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…
All 25 largest school districts in Texas reject school chaplains option
The biggest school districts in Texas have voted against allowing unlicensed Christian chaplains to replace professional school counselors and to evangelize students at will, leaders of a six-month, faith-based campaign against the policy announced Feb. 29. Groups including Baptist Joint…
If getting voters to the polls isn’t government’s job, maybe it is the work of the church
Tim O’Hare has taken limited government to a new self-defeating level. The Tarrant County, Texas, county judge (chief executive of the county government) declared last week: “I don’t believe it’s the county government’s responsibility to try to get more people…
Anti-immigrant frenzy creates dangerous situation at U.S. border, advocates warn
Anti-immigrant bigotry is reaching a frenzied pitch as Texas continues to defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that grants U.S. border agents permission to remove razor wire Gov. Greg Abbott has erected along portions of the Rio Grande. Abbott has…
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…
Governors of 15 states opt out of summer food program for children
Governors of 15 U.S. states are putting politics ahead of the needs of hungry children by opting out of a new federal food assistance program that launches this year, critics say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced the remaining…
Unholy vows, endangered women and Texas abortion politics
Old Testament scholar Phyllis Trible names it one of the “texts of terror” in the Hebrew Scriptures: Jephthah, a Gileadite general, is facing a decisive battle with the Ammonites. He makes a vow to God: If you give me the…
GOP abortion laws are wildly out of step with many evangelicals’ convictions
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 21 Republican-led states have passed restrictions and/or outright bans on women receiving elective abortions. The most stringent of these laws may be found in the state of Texas, whose state legislature…
Here’s the lie exposed: There are no medical exemptions to Texas abortion law
This article was updated Dec. 12 with additional information as the case developed. For months, advocates of the new law that bans almost all abortions in Texas have been telling us there is an exemption for medically necessary terminations…