Reading Time: 3 minutes In an attempt to overturn extreme abortion restrictions in Missouri, 13 clergy members have filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the laws impose one religious interpretation upon everyone else, violating their rights and the Constitution. The clergy members represent faith traditions that say abortion is permissible or required in certain situations. The 83-page […]
Law
Posted inEducation
Why did a Texas community college donate land to a private Christian school?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Why did the taxpayer-funded Weatherford College, a community college in Texas, donate “39 acres” of land, six buildings, and a “large parking lot” to a private Christian institution? That’s the question the Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to know because they believe that transfer is unconstitutional. Over a year ago, Weatherford College donated its entire […]
Posted inPolitics
Idaho’s ‘faith-healing’ exemption has led to more senseless child deaths
Reading Time: 3 minutes Idaho is one of only six states where belief in “faith-healing” can help you escape charges of negligent homicide, manslaughter, or capital murder. So if a child dies because her Christian Science parents refused to take her to a doctor, those parents won’t be punished. Consider the state’s laws regarding children and vulnerable adults, which includes this […]
Posted inSatire
Republicans challenge law of gravity: ‘Everything is far too heavy’
Reading Time: < 1 minute In an unusual move, congressional Republicans are pushing through a bill to allow states to repeal the law of gravity. “Apparently some of us are still engaging in Civil War politics,” complained a Democratic representative who asked not to be named. “I don’t know if I want to live in an America where the law […]
Posted inPolitics
A giant pink phallus may come to Florida, thanks to Jesus and an atheist
Reading Time: 3 minutes A giant phallus may be coming to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and if that happens, we’ll have Jesus and an atheist to thank. A couple of months ago, the city hosted a Christmas tree lighting ceremony as well as a Menorah Lighting Celebration. Those were religious celebrations promoted by government officials, suggesting that the public square […]
Posted inLaw
Report: 188 Catholic clergy members in Kansas are alleged predators
Reading Time: 3 minutes A four-year investigation into Kansas’ Catholic churches has found 188 alleged predators suspected of committing “aggravated criminal sodomy, rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated sexual battery.” The report also says there were 400 victims of sexual abuse in the Kansas archdioceses since 1950, but in most of those cases, either the clergy […]
Posted inPolitics
KS lawmaker behind ‘In God We Trust’ bill found guilty of COVID relief fraud
Reading Time: 3 minutes Michael Capps, a former Kansas lawmaker who once sponsored a bill to put the words “In God We Trust” in every federal building, has been found guilty of committing COVID relief fraud and money laundering. His career wasn’t supposed to end this way. In 2018, the Republican was appointed to the Kansas State House and […]
Posted inReproductive rights
Judge orders ‘The Church at Planned Parenthood’ to pay $110,000 in damages
Reading Time: 3 minutes A judge in Spokane County, Washington ruled on Friday that “The Church at Planned Parenthood” (TCAPP) violated the law when it blocked patient care outside a clinic, and the Christian group will now have to pay $110,000 in damages to the abortion providers. So that plan backfired on the right-wing extremists. For years now, members […]
Posted inLGBTQ News
Why the Christian Right tried (and failed) to kill the Respect for Marriage Act
Reading Time: 9 minutes The Respect for Marriage Act finally passed a its last vote. It’s now on its way to the president’s desk, where he’ll likely sign it into law on Tuesday. But it got there over the kicking and screaming of the Christian Right, a loose-knit assortment of hardline evangelical culture warriors and creepily-authoritarian hardline Catholics.
Posted inPolitics
Bill bolstering secular addiction treatment programs awaits NY Gov’s signature
Reading Time: 3 minutes Months after its passage, an important bill that would expand treatment options for secular people struggling with substance abuse has now been sent to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. She should sign it into law immediately. The purpose of the law (Senate Bill S7313A / Assembly Bill A8163) is fairly straightforward. When someone in New […]