Smith & Tuttle on the Establishment Clause

Click here to view original article lsolum.typepad.com Peter J. Smith (George Washington University – Law School) & Robert W. Tuttle (George Washington University Law School) have posted Establishment Clause Mythology on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For 75 years, the Supreme Court’s opinions have reflected stark conflict between two competing…

Legal fight over Oklahoma Catholic charter school draws help from national groups

Legal fight over Oklahoma Catholic charter school draws help from national groups

Click here to view original article news.yahoo.com Laura Schuler, senior director for Catholic Education at Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and Michael Scaperlanda, chancellor for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, present a proposal for the nation’s first publicly funded Catholic charter school earlier this year at a meeting of the Oklahoma…

A Debate about Religious Liberty in America

Click here to view original article constitutioncenter.org How did America’s founders view religious liberty? What does it mean today? And to what does the Constitution require religious exemptions from generally applicable laws? Marci Hamilton , author of God vs. the Gavel: The Perils of Extreme Religious Liberty , and Michael…

Jacksonville agrees to exempt Catholic bookstore from LGBT nondiscrimination law

Jacksonville agrees to exempt Catholic bookstore from LGBT nondiscrimination law

Click here to view original article www.christianpost.com Getty Images The city of Jacksonville, Florida, has agreed to exempt a Catholic bookstore from an LGBT nondiscrimination law, thereby enabling the establishment to operate in accordance with its religious beliefs about gender and sexuality. Last Thursday, the city of Jacksonville and Queen…

Religious Liberty Event Commemorates 130 Years of Advocacy

Religious Liberty Event Commemorates 130 Years of Advocacy

Nearly 200 religious liberty leaders, scholars, and advocates from around the world met for the ninth World Congress of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, from August 21–23, 2023. The international event invited attendees to discuss “a holistic understanding of freedom of religion or…

Court rules Jewish couple can sue state for ’20 adoption law

Court rules Jewish couple can sue state for ’20 adoption law

Tennessee state Sen. Paul Rose, R-Tipton, speaks on his bill allowing faith-based adoption agencies to decline to place children with same-sex couples because of their religious belief during a legislative session in 2020. On Thursday, appellate judges revived a couple’s lawsuit that alleges a state-sponsored Christian adoption agency wouldn’t help…

‘Warped history’: how the US supreme court justified gutting gay rights

‘Warped history’: how the US supreme court justified gutting gay rights

A pride flag flies in front of the US supreme court, in Washington. The extreme religious right’s mission to roll back civil rights from abortion to public accommodations is being fueled by false facts and false history. Recent articles in the New Republic have documented the shaky factual foundation behind…

Texas atheist group protests denial of downtown space to advertise its event

Texas atheist group protests denial of downtown space to advertise its event

Metroplex Atheists put up a billboard to advertise an upcoming seminar after the group’s application to hang banners in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, about the event was denied. Photo courtesy of American Atheists Aug. 18 (UPI) — Members of Metroplex Atheists, a north Texas organization, plan to march Saturday in…

White Christian nationalism threatens U.S. democracy

White Christian nationalism threatens U.S. democracy

White nationalists attend a rally on October 28, 2017 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The event billed as a “White Lives Matter rally” is hosted by Nationalist Front, which is a coalition of several white supremacist organizations. (Photo by Scott Olson | Getty Images) You may be among the 35% of Americans…

The Opening of a Religious Charter School Is Not Christian Nationalism

The Opening of a Religious Charter School Is Not Christian Nationalism

(GlobalStock/Getty Images) “Something deeply un-American is underway in the state of Oklahoma,” writes Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in the New York Times . Mourning — and suing to prevent — the opening of a religious charter school in Tulsa, she decries that…

White Christian nationalism threatens U.S. democracy

White Christian nationalism threatens U.S. democracy

White nationalists attend a rally on October 28, 2017 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The event billed as a “White Lives Matter rally” is hosted by Nationalist Front, which is a coalition of several white supremacist organizations. (Photo by Scott Olson | Getty Images) You may be among the 35% of Americans…

Groups sue to block Catholic charter school in Oklahoma; state leaders stand firm

Groups sue to block Catholic charter school in Oklahoma; state leaders stand firm

Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 2, 2023 / 09:30 am Nine Oklahoma residents and several interest groups, including the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, filed a lawsuit against state leaders to block the sponsorship and funding for the first approved Catholic charter school in the country. The Statewide…

Legal Challenge Filed Against Publicly Funded Religious Charter School

Legal Challenge Filed Against Publicly Funded Religious Charter School

Opponents of an application by a Catholic virtual charter school wait for the start of a meeting by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City on Monday, June 5, 2023. (Paul Monies/Oklahoma Watch) A group of public school parents, taxpayers and faith leaders…

Revised Lawsuit Filed By Mendham Church Over Taxpayer Money

Revised Lawsuit Filed By Mendham Church Over Taxpayer Money

Earlier this spring, two churches filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging discrimination after being denied grant funding. Vianella Burns , Patch Staff Earlier this spring, two churches filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging discrimination after being denied grant funding. (Google Maps) MENDHAM, NJ — Two Morris…

Revised Lawsuit Filed By Long Valley Church Over Taxpayer Money

Revised Lawsuit Filed By Long Valley Church Over Taxpayer Money

Earlier this spring, two churches filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging discrimination after being denied grant funding. Vianella Burns , Patch Staff Earlier this spring, two churches filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging discrimination after being denied grant funding. (Google Maps ) LONG VALLEY, NJ —…