“The Court’s decision could also empower other municipalities to take a closer look at tax-exempt properties in their own jurisdictions as possible cash cows. Other religious organizations in Massachusetts are monitoring the case, fearful that their own assets could be the next targets for taxation.”   Property-tax battles are rarely sexy. But a case now... Continue Reading

The lawsuit claims the department is “continuing to trample students’ privacy and other constitutional and statutory rights” in its enforcement of Title IX, a law that prohibits gender discrimination in federally funded schools. In April 2014, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) ruled Title IX protections cover discrimination on the basis of... Continue Reading

“Pregnancy rates among teenagers have been consistently dropping for the last two decades, and recent years have all seen historic declines in national teen pregnancy rates. What’s driving the decrease isn’t known for sure, but improved access and better sex education are likely playing a role.”   The rate of American teenagers giving birth has... Continue Reading

“The liberal arts school was named after 19th Presbyterian missionaries named Whitman who were killed by Cayuse Indians enraged by measles inadvertently spread by newly arrived settlers. There are no plans evidently to rename Whitman, which was originally founded as a Congregationalist seminary but long since has shed any church affiliation.”   Whitman College in... Continue Reading

“All 15 people who signed the open letter are members of the national church’s New York Conference, a region that encompasses New York City, Long Island and part of Connecticut. Methodist leaders in that jurisdiction have previously rebelled against the church’s policy by announcing they would not consider sexual orientation when evaluating candidates for clergy.”  ... Continue Reading

The church is a culture and the West is now an anti-culture. And we can no more engage or transform anti-culture than we can hunt unicorns or turn lead into gold. Or find a mildly coherent insight or a hint of lasting musical merit in a Lady Gaga song, for that matter.   Is the... Continue Reading

But what ideas in it are so dangerous? We could start with the radical notion that all human beings are created by God in His image, and are equal in His eyes. This means every human being should be accorded equal dignity and respect. If the wrong people read that, trouble will be sure to... Continue Reading

“The Colorado Civil Rights Commission soon piled on, requiring the baker to submit quarterly reports (for two years) which detailed the name of any person he refused to bake a cake for and on what grounds the refusal was made. The reports were also supposed to document steps Phillips had made to end what the Commission deemed... Continue Reading

For the Indiana boxes, the state Department of Health officials issued a report voicing concerns that the incubators could be a liability. Kelsey believes that the boxes are safe, and the anonymity afforded by the new baby boxes will encourage more women to follow the Baby Moses laws rather than illegally abandoning their infants.  ... Continue Reading

“Leaving aside the questions about modern day Christianity, I want to ask whether these claims about early Christianity–particularly in the second century–are, in fact, true. Is it really the case that second-century Christianity was a hostile environment for women?”   Since we live in a culture that is obsessed with gender identity and gender issues,... Continue Reading