Florida
A pastor’s encounter with the ‘demonic’ at Trump’s Florida rally
By Lauren Markoe — February 22, 2017
(RNS) It began to go bad very quickly, when first lady Melania Trump read the Lord's Prayer to the crowd.
A Jewish guide to Florida real estate
By Jeffrey Salkin — February 7, 2017
Do you live in a gated community? Don't make it a spiritual metaphor for life.
Hillary should call out anti-Semitic Trump supporters
By Jeffrey Salkin — November 1, 2016
Anti-semitism should have been a hot issue in this election. What happened?
Sea level rise is a religious issue
By Jeffrey Salkin — October 23, 2016
The waters are rising. Global warming is real. What does God think of all this?
Should kids be forced to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance?
By Jeffrey Salkin — September 19, 2016
Let kids kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance. Rebellion comes with the territory.
Members vow to rebuild fire-damaged mosque where Pulse shooter worshipped
By RNS staff — September 13, 2016
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Whoever set fire to a portion of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce has “terrorized our community,” a spokesman said, but the mosque will be reused as soon as possible. The blaze at the facility — where Orlando Pulse nightclub mass shooter Omar Mateen used to worship — started at 12:40 […]
FBI questions member of Orlando gunman’s mosque
By Jerome Socolovsky — June 18, 2016
ORLANDO, Fla./FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- FBI agents on Friday questioned a member of the Florida mosque attended by Omar Mateen, the man who shot 49 people to death at a gay nightclub, as new information surfaced revealing the killer had exhibited chronic behavioral problems during his youth.
50 people killed in massacre at Florida gay nightclub
By RNS staff — June 12, 2016
ORLANDO, Fla. — The shooter was identified as Omar S. Mateen, a man who a senior FBI official said might have had leanings toward Islamic State militants. Officials cautioned that the Islamist tie required further investigation.
American Atheists suit against Ten Commandments monument advances
By Kimberly Winston — January 28, 2016
(RNS) The group wants a granite bench, engraved with quotes from Madalyn Murray O'Hair and others, set near a Ten Commandments monument at a Florida county courthouse.
‘Muslim-free’ gun store owner to host Muslim leader at gun class
By Reuters — July 22, 2015
(Reuters) A Florida gun dealer who received national attention for declaring his store a "Muslim Free Zone" will host a Muslim civil rights leader in his gun class on Saturday, both men said.
Florida lawmakers to dump 1868 ‘sin’ law criminalizing unwed live-in lovers
By Reuters — April 1, 2015
"The government should not intrude into the private lives of consenting adults," says a state senator.
Miami judge weds gays and lesbians after ruling against ban
By Rick Neale — January 6, 2015
(RNS) Florida is now the 36th U.S. state where same-sex marriages are legal statewide. The addition of its 19.9 million people means 70 percent of Americans now live in states where gay marriage is legal.
Voters pass wage hikes and legal pot, divide on abortion
By Greg Toppo — November 5, 2014
(RNS) Tennessee approved a constitutional amendment that will give more power to state lawmakers to regulate and restrict abortion.
What happens next in the 20 states that still ban gay marriage?
By Brad Heath — October 7, 2014
(RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Monday leaves unchanged 20 state laws blocking same-sex unions. Each is already under legal attack, and some judges in those cases had been waiting to see what the high court would do. The court's instruction Monday: Proceed.
COMMENTARY: Anti-Muslim bigotry taints Florida ban on foreign laws
By Amos Toh — May 16, 2014
(RNS) Although Florida’s foreign law ban bucks the trend of overexpansive bans in other states, the motivation to pass such a law is rooted in the same xenophobic sentiment.
