Alabama Bill Would Require School Prayer, Disguised as Civic Education
Written by Don ByrdI have to hand it to Alabama State Representative Steve Hurst. Despite clearly established First Amendment law prohibiting school-sponsored prayer in public schools, he is still trying to find some way to make it a reality. Via Religion Clause, House Bill 318 would require schools to open the day with a 15-minute session that includes a prayer. How does he try to sidestep that pesky thing called the Constitution? Well, according to Hurst, it’s not really prayer as a religious exercise. It is instead an education in civic history because schools will be merely reading prayers that have been delivered in Congress and the state legislature to open their days.
President Obama’s Detractors are Wrong to Criticize his Religious Freedom Speech
Written by Don Byrd
Should Voucher Schools Teach Creationism with Public Money?
Written by Don ByrdThe school voucher program in Indiana is growing rapidly, from just under 4,000 2 years ago to just under 20,000 this school year. That’s more than $80 million of public funds flowing to private education, including many religious schools. One dispute that has grown right along with it is the content of the science curriculum. Courts have well-established that public schools may not teach creationism or intelligent design as part of the science curriculum, because it improperly promotes religious beliefs that are unrelated to the science curriculum and the scientific method.
Kansas House Committee Passes Bill to Allow Discrimination on Religious Grounds
Written by Don ByrdI posted earlier this week about bills winding through state legislatures that create exemptions from nondiscrimination laws for employees that object on religious grounds to serving same-sex couples. In Kansas earlier today, one of those measures came a step closer to becoming law when a House Committee sent the House Bill 2453 to the state House for a vote.
Obama: Freedom of Religion is “Under Threat” Around the World
Written by Don ByrdPresident Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning. His remarks focused on the threats to religious freedom around the world and emphasized the United States’ interests in international religious freedom. You can watch the President’s remarks at C-Span’s site here. He begins at about the 1 hour, 15 minute mark.
Below is a rough transcript of some of those remarks. They are worth a read.
