Latest Church and state News

Oklahoma teachers were told to use the Bible. There's resistance from schools as students return

Aug. 24, 2024 00:10 AM EDT

BIXBY, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma's Bixby school district has lots to show off for a fast-growing Tulsa suburb: a state-of-the-art new high school set to open by 2025, a new ninth grade gymnasium and plans for a $12 million upgrade to a football complex that already rivals that of many small colleges....

Louisiana AG asks court to dismiss lawsuit against new Ten Commandments law

Aug. 05, 2024 16:44 PM EDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's attorney general announced Monday that she is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the state’s new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom by Jan. 1. The suit was filed...

Ten Commandments won't go in some Louisiana classrooms until at least November as lawsuit plays out

Jul. 19, 2024 18:03 PM EDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana won't take official steps to implement a law requiring the Ten Commandments be placed in all of the state's public school classrooms until at least November as a lawsuit makes its way through the courts, according to an agreement approved by a federal judge...

How will Louisiana's new Ten Commandments classroom requirement be funded and enforced?

Jun. 30, 2024 16:04 PM EDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Even as a legal challenge is already underway over a new Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, the details of how the mandate will be implemented and enforced remain murky. Across the country there have been...

Ten Commandments. Multiple variations. Why the Louisiana law raises preferential treatment concerns

Jun. 29, 2024 08:41 AM EDT

Christians and Jews believe in the Ten Commandments — just not necessarily the version that will hang in every public school and state-funded college classroom in Louisiana. The required text prescribed in the new law and used on many monuments around the United States is a...

What to know about Oklahoma's top education official ordering Bible instruction in schools

Jun. 28, 2024 17:27 PM EDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's top education official outraged civil rights groups and others when he ordered public schools to immediately begin incorporating the Bible into lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12. Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters said in a...

Oklahoma state superintendent orders schools to teach the Bible in grades 5 through 12

Jun. 27, 2024 17:34 PM EDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools Thursday to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12, the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms. The directive drew immediate condemnation from civil...

Editorial Roundup: United States

Jun. 27, 2024 14:46 PM EDT

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: June 25 The Philadelphia Inquirer on the war in Gaza and the Houthis As hopes for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza continue to dim, it’s important to underline that the United States is...

Editorial Roundup: Missouri

Jun. 25, 2024 12:06 PM EDT

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 23, 2024. Editorial: Gun sanity briefly prevails at the U.S. Supreme Court. (Now do Missouri.) The Supreme Court on Friday issued the kind of ruling that would once have been viewed as so obvious as to be unnecessary: Yes, the court said,...

Lawsuit challenges new Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments

Jun. 25, 2024 00:57 AM EDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, a measure they contend is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs in the suit include parents of Louisiana...