Church-state separation: Alabama Chief Justice’s Christian reasoning in IVF opinion sparks alarm for some, rejoicing for others
PETER SMITH and TIFFANY STANLEY, of Associated Press, look at responses to the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are considered children…
Essay: Christian leaders in Ghana are trying to reshape government – it may not end well
Scholar of religion and politics, JEFFREY HAYNES, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at moves among some Christians to “remake Ghana according to their values and beliefs”…
In the US, panel makes ethics ruling against lawmaker who hid Bibles in Arizona House lounge
Phoenix, Arizona, USAP An ethics committee in the Arizona House has concluded that a Democratic lawmaker engaged in disorderly behaviour by hiding Bibles in a lounge for legislators as a comment about the separation of church and state and the weaponisation of religion in politics. Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, of Tucson, was caught on video […]
Nearly half of Americans think the US should be a Christian nation – poll
United StatesRNS Forty-five per cent of Americans believe the US should be a “Christian nation,” one of several striking findings from a sweeping new Pew Research Center survey examining Christian nationalism. GRAPHIC: Courtesy of Pew Research Center But researchers say respondents differed greatly when it came to outlining what a Christian nation should look like, suggesting a […]
More than 75 per cent of Republican evangelicals want US declared a Christian nation – study
United StatesRNS When it comes to politics, there are few things Democrats and Republicans agree on. One exception: Making America officially a Christian nation would be unconstitutional. That’s true even for Americans who would like the country to be Christian. Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. PICTURE: Harold Mendoza/Unsplash/Creative Commons Seventy per cent of Americans agreed […]
Most Americans support church-state separation; Christian nationalists differ – poll
RNS Americans do not want to see the United States declared a Christian country and they do not want to forsake the separation of church and state, a new Pew Research study finds. The study, a first-of-its-kind, conducted online in March among 12,055 Americans, finds that even among highly religious Christians, only a third said the US […]
Vatican defends intervention over Italy anti-homophobia law
Vatican CityReuters The Vatican on Thursday defended a request for changes to a draft law in Italy aimed at combating homophobia, saying it was not an interference in another country’s domestic affairs and was not seeking to block it. The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the draft law was too “vague and […]
Ugandan election: Two prominent pastors enter presidential race as clergy flock to politics ahead of 2021 election
JOHN SEMAKULA reports how two pastors are hoping to bring Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s long rule to an end in next year’s presidential election…
Essay: On the dangers of mixing faith and partisan politics
Rev TIM COSTELLO looks at how the fear of secularism is driving support for conservative politics in the US – and elsewhere…
US Supreme Court broadens scope of ministerial exception
RNS The Supreme Court has ruled that religious school teachers who perform a religious role, even if they are not ordained, and even if religious instruction makes up a small part of their overall responsibilities, are subject to a ministerial exception from civil rights protections afforded to other employees. The seven to-two ruling on Wednesday […]