The atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) announced late last week they would be suing the Trump administration over an executive order on religious liberty which the President signed on Thursday. Although many political commentators, including some on the left, reacted to the executive order by pointing out its relative weakness, FFRF claims the order is unconstitutional because it necessitates the government to favor religion over non-religion. Despite the fact that the order applies to all non-profits, the group claims it will unfairly benefit churches and religious organizations. According to the suit, “President Trump’s EO creates the appearance of government
Ben Carson appeared on the fifth episode of EWTN News’ “Candidate Conversations 2016” last Sunday. He strongly endorsed the First Amendment Defense Act, which is great news for voters concerned about protecting religious liberty. But then he did something else, too. And honestly, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. You can view the whole exchange below: After endorsing the First Amendment Defense Act and talking about the importance of religion, Carson went on to discuss his tax plan: Well, you know, I have a good idea I believe, and that is a tax plan where you have a
Ted Cruz has been rallying pastors to get involved in the fight to defund Planned Parenthood, and he’s asking them to preach about the issue from the pulpit on Sunday. Here’s an excerpt from a suggested sermon Cruz sent out to the pastors: Recent videos exposing the gruesome practice of Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of the organs of babies from their mother’s womb… There must be a point in which the accumulative error of an evil decision thrust upon the nation by secularist jurists stops… pray for your Congressman and Senators to hear from God regarding the ending of the slaughter
The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack just asked major Democrats in the Senate whether or not they thought religious schools who require their employees to affirm the school’s faith tenets on marriage should have their tax status revoked. Their reactions were not reassuring: Sen. Richard Durbin told him they would be looking at a variety of laws to implement the Court’s ruling, but as to religious schools’ right to hire teachers who affirm their faith? “I don’t have a quick answer for you. I’ll have to think hard and long about that.” Bernie Sanders said probably not: “I don’t know that
With a new Supreme Court decision that just institutionalized same-sex marriage nationwide, a lot of religious schools are wondering how far the government will go in pressuring religious schools to accept the new status quo. The New York Times reported on these concerns last week just before the ruling came down: Conservative religious schools all over the country forbid same-sex relationships, from dating to couples’ living in married-student housing, and they fear they will soon be forced to make a wrenching choice. If the Supreme Court this month finds a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, the schools say they will