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Need to know: Friday, February 3, 2017
Trump vows to let churches engage in politics
President Trump vowed in his first National Prayer Breakfast as chief executive to make good on a campaign promise to repeal the law that restricts political speech from the pulpit.
How Trump would corrupt the pulpit
By repealing the Johnson Amendment, houses of worship and other charities could become unregulated vessels for campaign contributions, writes Steven Waldman.
Paris knife attack: soldier shoots man outside Louvre in ‘terrorist’ incident
The man headed towards soldiers “armed with a machete” and shouting threats and “Allahu Akbar.”
The ‘Splainer: Does Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ flout the law?
“Religious discrimination is generally unconstitutional,” says law professor Douglas Laycock. “But immigration is a special world.”
The ‘sanctuary city’ on the front line of the fight over Trump’s immigration policy
While the Texas governor and a local sheriff are locked in a standoff over the issue, a Presbyterian minister in Austin says “people of good conscience must put themselves between asylum seekers and ‘harm’s way.’”
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Latest news from RNS
In a new video, Pope Francis urges compassion for refugees, people on the margins
VATICAN CITY (RNS) “Don’t abandon them,” the pope says in the video, released Thursday (Feb. 2), which does not directly reference President Trump's immigration ban.
Evangelical Jerry Falwell Jr. to head Trump education task force
The president of Liberty University is keen to cut university regulations, including rules on dealing with campus sexual assault, the school says.
Trump’s move to protect LGBT workers unsettles religious conservatives
The president’s decision to continue Obama’s policy was lost amid anger over the travel ban and the ecstasy over his Supreme Court pick. But Trump’s move began to draw delayed responses from social conservatives.
More views from RNS
Trump’s Prayer Breakfast two-step
(RNS) He pretended that his order barring immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries was all about protecting tolerance in America.
Religious art discovered alive!
As S. Brent Plate finds: "Dig around in art, and we find religion. Dig around in religion, and we find art."
10 ways former Mormons can reconnect with devout family members
When you've left Mormonism but your family hasn't, can you still communicate with love? Guest blogger Mette Harrison offers 10 tips on reconnecting.
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Bonus tracks
- Neil Gorsuch belongs to a notably liberal church — and would be the first Protestant on the Court in years
- Islam isn’t a race. But it still makes sense to think of Islamophobia as racism
- Before Matt Ryan’s ascent, a quiet grounding in the Quaker way
- Bearing burdens after Obamacare: The future of Christian healthcare sharing
- Shariah law may be coming to America, but it’s Christians who are bringing it
