separation of church and state
Spiritual libertarianism swatted down in Wisconsin
By Mark Silk — April 3, 2024
(RNS) — Conservative legal groups are trying to erase a distinction between religious employers and religious activity.
Voucher expansion leads to more students, waitlists and classes for some religious schools
By Holly Meyer — March 4, 2024
(AP) — Against the backdrop of favorable decisions by the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, Florida was among nine states that expanded school voucher programs last year.
Lawyers for religious leaders challenging Missouri abortion ban say law imposes beliefs on everyone
By Jim Salter — November 16, 2023
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The lawsuit was filed in January on behalf of 13 Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders who support abortion rights.
Oklahoma parents, faith leaders and education group sue to stop US’s first public religious school
By Associated Press — August 1, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A group of parents, faith leaders, and a public education nonprofit sued Monday to stop Oklahoma from establishing and funding what would be the nation’s first religious public charter school.
France’s highest administrative court says the soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches
By Samuel Petrequin — June 29, 2023
(AP) — The ruling is likely to refuel the lingering debate on secularism — still volatile more than a century after the 1905 law on separation of church and state that established it as a principle of the French Republic.
Oklahoma OKs the nation’s first religious charter school – but litigation is likely to follow
By Charles J. Russo — June 20, 2023
(The Conversation) — The school’s approval may be the strongest challenge yet to limits on public money in religious schools.
Texas Legislature passes bill allowing chaplains in public schools
By Jack Jenkins — May 10, 2023
(RNS) — ‘I worry that this bill will lead to Christian nationalists infiltrating our public schools and indoctrinating our students,’ said Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat and Presbyterian seminarian.
In Texas, Republicans push bills aimed at enhancing faith’s role in school
By Jack Jenkins — April 24, 2023
(RNS) — Cantor Sheri Allen, co-founder of the Jewish congregation Makom Shelanu, called the bills a “blatant violation of the separation of church and state.”
In ruling for the praying football coach, what did the Supreme Court really say?
By Thomas Reese — August 10, 2022
(RNS) — Does the decision protect private, personal prayer, or is it the camel’s nose for more prayer in schools?
The activist behind opposition to the separation of church and state
By Jack Jenkins — July 18, 2022
(RNS) — Antipathy toward the separation of church and state appears to be a retread of a disputed, decades-old argument popularized primarily by a controversial Texas activist.
As politics poison churches, a nonprofit is teaching a new skill: Deep listening
By Yonat Shimron — July 15, 2022
(RNS) — Resetting the Table does not seek agreement. But it hopes the techniques it teaches will allow people to see each other in all their humanity.
SCOTUS puts government back in the business of funding religious education
By Khyati Y. Joshi — June 23, 2022
(RNS) — This ruling allows taxpayers to be compelled to pay tuition to schools that expressly discriminate.
The Supreme Court debates public prayer. So should we.
By Jacob Lupfer — April 26, 2022
(RNS) — Proper spiritual discernment could have sorted out Kennedy v. Bremerton School District years ago.
Secularism is not atheism. A new book explains why the distinction is so critical.
By Yonat Shimron — January 25, 2022
(RNS) — At its core, secularism is an approach to governance, writes Jacques Berlinerblau in his new book ‘Secularism: The Basics.’ And critically, it is one many religious people, not just atheists and agnostics, support.
Public funding of religious schools is coming. The first lesson is compromise.
By Thomas Reese — December 14, 2021
(RNS) — What religious schools need more than anything is something like the Pell Grants that are available to low-income college students.
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