religious liberty
245 pieces tagged “religious liberty”, newest first.
Coach's Challenge: Pray Under Pressure
When the Bremerton High School football team takes the field tonight, the loudest cheers will be for the coach. After a public spat over game day prayer, Joe Kennedy has picked up plenty of fans — and not just from conservatives. The former Marine has become a statewide hero after refusing to back down from his seven-year tradition of thanking God at every game. And while he never asked his players to join him, they wanted to. The midfield kneel became part of the team's identity until this year, when Coach Kennedy was told to stop praying or *start* finding a new job.
Pin the Tale on the Donkey
There were plenty of takeaways from [Tuesday] night's Democratic presidential debate, but the biggest may be how much conservatives have to be grateful for. On a Las Vegas stage, Americans heard from five liberals bent on furthering the agenda that's put our nation on the financial, moral, and international brink. Together, they showed no remorse for the misguided policies of the Obama administration — and instead seemed to apologize that the president's radicalism didn't go far enough.
Football Coach Says He Will Defy School's Prayer Ban
There's a scene in the great football film "Facing the Giants" when the coach decides to implement a new coaching philosophy — to praise God no matter what the result. Joe Kennedy, a football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington, was so inspired by the film he decided to embrace that philosophy — knowing that to do so could cost him his job. I'll explain why in just a few more paragraphs.
'God Bless the Military'? Outrageous!
Mikey Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation is at it again.
Blessed Assurance: Message Is Fine...
God isn't the enemy, but He's sure been treated like one on some military installations. At Marine Corps Base Hawaii, activists have one mission: booting God from base. But thanks to commanding officer Sean Killeen, it won't happen without a fight. For weeks, a secular group with nothing better to do than harass the military has demanded that a sign come down that says, "God bless the military, their families, and the civilians who work with them."
School District Fights ACLU, Vows to Keep Saying 'God Bless You'
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana has launched a full-scale assault on Airline High School after the principal wrote the words "May God Bless You All" in a message posted on the school's website. "The Future Starts Today – May God Bless You All," wrote Principal Jason Rowland in September. The ACLU also complained about plans by the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes to place prayer request boxes around the campus.
Planned Parenthood's Cecile the Lyin'
While businesses start closing the books on another fiscal year, Congress is fighting to close the books on taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood — permanently. Caught in a scandal with an unprecedented "ick" factor, organization President Cecile Richards took the stand for the first time to try to justify the grisly baby harvesting ring her group has been hiding.
President of Hypocrisy, Ayatollah Demands More, Refugee Crisis
I couldn't help but notice President Obama's remarks [Wednesday] at the White House. With Pope Francis seated just a few feet behind him, Obama had the audacity to claim, "You remind us that people are only truly free when they can practice their faith freely. Here in the United States, we cherish religious liberty." This president brought the full weight and power of our massive federal government to bear on the Little Sisters of the Poor and more than a dozen Catholic dioceses, trying to force them, under penalty of crushing fines, to violate the teachings of their faith.
The Balance of Fear
There exists in America today what can be called a balance of fear, and it is nowhere better described — through the acts of young Christians who overcome it — than in Tony Perkins' new book, "No Fear: Real Stories of a Courageous New Generation Standing for Truth." In political relations between nations, there is a balance of power. It is the place where conflict ceases because one nation, or alliance of nations, has sufficient power to intimidate others from acting against it. Or: It is when one nation, or alliance of nations, has sufficiently obvious power that it can compel others to do what it wants them to do without having to put its power into action.
Kim Davis Has No Right to Impose Her View of Marriage on Others
The Defiant Clerk's Defenders Dangerously Blur the Distinction Between Private Action and State Action
Church in Hot Water Over Football Field Baptism
Asking a Baptist preacher to baptize is like asking Colonel Sanders if he wants a bucket of chicken. Somebody's going to get dunked. So when a football coach in Villa Rica, Georgia asked to be baptized on the high school football field, the local First Baptist Church obliged. At the end of the school day somebody hauled out an old feeding trough, plopped it in the end zone near the field house and filled it with water.
Kentucky Clerk Not Issuing Gay Marriage Licenses Causes Uproar. North Carolina Shows Better Way.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling redefining marriage throughout the country, there's an open question as to what happens to people who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife. [Monday] the Supreme Court declined to review a lower court's ruling requiring the county clerk of Rowan County, Ky., to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.
Can a Christian Be a County Clerk in America?
Can a Christian be a county clerk in the United States? This is a question it now appears may ultimately be decided by five Supreme Court justices. With it, too, will ride such questions as: Can a Christian be a doctor? A nurse? A public-school teacher? In June, when five justices declared that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment creates a right to "same-sex marriage," Justice Clarence Thomas issued a warning.
The Next Front in the War on Religious Freedom
Stop bellyaching about Washington. All the country's best fascists are on your local city council. Not long ago, Colorado became a leader in the fight against religious freedom, when its Civil Rights Commission, self-appointed ministers of justice and theology, decided that a shopkeeper who refuses to participate in a gay wedding ceremony must be smeared and fined out of business. A Colorado appeals court says this is kosher, finding that the brittle sensitivities of a cakeless couple outweigh the constitutional rights of Christian business owners. Now, in an effort to save everyone some time, the cultural imperialists at the Denver City Council have decided to skip the pretense of some trumped-up injustice and jumped right to discriminating against a business solely because of the beliefs of its CEO.
ACLU: Force Catholic Hospitals to Abandon Catholic Faith
The woefully misnamed American Civil Liberties Union is launching a crusade to force Catholic hospitals to act against Catholic moral teachings and the natural law. This is an un-American attack on religious liberty. The ACLU's intentions came to light this week after it threatened to sue Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California, which is operated by the Sisters of Mercy. The hospital is a part of Dignity Health, a nonprofit that operates 40 hospitals — 22 of which are Catholic — in California, Nevada and Arizona.
School Under Fire for Football Prayer, Marching Band's Religious Song
In the South, faith and football go together like biscuits and gravy. And that's especially true in a place like Laurens County, Georgia — where faith flavors everyday living — far beyond the walls of the church house. Those traditions were especially evident at West Laurens High School where the marching band performed great songs of the faith and folks bowed their heads to pray before Friday night football games. But those traditions are a problem, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based group that loves to put its nose in other people's business — especially when it comes to public displays of the Christian faith.
School Band Told to Stop Performing 'How Great Thou Art'
There was no halftime show under the Friday night lights at Mississippi's Brandon High School — the marching band had been benched. The band was ordered off the field because the Christian hymn "How Great Thou Art" was a part of their halftime show — in violation of a federal court order. "The Rankin County School Board and District Office are very saddened students will not be able to perform their halftime show they have worked so hard on this summer," the district wrote in a statement to the Clarion Ledger newspaper.
The Beginning of the End of Religious Freedom
Just in case you need a refresher: Back in 2012, a baker in the Denver suburb of Lakewood was asked by a gay couple to make them a wedding cake — two years before gay marriage was even legalized in Colorado. The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips, declined to participate in Charlie Craig and David Mullins' celebration because such an event conflicted with his Christian faith. Here are a few things Phillips didn't do: He didn't query consumers about their sexual preferences. He didn't bar same-sex couples from purchasing a cake at a place of public accommodation. He didn't ask consumers traveling in same-sex pairs to leave his shop. He didn't hang a "No Gays Allowed" sign in his window.