“Interfaith work is at the center of the work to save this country,” Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum told a summit on religious freedom in public schools Sept. 15. Kleinbaum, senior rabbi emerita at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City,…
Texas schools given conflicting advice on Ten Commandments
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ordered school districts unaffected by a recent court ruling to comply with a state law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms beginning Sept. 1. The Aug. 25 directive came less than a…
The attempted deportation of a Baptist hero, Roger Williams
In February 1631, the ship Lyon arrived in Boston harbor, carrying a group of migrants seeking to escape religious and political oppression suffered in England. Among them was Roger Williams. His migrant status didn’t end with his arrival in Boston,…
Attacks on Zohran Mamdani defy religious liberty
Recent events reveal some of our politicians have forgotten America was founded on religious freedom that included respect for those whose religious beliefs differ from our own. Zohran Mamdani faces a flurry of anti-Muslim attacks after his New York City…
Get ready for lawsuit, groups warn Abbott over Ten Commandments bill
Texans will sue once Gov. Greg Abbott signs a bill requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms, three national civil liberties groups said May 29. The announcement came a day after state senators voted to approve an amended version…
AU warns agencies not to believe Trump’s view on Supreme Court rulings
Don’t be misled about U.S. Supreme Court decisions on religious liberty, Americans United warned 18 federal agencies in a May 15 letter. The letter cited a recent presidential memorandum issued by President Donald Trump that “encourages the unlawful repeal of rules…
Texas Gov. Abbott is spreading a conspiracy theory that attacks Muslims
North Texas is a religiously diverse place. Not only are there numerous Protestant megachurches, there also are Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and more. Many, like myself, consider the religious diversity one of the draws of the area….
Dr. Phil says states should not be subject to Establishment Clause
Dr. Phil has something to say about religious liberty and public education. The TV therapist made popular by Oprah has taken a very public conservative bent lately, and this week he wrote an op-ed for the New York Post explaining…
Red Dawn: Baptists’ contradictory contributions to the rise and demise of America
In the 1980s, in the throes of the Cold War, huddled in a Baptist college dorm room with friends, I watched the original version of the movie Red Dawn. The film portrays a hypothetical invasion of the United States by…
Professor outlines three common rebuttals to church-state separation
The principle of church-state separation is not a myth even though those exact words don’t appear in the U.S. Constitution, according to scholar David R. Brockman. Brockman, nonresident scholar in religion and public policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute and…
The American church’s fear of persecution versus the words of Jesus
There’s a disconnect between the American church’s fear of persecution and the words of Jesus. In a nation where Christians still hold significant cultural influence, privilege and legal protections, a fear of persecution seems almost exaggerated. Too many in the…
Authoritarian rule is ‘common denominator’ in religious persecution, USCIRF says
Authoritarian rule is the “common denominator” in the worsening of religious persecution around the world, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2025 annual report. Last year, totalitarian regimes widened the direct oppression of minority faiths in…