Reading Time: 4 minutes Why pace yourself when you can sprint? The Department of Justice, during a surprisingly busy week, is now investigating the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, for sexual abuse. That’s according to the SBC leaders themselves, who announced on Friday that an investigation was taking place and that they’d fully […]
Law
Posted inEducation
After legal threats, Kansas school board repeals ‘Satanism’ ban in dress code
Reading Time: 5 minutes Earlier today, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education in Kansas voted to repeal a ban on “Satanism” from its elementary and middle school dress code. It’s the right move, though it comes weeks after a Satanist mother made the request and the ban appeared to be on the way out, and days after the […]
Posted inBooks
The attack on Salman Rushdie is an attack on free expression
Reading Time: 2 minutes In 2016, months before the election, and long before today’s attack, Salman Rushdie appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and explained why he supported Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t just because he shared many of her policy positions (though that was surely part of it). It was because he understood what it was like to […]
Posted inLaw
Creationists sue insurers for rejecting COVID-related relief claims
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Creationists at Answers in Genesis and Crosswater Canyon (the parent companies for the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, respectively) have filed a lawsuit against their insurance providers for not covering their losses for three months when they were forced to close due to COVID. They claim they are legally owed that money, despite no […]
Posted inLaw
Fargo School Board nixes Pledge of Allegiance due to ‘under God’ phrase
Reading Time: 2 minutes In a sensible move that’s sure to infuriate conservatives, the Fargo School Board in North Dakota voted this week to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance to open their meetings. The board only began saying the Pledge back in April, but the faux-patriotic ritual didn’t go over well with some members of the community who […]
Posted inLaw, Theater
Before ‘Hamilton,’ The Door McAllen church stole ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Door McAllen, a church in Texas, has been under serious scrutiny for the past several days after performing an unlicensed, Jesus-centric production of Hamilton over the weekend. The show is not available for any outside group to perform right now, much less a church that changes the show’s message. Making matters worse, Friday night’s […]
Posted inLaw
The Garland memo looks very different after Mar-a-Lago raid
Reading Time: 2 minutes On May 25, when Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo reminding DOJ investigators to obtain written approval from the Attorney General before opening any investigation into “politically sensitive individuals and entities” on the cusp of elections, it was seen by many (including OnlySky) as a death knell for any realistic hope of a Donald Trump […]
Posted inEducation
A NC high school football coach is converting kids to Christianity
Reading Time: 3 minutes When the Supreme Court ruled that a public high school football coach was allowed to pray silently after games (even though he was actually showboating at midfield for effect), the question in the minds of many church/state separation advocates was how far other coaches would stretch that decision. How would they subvert the new rules so […]
Posted inTheater
A Texas church illegally performed ‘Hamilton’ to spread anti-gay bigotry
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Christians at The Door McAllen church in Texas are ignoring that pesky “Thou shalt not steal” commandment this weekend and illegally staging a production of the musical Hamilton. You can even see a preview of the show in this sermon from August 3 at the 27:10 mark: Update: The Church has taken down the […]
Posted inLaw
Kansas school board upholds anti-‘Satanism’ dress code
Reading Time: 5 minutes Two weeks after initially signaling that they would revise their dress code to remove a discriminatory ban on “Satanism,” the Hays USD 489 Board of Education in Kansas has unfortunately chosen to leave the ban in place. The issue surrounds the dress code in the district’s middle and elementary school handbooks. (The high school doesn’t […]