Religious Liberty

“Instead of wading into the legal minefield of anti-discrimination law and attendant religious exemptions … the hearing was an exercise in low-grade biblical exegesis.

“The anti-vaxxers have been out in force at the Connecticut State House ….The object of their ire is House Bill 5044, which would do away with religious exemptions that allow children who attend public or private schools to pass on vaccinations.” - RNS

“Junaid Hafeez, a university lecturer in Pakistan, had been imprisoned for six years when he was sentenced to death in December 2019. The charge: blasphemy, specifically insulting Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.” - The Conversation

“The author of that booklet,which sets forth the Biblical teachings about sexuality, is also under investigation for the crime of ‘agitation against an ethnic group,’ a statute which added “sexual orientation” to the list of protected classes. The maximum punishment is two years in prison.” - Gene Veith

“Opponents of a ‘religious liberty’ bill filed last week in the state Senate warn it could further discourage families like the Herricks from adopting by codifying ambiguities in Georgia law already allowing agencies to reject prospective parents on religious grounds.” - AJC

“The document has the unwieldy title, ‘Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools.’ However, it contains pithy truths and robust protections for people of every faith in the nation’s 132,853 K-12 public schools.” - Acton

The state isn’t required to “fund private education at all, but if they choose to provide scholarships that are available to students who attend private schools, they can’t discriminate against parents who want to send their children to schools that are affiliated in some way with a church,” said Alito.

“The case concerns a Montana program granting $150 in tax credits to those who donate to help fund private school tuition scholarships. Single mother Kendra Espinoza sought to use the scholarship program to send her children to a private religious school.

“In observance of National Religious Freedom Day, President Donald Trump hosted a gathering today (Jan. 16) of students from different religions to affirm the right of students to pray in school.” - BPNews

“The Oregon Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Thursday in a case you may recognize, Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.