses denying services to LGBTQ people amounts to…
A U.S. appeals court has ruled against a web designer who didn’t want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples and sued to challenge Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, another twist in a series of court rulings nationwide about whether businesses denying services to LGBTQ people amounts to bias or freedom of…
COMMENTARY: The unjust ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals cries out to the Supreme Court for its reversal. Lorie Smith wants to affirm her Christian values in her website design company, 303 Creative. (photo: Screenshot from Alliance Defending Freedom Twitter; last visited 7/30/21) The internet should be a…