First Liberty filed a lawsuit in federal court this week on behalf of Valerie Kloosterman, a physician assistant who was fired by the University of Michigan Health System because of her religious beliefs. She was terminated for seeking a religious accommodation from . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch
Religious Liberty Watch: Senate Bill On Same-Sex Marriage Advances
The Senate on Wednesday narrowly advanced legislation to protect same-sex marriage, sending it on to near-certain passage. In a 62-37 vote, 12 Republicans voted with all Democrats to move forward on the bill, after negotiators reached a bipartisan deal to include protections . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Bakery Wins First Amendment Rights Case
A California state judge on Friday handed a victory to a bakery owner who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, citing religious objections. Kern County Superior Court Judge J. Eric Bradshaw ruled that California’s Department of Fair Housing . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Alito’s Dissenting Opinion On Free Exercise Of Religion
The First Amendment guarantees the right to the free exercise of religion, and if that provision means anything, it prohibits a State from enforcing its own preferred interpretation of Holy Scriptures. Read More» Justice Samuel Alito | Dissenting opinion in Yeshiva University . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Math Teacher’s First Amendment Rights Upheld
In a victory for free speech at public schools, Fort Riley Middle School officials have agreed to pay $95,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees for violating a math teacher’s First Amendment rights when they reprimanded and suspended her for addressing a student . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Austin Fires Chaplain For His Religious Convictions
In June 2021, Dr. Fox began writing a series of blog posts on truth, justice, and the good news of the Gospel. One issue he wrote about was the unfairness of men competing in women’s sports. Dr. Fox wrote with no animus . . . Continue reading →
Washington State AG Threatens Civil Liberties Of Christian College
Seattle Pacific University, a private school associated with the Free Methodist Church, claims its rights are being violated by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office launched an investigation into the school’s hiring practices. At issue is the school’s policy, prohibiting . . . Continue reading →
Consider The Implications Had Kennedy Lost
In Kennedy v Bremerton, the Bremerton, WA School District argued that, were Coach Kennedy allowed to go to the 50 yard line to pray after games, student-athletes might feel pressured to join him for fear of losing playing time etc. Continue reading
SCOTUS: 1st Amendment Protects Americans From Gov’t Reprisal For Engaging In Personal Religious Observance
Did The Court Just Replace The "Lemon Test"?
Held: The Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal; the Constitution neither mandates nor permits the government to suppress such religious expression…. …Here, no one questions that . . . Continue reading →
Supreme Court 9–0: Boston May Not Discriminate Against Christian Group
The SCOTUS unanimously ruled today, in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, that the City of Boston’s decision to exclude the “Camp Constitution” organization from a public flagpole, available to other groups, violated the Constitution of the United States. As Justice Kavanaugh explained, “This . . . Continue reading →
University Settles Suit Over Professor’s Right Not To Use Student’s Preferred Pronoun
Shawnee State University will pay a professor $400,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to settle a lawsuit over not using a student’s preferred pronoun. In 2018, Shawnee State philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether called a transgender student “sir” during a lecture when she . . . Continue reading →
Roman And Protestant Integralists Together
Or Why An Established Religion Is A Really Bad Idea
Integralism and Protestant theocracy are twin movements of which our readers should be aware. The first is a Romanist movement. The second is a movement among a small but visible band Protestants who seek a similar outcome. Roman Integralism Romanist “integralists” like . . . Continue reading →
Christian Grad Student Issued “No Contact Order” By Administration
Maggie DeJong, in her third year of a master’s program for art therapy counseling at Southern Illinois University (SIU), was shocked recently to receive official emails from the school’s administration ordering her to have “no contact” with three other graduate students in . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Third Circuit Allows Suit Against NJ On First Amendment Grounds
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court decision dismissing a New Jersey couple’s lawsuit against the state after it removed their foster child and suspended their license to foster parent. The decision relies on recent U.S. Supreme . . . Continue reading →
When Elite Law School Students Reject Free Speech In Principle And Practice
The people who dominate American public life come from a few elite schools. Yale Law School (YLS) is one of those institutions. Continue reading
Preach God’s Word, Not That Of The Silly Vassal
Megan Basham caused a stir a few weeks ago with her article exposing the Federal Government’s use of Evangelical influencers to spread COVID talking points. In interviews with multiple Evangelical Thought Leaders, National Institute of Health Director Francis Collins called on pastors . . . Continue reading →
Has The United States Army Declared Your Congregation An “Extremist Organization”?
In July 2020, the United States Army adopted Army Regulation 600–20. This is a part of Army Command Policy and published by the HQ of the Department of the Army Continue reading →
Engel v. Vitale (1962) Forbids Required Prayer In the Public Schools Including Social-Justice Chants To Aztec Gods
Critical Theory Is Not A Secular Theory
California public schools will no longer be teaching students Aztec and Yoruba prayers as part of the state’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.1 Thomas More Society attorneys obtained a settlement on January 13, 2022, in a lawsuit brought by parents and the Californians . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Another Federal District Issues Stay In Favor Of SEALs V. Biden
Our nation asks the men and women in our military to serve, suffer, and sacrifice. But we do not ask them to lay aside their citizenry and give up the very rights they have sworn to protect.1 Every president since the signing . . . Continue reading →
House Of Representatives Passes Law To Combat “Islamophobia”
The key sentence in the AP story about HR5665, which passed the House on a strict party-line vote (219–212) vote is this: “The bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate.” The second salient fact about this bill is that it offers . . . Continue reading →