Last week I spent a day in Austin, Texas, to testify for the second time against the new (and newly named) “Bluebonnet Learning K-5 Reading Language Arts” curriculum. Despite significant opposition, the Bible-infused curriculum was approved, which should be unsurprising…
Sunday schools in public schools?
I grew up going to Sunday school, starting with the “Cradle Roll” department of First Baptist Church of Decatur, Texas, the town where I was born. Like all the kids at that church, when I learned to read, I was…
Steve Lawson preached fire and brimstone except for himself
“Megachurch pastors in Dallas are starting to drop like flies,” I wrote back on June 25 after Tony Evans and Robert Morris stepped away from ministry at prominent megachurches. Apparently “starting” was the keyword because over the next three months, the number…
Texas Board of Education gets huge pushback on religion-infused curriculum
Activists and other Texans opposed to a proposed Bible-based curriculum for public school children are becoming a concern for extremist Christians who support the material, said Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. BJC has joined…
Gov. Landry gets his wish: Louisiana Ten Commandments law to be challenged in court
The ink was barely dry on Louisiana’s brand new Ten Commandments law before four major civil and religious rights groups declared their intent to sue to prevent the state from posting the Decalogue in public classrooms by the fall of…
Texas youth pastor booked by feds on child sexual abuse charge
Note: This article was updated at 1 p.m. Eastern time June 21 to include additional charges filed against Luke Cunningham. Luke Cunningham, a former youth pastor at four Texas churches, was arrested June 19 by United States marshals in…
Sorry, Tim Dunn, you are a Christian nationalist
In the land of Lyndon Baines Johnson, George Herbert Bush and George W. Bush, you may not have heard of billionaire Tim Dunn. Although billionaires do seem to grow naturally in Texas. Dunn is among at least 44 known billionaires…
Florida joins Texas in adopting school ‘chaplain’ option denounced by chaplains
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his supporters celebrated his recent signing of a new law allowing untrained and unlicensed chaplains to volunteer in public schools. “At a time when much of the country is facing a mental health crisis, having…
The saga of S.B.-4 in Texas continues with back-and-forth rulings by federal judges, Supreme Court
A federal court barred Texas late March 19 from implementing a new law that enables state law enforcement officers to arrest and deport migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico. Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the hold…