Latest Church and state News
New Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments churns old political conflicts
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A bill signed into law this week makes Louisiana the only state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom in public schools and colleges — and stirs the long-running debate over the role of religion in government institutions. Under...
New law requires all Louisiana public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move from a GOP-dominated Legislature pushing a conservative agenda under a new governor. The legislation that Republican Gov....
Missouri abortion ban wasn't about lawmakers imposing religious beliefs, judge says
A judge in Missouri says lawmakers who passed a restrictive abortion ban were not trying to impose their religious beliefs on everyone in the state, rejecting a case filed by more than a dozen Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders who support abortion rights. The...
From schools to the Olympics, how France's staunch secularism affects religion in public life
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Walk around multicultural metropolises like Paris or Marseille, or any small village in the French countryside, and signs of faith are everywhere. Many Muslim women wear headscarves and historical Catholic churches anchor nearly every neighborhood. But...
This, too, could pass: Christian group's rule keeping beaches closed on Sunday mornings may end
OCEAN GROVE, N.J. (AP) — In this seaside community that calls itself “God's Square Mile at the Jersey Shore,” all the land is owned by a religious group that has for generations enforced an 11th Commandment: Thou shalt stay off the beach on Sunday morning. But there are signs...
Some state lawmakers want school chaplains as part of a 'rescue mission' for public education
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have proposed legislation to allow spiritual chaplains in public schools, a move that proponents say will ease a youth mental health crisis, bolster staff retention and offer spiritual care to students who can’t afford or access...
