Maggie Haberman is “a resident of Donald Trump’s head,” according to Texas Tribune co-founder Evan Smith. Haberman, a White House reporter for The New York Times, sat down with Smith for an hourlong conversation at the Texas Tribune Festival in…
Federal judge allows religious charter school in Oklahoma — for now
A federal judge cleared the way for the nation’s first religious charter school to open in Oklahoma, bucking an earlier U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the idea. The Sept. 24 order by District Judge David Russell in Oklahoma City clears…
Muslim panelists say Islamophobia makes no sense to them
Most Texans are good neighbors to Muslims, but far-right Republicans in the state are making life difficult for them, three speakers said at the Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 24. The panelists — Fahad Ahmed, an Irving City Council member; Mohammed…
Talarico pledges support for church-state separation
“I will always stand up for the separation of church and state,” James Talarico told a standing-room-only crowd at the Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 24 in Austin, Texas. Talarico is a Presbyterian seminarian running for the U.S. Senate from Texas…
Laser takes aim at Hegseth and Rollins for proselytizing
The U.S. government was founded to serve the American people, not to proselytize them, said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. But U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins have…
Coalition urges care for freedom of religion and speech
Freedom of religion and freedom of speech are deeply interwoven, and a threat to one is a danger to the other, representatives from more than 20 faith and civil rights organizations said. “We come together as librarians, diverse clergy, constitutional…
The People’s Revival seeks to get out the vote
An alliance of faith, labor and civil rights is needed to address the interlocking challenges of racism, xenophobia, militarism and authoritarianism currently looming over American democracy, said Willie Francois III, second vice president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. “There…
HPUMC sought to be ‘legally insulated’ from UMC strife
Changes made to the governing documents of Highland Park United Methodist Church in 2022 were to “ensure that if the church maintained its ecclesiastical connection with the UMC, it was legally insulated from the ecclesiastical and doctrinal strife within UMC,”…
Before Xi Jinping’s US visit, Brownback says China ‘at war with faith’
Days before Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Washington, D.C., former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told a gathering of religious freedom advocates the Chinese government is “at war with faith.” Brownback said the Sept. 16…
Founding Fathers change their minds, lose their fingers in AI videos
The Founding Fathers have returned from the dead to speak once again, thanks to AI-generated videos, and their views on current events seem to align with the views of their creators. A video posted by President Donald Trump shows George…
SBC Executive Committee drops budget by 12%
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee will reduce its own budget by $660,000 as part of a mandate to increase cooperative funding for the International Mission Board by 1%. The commitment to make the IMB’s portion of the SBC Cooperative…
Parnas links Paxton to Pressler
Political commentator Aaron Parnas has published an article linking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to Paul Pressler. Pressler, a Texas appeals court judge and Republican activist, was co-architect of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. Parnas, who has…