Written by Don ByrdThe Louisiana legislature has passed a bill that would complicate the issue of organized student prayer at school. HB 724 requires schools to provide space on request to students who wish to pray before or after the school day, or during the school day’s non-instructional time.
Students are of course already free to pray on their own or in groups in a non-disruptive way during non-instructional time. The space requirement appears to essentially raises any impromptu prayer gathering to the level of a school club in terms of access to meeting space. One other element of the bill causes more concern in my mind…
Written by Don ByrdBaptist writer, minister, activist and icon Will D. Campbell died yesterday at the age of 88. He was a staunch advocate for the Baptist heritage of church-state separation. In an interview with the Wittenburg Door to discuss the re-release of his novel The Glad River, Campbell said this…
Written by Don ByrdA jury awarded $170,000 to teacher Christa Dias yesterday in an employment discrimination suit after she was fired for being pregnant while unmarried (via in vitro fertilization). Her employer was the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which now may argue the case should never have gotten to a jury due to the ministerial exception, which exempts religious employers from discrimination laws regarding employees with a ministerial role.
Written by Don ByrdWith the passing of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ-D), the American people have lost a champion of religious liberty. Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism offered his thoughts,
Written by Don ByrdThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against Star Trucking Company over their refusal to accommodate Muslim drivers’ objection to delivering alcohol. The drivers were ultimately fired rather when, according to the complaint, accommodation would not have provided an undue hardship to the employers.
