Church and State

“I am not in any way willing to upset the constitutional order and to provide governments the ability to engage in viewpoint discrimination against disfavored organizations,” French said. “You have to consider a larger superstructure.

“I still feel strongly that America is a Christian nation,” Shelby Ainsworth, principal of West Monroe High School, told WAFB 9. “I want our high school youngsters exposed to as much as that as possible.” - Christian Headlines

The law: “Local boards shall require each public elementary and secondary school to display the national motto of the United States, ‘In God We Trust,’ in a prominent location in the school” - Christian Headlines

“The list of interesting characters will include what many will regard as adherents of fringe religions like The Satanic Temple and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti.

The “fight continues as foster families, historic crosses, students, and pastors, imams, rabbis, and nuns face off against anti-religious activist groups and government agencies — some going all the way up to the Supreme Court. Here’s a preview of the top religious liberty victories to come.” - W.Examiner

“Focus on the Family is defending its decision to have the Internal Revenue Service officially reclassify the Christian nonprofit as a ‘church,’ denouncing the efforts of some to ascribe ‘sinister’ intentions to the change.” CPost

“The part of tax law that prohibits houses of worship from engaging in explicit political activity will remain intact for now, despite concerns that Republican lawmakers would try to repeal it in the latest massive federal spending bill they released this week.” RNS

Bibles in Iowa schools sparks outrage, but this Iowa City class takes Bible learning in stride

“Per an analysis by Pew Research Center, God or the divine is not mentioned in an explicit manner in the United States constitution. However, when it comes to state constitutions, it is an altogether different matter. In such cases, God or the divine is found to be mentioned a minimum of one time in all 50 state constitutions.” RNS

“But a new survey of evangelical leaders — mainly pastors whose flocks were crucial to Trump’s victory in November — shows that close to 90 percent of those asked opposed the idea of clergy endorsing politicians from the pulpit.”