Two Texas churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention have joined the National Religious Broadcasters and Intercessors for America in a lawsuit that seeks to do away with any federal limits on politicking by tax-exempt religious nonprofits. Sand Springs Church…
Church/state mandates then and now: A tenuous freedom
Church/state mandates began early in the American colonies. On July 19, 1651, three Baptists — John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and John Crandall — traveled from Newport, R.I., to Lynn, Mass., and the home of William Witter, who requested their visit…
Oklahoma Supreme Court says Catholic charter school unconstitutional
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional a decision by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to grant a charter school license to a sectarian Catholic school. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would have been the nation’s first sectarian…
Why is this still happening?
Louisiana is making history, and not the good kind. As the only state with a law mandating displays of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom, Louisiana is a standout among a host of states pursuing legislative measures that…
Suit over use of tithes and real estate investing to get June hearing
A consequential three-year-old lawsuit accusing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of defrauding members by misusing their tithes to fund a real estate development instead of charity will be decided by a panel of judges in the 9th…
With three weeks until statewide deadline, school district of ‘chaplain’ bill’s author is set to reject it
The school district that is home to the state senator who got a bill passed last year to allow public schools to hire unlicensed “chaplains” to replace licensed school counselor is poised to reject his plan. Sen. Mayes Middleton lives…
Alabama legislator seeks to duplicate Texas law on school ‘chaplains’ even as resistance grows in Texas
The campaign against a new Texas law permitting school districts to hire unlicensed chaplains is gaining momentum just as Alabama legislators prepare to debate an identical measure in their upcoming session. The Texas statute went into effect in September and…
Praying in a time of war
The intense polarization around the Israel-Hamas war reminds me of a story from another polarizing Middle East war that occurred 20 years ago. In the spring of 2003, soon after United States launched the Iraq war, a retired Army officer…
Baptists were for separation of church and state before they were against it
For a Baptist to oppose separation of church and state feels like disowning one’s own mother without cause. What more could Thomas Jefferson have done for Baptists than pen the First Amendment with John Leland, a Baptist preacher, looking over…