(ANALYSIS) Senate Bill 763, enacted in September 2023, allows school officials to hire unlicensed chaplains, either as staff members or volunteers. Those who can pass background checks will be allowed to perform duties typically provided by counselors, such as mental health support. Local boards have until March 1, 2024, to choose whether to allow chaplain programs in their schools.
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(OPINION) The Supreme Court soon takes up Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which has interested the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Christian Employers Alliance. Meanwhile, the court could decide this term to take up four disputes that are pending in the pipeline with religion implications.
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This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the controversy over New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ comments on the separation of church and state — or the lack thereof. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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(OPINION) As U.S. Protestant evangelicalism copes with internal divisions and problematic status in the broader society, along with the usual brickbats from the left, nonpartisan journalists and evangelical strategists alike should carefully monitor the thinking of knowledgeable insiders who are not wedded to customary loyalties and assumptions.
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(ANALYSIS) There are three flagpoles outside Boston City Hall. One flies the United States flag. Another flies the Massachusetts state flag. What can – and can’t – fly from the third is an issue being taken up by the Supreme Court.
(ANALYSIS) The Supreme Court will hear a potentially landmark case for religious schools on Dec. 8, Carson v. Makin. Up for discussion is whether Maine’s law, which excludes religious schools from the diversity of schooling options that families have access to in a public student aid program, infringes on First Amendment constitutional protections.
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(OPINION) The question of what boundaries should exist for state aid to students who attend religious schools will be in the spotlight Dec. 8, when the court hears arguments in a case from Maine: Carson v. Makin. The case has drawn intense interest from educators and religious-liberty advocates across the country.
(OPINION) A Texas court ruling is sparking debates about an obscure First Amendment doctrine that exempts religious institutions from certain civil lawsuits to protect them from government interference in their internal matters. The ruling’s interpretation raises concerns about how lay people can hold these institutions accountable when abuses happen.
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(OPINION) Ongoing fights about the First Amendment and religious liberty are likely to prove the most newsworthy, but two other themes deserve attention as well.
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(OPINION) As Biden prepares to step into office, he has his sights set on the Equality Act for LGBTQ+ individuals. How will this shift religious freedom rights for those opposed to same-sex marriage?
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(OPINION) Pope Francis, who has consistently drawn the ire of Catholic media on the doctrinal right, gave his view of what the religious press should look like in the United States.
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Megachurch pastor Brian Gibson of His Churches announced this week that his church would reopen services at three of his four locations across Texas and Kentucky on May 17 and asked other religious leaders to join him in standing up for what he sees as a religious freedom concern during COVID-19 restrictions.
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(REVIEW) The WORLD Magazine Editor in Chief and author of 20 books writes that the Christian faith can and should use journalism to further its aims, but the only criterion of good journalism is a good story. Religious literacy simply gets you better stories, and Olasky never says this.
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(OPINION) During this pandemic, people will have to learn to do without rights that once seemed inherently given. Those include the right to assemble as millions of Americans are asked to shelter in place. What does that mean for freedom of religion?
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The two preachers, one from Tennessee and one from Texas, have both experienced the real-life nightmare of Sunday morning worship giving way — suddenly and inexplicably — to deadly gunfire.
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A gunman opened fire during the Lord’s Supper at a Church of Christ in Texas Dec. 29, killing two worshipers. Armed members immediately returned fire and killed the shooter at the West Freeway Church of Christ in the Fort Worth suburb of White Settlement.
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As Americans gather to celebrate Independence Day, it is worth remembering that historic Trinity Church in New York City played a significant role in the birth of America and remains the burial site of several Founding Fathers, including Alexander Hamilton.
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We talked with Steven Waldman, founder of BeliefNet and author of the new book Sacred Liberty, about America’s battles for religious freedom— how the notion that the US was founded with religious liberty in mind is wrong— our current challenges for preserving it, and much more.
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It may be the one issue in America capable of uniting Mormons, Native Americans, Roman Catholics and Evangelical Christians. The issue of religious liberty has, in recent years, increasingly galvanized people of many faith traditions in the United States to unite against secular forces. One of its most-vocal backers and eloquent advocates is opinion journalist David French.
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