First Amendment
Beards big winner in year-old Hobby Lobby case (COMMENTARY)
By Lori Windham — July 2, 2015
A year later, who was the big winner in the Supreme Court's landmark decision in the Hobby Lobby case? Beards. Yes, beards.
Supreme Court rules for Arizona church in sign ordinance case
By Lauren Markoe — June 18, 2015
(RNS) A tiny Arizona church with no permanent home won 9-0 at the Supreme Court in a free speech case.
Sexy swingers club or ‘church’: Who gets to decide?
By Heidi Hall — April 30, 2015
MADISON, Tenn. (RNS) Rooms labeled as dungeons in remodeling plans for The Social Club have been renamed as "choir" and "handbell" space in the revamped United Fellowship Center. Courts may decide the sincerity of that conversion.
Judge orders NY transit agency to run ‘Killing Jews’ ad
By Reuters — April 22, 2015
NEW YORK (Reuters) The ad portrays a menacing man wearing a scarf and includes a quotation: "Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah" attributed to "Hamas MTV.
Atlanta is burning: A new and ominous threat to religious liberty (COMMENTARY)
By R. Albert Mohler Jr. — January 21, 2015
(RNS) If one’s religious beliefs are to be punished with (among other things) loss of employment, you don't need a vivid imagination to guess where such logic may lead.
The delicate politics of school holidays (COMMENTARY)
By Hussein Rashid — November 14, 2014
(RNS) Inclusion on the school calendar is an important symbol of belonging. Muslims want to be part of that narrative as well.
Court rejects atheists’ demand to end tax break for clergy housing
By Kimberly Winston — November 13, 2014
(RNS) Supporters say the clergy tax breaks helps compensate ministers and rabbis for their role in providing social services and pad their "modest salaries."
Why I stand with the Houston Five (COMMENTARY)
By Scott R. Murray — October 17, 2014
HOUSTON (RNS) Subpoenas issued by the mayor and the City Council of Houston attack two of the freedoms protected in the First Amendment: the free exercise of religion and the right to political speech.
Atheists want you to sit down for the Pledge of Allegiance
By Kimberly Winston — September 9, 2014
(RNS) A new campaign from the American Humanist Association wants people to sit down and shut up when the Pledge of Allegiance is recited.
Why I stopped saying America’s Pledge of Allegiance
By Brian Pellot — September 9, 2014
Atheists launched a “Don’t Say the Pledge” campaign on Monday to protest the phrase “under God.” I stopped saying the Pledge in my tweens for more reasons than one.
Christian group sanctioned at two dozen college campuses
By Kimberly Winston — September 8, 2014
(RNS) InterVarsity has been challenged on more than 40 college campuses, but California State University, with 23 campuses, is the biggest -- so far.
Travelblog: Hate speech, the First Amendment and religious sensitivity
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 25, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) "Everybody knows what hate speech is," my new Pakistani colleague told me. But do we?
Hobby Lobby protesters ‘Knit a Brick’
By Kimberly Winston — July 17, 2014
(RNS) The Secular Coalition for America wants anyone upset by the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling last month to knit or crochet rectangles, or “bricks,” to shore up what the coalition sees as the crumbling wall of separation between church and state.
Humanists win right to solemnize their own weddings in Indiana
By Kimberly Winston — July 14, 2014
(RNS) “It is irrational to allow humanists to solemnize marriages if, and only if, they falsely declare that they are a ‘religion,’” Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for a federal appeals court.
The cross on Mount Soledad can stay — for now
By Kimberly Winston — June 30, 2014
(RNS) Both sides in a ongoing legal controversy over a cross on public land in San Diego will have to wait some more.
