In the US, families sue West Virginia school district over Christian assembly
Charleston, West Virginia, USAP A group of parents and students are suing a West Virginia school district for allowing an evangelical preacher to hold a religious revival assembly during the school day earlier this month that some students were required to attend. The suit, filed in a US District Court in West Virginia on Thursday on behalf […]
New report details the influence of Christian nationalism in US Capitol attack
RNS A team of scholars, faith leaders and advocates unveiled an exhaustive new report Wednesday that documents in painstaking detail the role Christian nationalism played in the 6th January attack on the US Capitol and calling it an unsettling preview of things to come. Christian nationalism was used to “bolster, justify and intensify the January […]
Watchdog files complaint after US judge gave Bible to Botham Jean’s murderer
RNS The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a letter of complaint with a Texas judicial conduct commission against a Dallas judge for offering a Bible to former police officer Amber Guyger after sentencing her for the murder of her neighbour, Botham Jean. The actions of Judge Tammy Kemp of Texas’ 204th District Court were […]
Cross in seal of US county ‘plainly constitutional,’ rules appeals court
RNS A federal appeals court in the US has ruled in favor of a Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, seal that contains a cross, citing a recent Supreme Court decision. The unanimous ruling by the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, issued Thursday, overturns a lower court decision that found the seal violated the establishment clause of […]
In the US, atheist watchdog drops fight to halt clergy housing allowance
RNS The Freedom From Religion Foundation has dropped its long-running fight against the clergy housing allowance permitted by the US Government. “We have full confidence in the legal merits of our challenge of the discriminatory pastoral housing allowance privileges,” the Wisconsin-based atheist watchdog announced last week. The clergy housing allowance remains intact for now. PICTURE: Mohamed Hassan/Creative […]
US clergy housing allowance is constitutional, appeals court rules
RNS A US federal appeals court has ruled that the clergy housing allowance authorised by the Internal Revenue Service is constitutional. The Freedom From Religion Foundation argued successfully in a Wisconsin district court that the long-standing exemption for religious housing in the IRS tax code violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. But a three-judge panel […]