News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
A florist in Washington state who was in an eight-year legal battle that reached the US Supreme Court will retire after settling with the same-sex couple whose wedding job she refused. Read This Issue More Newsletters Barronelle Stutzman of Richland, Washington, announced the settlement Thursday, saying she has paid $5,000…
Visitors sit on pews in the Great Upper Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the campus of Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Religious employers assert ‘church autonomy’ in lawsuits OSHA mandate said to force institutions to violate beliefs Christian schools, churches, and seminaries…
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…
Dr. John A. Sparks 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…
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…
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…
In early September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 20, a new social media law targeting what Gov. Abbott called “a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.” In late September, NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sued Texas…
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…
Fencing outside the Michigan Department of Corrections’ Muskegon Correctional Facility and the Ernest C. Brooks Correctional Facility (or E.C. Brooks) in Muskegon on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com Almost two years later, a federal investigation into the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) reached…
Pro-choice and anti-abortion advocates both demonstrate outside the the Supreme Court on Monday. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein A California gun rights group filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in opposition to Texas’ new anti-abortion law because of worries that other states could copy it to limit gun ownership. The Sacramento-based…
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 Like kids counting the days until Christmas, attorneys, legal scholars and jurisprudence junkies, including me, eagerly anticipate the first Monday in October, the day the Supreme Court of the United States begins its new term each year. We can barely control ourselves as we wait for the…
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…
David Hudson. Photo courtesy Freedom Forum The Supreme Court’s October 2021 term, which officially began on the first Monday of the month, promises to be an eventful one for those concerned about the First Amendment and its freedoms. The court will hear cases involving: ●A man on death row asserting…
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 25, 2021. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC The U.S. Supreme Court’s new nine-month term, which begins on…
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo Oct 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s new nine-month term, which begins on Monday, promises to be among the most momentous in generations. The justices are poised to decide major…
The fight for school choice has always faced push‐back when it comes to funding religious education. Even though Pell Grants and federal student loans can be used to attend religious universities, people become wary when school‐choice dollars—whether in the form of vouchers, tax credits, or whatever—are given to religious K-12…
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…