Religious freedom - Page 16

A Texas school principal forced a staffer to take Charlie Brown Christmas decorations off a school door because it included a quote from Linus which had the word “Christ” in it.

Senate Republicans have agreed to a deal that strips an amendment protecting religious freedom for faith-based organizations from a defense spending bill, making the measure more favorable to signature by outgoing President Barack Obama.

There is going to be a fight in Texas and those on both sides of the transgender bathroom issue pledge all-out efforts.

In congratulating Donald Trump on his victory, Rev. William Owens says in a statement that those who “voted their values” helped give Trump the win.

A group of 26 prominent black Christian leaders, including 8 African American bishops, have written a forceful “open letter” to Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, decrying her vicious attacks on religious freedom and warning her not to take the black vote for granted.

More than 20 national black leaders are challenging Hillary Clinton and her campaign for assaults on the black community via attacks on religious freedom, the promotion of abortion, and the ignorance of the prevalence of “black on black” murders and other crimes.

Hillary Clinton vows to repeal the Hyde Amendment – which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortions in the United States – as the way to allow more access to abortion for low-income black and Hispanic women. At the same time, Clinton asserts that unborn babies have no constitutional rights.

Congressman Louie Gohmert released a statement on Friday stressing that, although Trump was not his first choice, “Trump did not sell his country to our enemies, unlike Hillary.”

In a new set of education rules, the Chinese Communist Party is urging citizens to spy on their neighbors and report parents who raise their children in a religious faith or have them attend religious services.

In response to the leaked emails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, the head of the U.S. Bishops Conference (USCCB) has issued a stern statement decrying efforts to interfere in the Church’s self-governance for “short-term political gain.”

Three students who claim to be transgender have banded together to sue their Pittsburgh-area school district over a recent resolution affirming that children should only use bathrooms that correspond to their biological gender.

The Texas Attorney General issued an opinion on Monday that concluded a commissioners court may use county funds on holiday lights and decorations.

Two taxpayers filed a motion for rehearing with the Texas Supreme Court on Monday to reconsider their order denying review of a case against the openly gay former Houston Mayor and the City of Houston. They urge that Mayor Annise Parker violated the Texas Constitution and state statutes when she gave spousal benefits to gay employees in 2013 and 2014. Parker issued these benefits to employees prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling.

An Italian television news anchor has ignited a firestorm of criticism by wearing a crucifix around her neck while reporting the news, drawing the ire of “Muslims, atheists and many viewers,” according to reports. Marina Nalesso, a well-known news anchor

A group of Christians living in the midst of an animist village in central India have been ostracized to the point of not being able to collect firewood or pasture their animals for refusing to renounce their faith.

The Catholic Church in Vietnam has inaugurated a new national Catholic university, the first institution of its kind since the country was reunified under communist rule in 1975 following the Vietnam War.

The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty has blasted the head of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) for his recent attacks on religious liberty, calling him “reckless” for labeling religious people as bigots.

In a lengthy and disturbing piece on Egypt’s Coptic Christians this week, Rod Nordland of the New York Times described them as a community at the “breaking point,” to borrow the words of Bishop Makarios of Minya.

Salon Magazine has accused the Republican Party of being out of touch with “post-Christian America,” warning the GOP that if it doesn’t renege on its alliance with Christianity, it will soon become irrelevant.

A California lawmaker who is sponsoring a bill that would have allowed the use of taxpayer dollars to punish and publicly shame Christian universities for operating according to their beliefs has removed an offending provision from the legislation.

Local communist authorities in China’s Guizhou province have announced the termination of welfare and social security benefits for Christians who are caught attending church services.

As part of a major crackdown on Christian churches and human rights groups, Chinese authorities have jailed prominent Christian church leader Hu Shigen, sentencing him to seven and a half years in prison. According to Chinese state media, Hu pleaded

On Wednesday the House passed legislation, 245-182, that would prevent any federal, state, or local government from punishing or discriminating against pro-life healthcare providers who refuse to perform, participate in, or cover abortions.

Egypt’s government is drafting Muslim clerics into a campaign against violent extremism by providing them with pre-written weekly sermons they will be expected to read faithfully, and quickly, as the government is also providing imams with time limits to “ensure they do not lose their train of thought.”

The Obama administration says it is opposed to a bill that would prevent any federal, state, or local government from punishing or discriminating against pro-life healthcare providers who refuse to perform or participate in abortions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation this week that severely restricts freedom of religion by prohibiting any religious speech or evangelization outside of places of worship.

Texans are an independent bunch and do not take kindly to people from other states trying to tell them what to do. The Freedom From Religion Foundation wants Hondo, Texas, to remove its distinctly recognizable signs that say “Welcome. This is God’s Country. Please Don’t Drive Through it Like Hell.”

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Chase Strangio took to Twitter to castigate Christians for the shooting massacre by jihadist Omar Mateen at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

The Chinese government has investigated its own religious tolerance and found that Muslims in Western Xinjiang province, where open observance of Ramadan and Muslim garb on public transportation are banned, enjoy “unprecedented religious freedom” thanks to Beijing’s generosity.

In a scathing address at a prayer breakfast in Washington D.C. this week, a high-ranking Vatican cardinal has denounced an “insidious war” against Christians taking place in the United States under the guise of tolerance.

After Monday’s big victory for the Little Sisters of the Poor against Obamacare, Pope Francis has made a robust case for religious freedom, arguing that it is absolutely essential for a modern secular state.

The Obama administration is capping off a week of forcing Americans to accept gender ideology as normal with a final rule on Obamacare’s nondiscrimination policies in healthcare.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims that Catholic hospitals are engaging in “harm” and “discrimination” against women, transgender and “gender non-conforming” patients because the Catholic Church opposes abortion, contraception, and sterilization and does not offer these services at affiliated hospitals.

China’s Communist government has lodged a formal diplomatic complaint with the U.S. government for what it is calling a biased and distorted “attack” on China’s religious policies, after the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a scathing report on the state of religious liberty in the country.

A small group of Missouri Republican legislators joined with Democrats to block a religious liberty ballot for November that was opposed by state business groups.

The grim findings of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in its 2016 report suggest that religious liberty continues to take a beating throughout the world, and persecution against believers is not waning but intensifying.