RNS Morning Report: Project Blitz; Bishops at the border; El Salvador gangs

Jennifer Marshall, with the Heritage Foundation, and Summer Ingram, with the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, who said they support “traditional marriage” stand outside the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Need to know: Tuesday, July 3, 2018

A campaign to blitz the country with ‘In God We Trust’ laws takes root

This year, five state legislatures passed laws mandating that every public school prominently display the national motto "In God We Trust."

In Denmark, harsh new laws for immigrant ‘ghettos’

Denmark is introducing laws to regulate life in heavily Muslim enclaves, saying families there should be compelled to merge into the country’s mainstream. (Subscription may be required.)

For some gang members in El Salvador, the evangelical church offers a way out

For many boys and men growing up in gang-controlled areas, their only alternative to joining a gang — or getting out of one — is to become a devoted member of an evangelical church.

U.S. Catholic bishops to minister to children in border detention centers

Bishops of the Catholic Church who want to affect immigration policy are being cautious, telling activists not to carry signs or use the word “protest.” (Subscription may be required.)

Bomb rattles an Afghan minority so small ‘no one is a stranger’

Years ago, there were as many as 65,000 Sikh families across the country. But decades of war and persecution have shrunk their numbers to about 800 people. (Subscription may be required.)

By any other name: Why the ‘travel ban’ really is a Muslim ban

The phrase 'travel ban' is neither neutral nor objective, Todd Green says. "When journalists repeat this language, they become complicit in amplifying Trump’s propaganda and in inscribing anti-Muslim prejudice into federal immigration policy."

Latest news from RNS

US travel ban leaves far-flung Syrian family in limbo

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — The travel ban has thrown yet another obstacle in the way of Syrian refugees whose status in neighboring countries is already uncertain.

Vatican City still has no policy to fight clergy sex abuse

(AP) — Pope Francis has taken measures to address a spiraling sex abuse scandal in Chile, but he hasn’t moved on a problem closer to home: Vatican City itself does not have policies to protect children from pedophile priests or require suspected abuse to be reported to police.

Evangelical leaders downplay potential Roe v. Wade reversal

(AP) — “The left is going to try very hard to say this is all about overturning Roe,” said Johnnie Moore, a Southern Baptist minister who was a co-chairman of the Trump campaign’s evangelical advisory board

More views from RNS

Why white evangelicals voted for Trump: Fear, power and nostalgia

(RNS) — Eighty-one percent of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, but why? Especially when there were three experienced evangelical candidates in the primary season? Historian John Fea traces a legacy of fear, power, and nostalgia among white evangelical voters.

Religious liberty: A US birthright for conservatives and progressives alike

(RNS) — Religious conservatives need to realize that they are not the only ones who believe religious freedom is a sacred right. And progressives, whether religious or not, should not dismiss the entire concept.

The case for gender-segregated beaches

(RNS) — News that New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch has rented a city-owned Brooklyn beach for separate male and female swim days is creating excitement among devout Muslims and Orthodox Jews, but critics say the practice amounts to gender discrimination.