News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a brief in a case concerning Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman who was fired from a Detroit funeral home after she informed her employer that she was beginning her gender transition. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Stephens and the…
The future of the “parsonage allowance exclusion” is in the hands of the courts. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons (RNS) — A federal court heard oral arguments this week on whether a longstanding housing tax break for clergy called a “parsonage allowance exclusion” is constitutional, setting the stage for a…
The U.S. supreme Court’s M starting its 2018-19 term this month. Although we don’t know yet the range of issues the high court will confront, many observers believe the question of whether religious freedom confers a right to discriminate may surface. The court last term dodged this issue. In its…
A map of the Archdiocese of Anchorage in Alaska. Map courtesy of Creative Commons (RNS) — The Archdiocese of Anchorage is launching an independent commission on sexual abuse to review all personnel files of those who have served in the region since 1966 and plans to release names of any…
Taking up a case that may have implications for how its church-state rulings are applied in public schools, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said it would review a lower-court ruling that a 93-year-old cross on public land that memorializes a Maryland county’s World War I dead is unconstitutional. The…
Twenty-five years after President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, most Americans don’t know about current aggressive efforts to amend RFRA into oblivion. In the last two months before the election, 50 House Democrats became new cosponsors on a bill gutting the 25-year-old Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That…
Much of the English-language journalism in global news services is generated in increasingly secular societies, and in newsrooms, places that lean towards scepticism and irreverence. But the world is not so secular. Faith and its teachings and rituals play central roles in many lives. A readers’ editor sees how offence…
In response to the latest abuses against Christians, Amnesty International has initiated an "urgent action" appeal. It has called on the Iranian regime to "quash the convictions and sentences of Victor Bet-Tamraz, Shamiram Isavi, Amin Afshar-Naderi, and Hadi Asgari, as they have been targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of…
(Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images) After two conservative Christian groups filed lawsuits against the city of Austin over the past week challenging an ordinance that protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination, Texas LGBTQ advocates said Wednesday they do not think the lawsuits will hold up in court. The first lawsuit , filed…
Row over Australia plan to let faith schools reject gay students GAY students and teachers could be rejected by religious schools under changes to anti-discrimination laws being recommended by a federal review into religious freedom. ‘We will protect religious freedom, and get the balance right. In the federal sphere, senator…
A billboard sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Harrisburg, Pa. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons (RNS) — An atheist relief organization has sued the Internal Revenue Service, claiming its tax-exempt status was unfairly revoked. IRS officials say the group failed to file required annual information to the agency…
Ashers Bakery owners Amy and Daniel McArthur outside the Supreme Court in London, on Oct. 10, 2018. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP) LONDON (RNS) — On both sides of the Atlantic, a drama set in a bakery has pitted freedom of religion against LGBT civil rights and Exhibit A has been…
Ambassador Sam Brownback delivers a speech about religious freedown during the 25th annual International Law and Religion Symposium at in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Qiling Wang, Deseret News (courtesy) It shouldn’t sound as difficult as it does. During his recent visit to Provo, Utah to speak…
SPRINGFIELD — Imagine a classroom full of bright, inquisitive college students who have no idea who Pontius Pilate was or never heard the story of Noah’s Ark. That’s what Gwen Jordan, an associate professor of legal studies at the University of Illinois-Springfield, has experienced. More than 10 years ago, […]…
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act could provide a shield for liberal businesses seeking to support undocumented immigrants, much the same way the law has allowed conservative companies to challenge enforcement of health care and anti-discrimination laws, a researcher from Oregon State University suggests in a new paper. “We’re seeing […]…
One of the loudest voices calling for better protection of religious freedoms in recent years has been the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. But what exactly is religious freedom, and why are we having this debate now? Who follows what religion in Australia? Christianity remains the dominant religious group in […]…
Attorneys for the city of Phoenix submitted this place card to the Arizona Supreme Court as a sample of the kind of place cards that Brush & Nib Studios would make for heterosexual couples, but refuse to produce for a same-sex wedding. (Courtesy) PHOENIX — The city of Phoenix […]…