Latest Church and state News

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...

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

Jun. 24, 2024 23:01 PM 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...

New Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments churns old political conflicts

Jun. 20, 2024 21:07 PM EDT

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

Jun. 20, 2024 05:02 AM EDT

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....