In December, the school fired Zmuda, saying he violated terms of his contract, which require adherence to Catholic Church teachings. The church forbids same-sex marriage, and court rulings have upheld religious institutions’ rights to hire and fire according to the tenets of their faith.   SEATTLE (RNS) Forced out of his Catholic school job for... Continue Reading

Central to the issue is whether the license plates represent private speech or government speech. If the latter, then they are not subject to the same “free speech” requirements as private speech, per the U.S Supreme Court. If the plates constitute private speech, however, then free-speech restrictions apply, meaning one viewpoint may not be given... Continue Reading

“This could be because religion imposes opportunity costs in terms of time and resources that may otherwise have been devoted toward productive entrepreneurship,” they write. “For example, time spent in church reduces time available for engaging in business activity. More subjectively, religion may create psychic costs to pursuing worldly gains rather than salvation in the... Continue Reading

“Kostya Farkovets, a 40-year-old Ukrainian who lives in the eastern city of Gorlovka with his wife and three boys, told me that life is “turning pretty lousy” in his town and in nearby Donetsk. “Some pro-Russian radicals have mounted the Russian flag on top of the governor’s building yesterday instead of Ukraine’s national flag. Here... Continue Reading

“From the 15th century, the dominant Muslim power was the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which ruled over millions of Christians—Armenians, Greeks, Slavs, and others. As Ottoman power crumbled, European Christian nations pressed hard on its shrinking borders, annexing its territory.”   In recent days, the Crimean peninsula has been at the heart of what some have... Continue Reading

Even if we assume that Jesus would participate in a gay “wedding,” does that mean we should force everyone to do it? Stamping out the freedom of those whose consciences differ is still unthinkable. I’d never want a judge to order a bakery owned by someone who identifies as gay or lesbian to be forced... Continue Reading

“As our society became more politically partisan, SPLC cemented its position as speaking for those with progressive political and social attitudes. Rather than developing into an objective clearinghouse for the identification of hatred – no matter where the source of that hatred may develop – SPLC has become a useful organization for progressives to legitimate... Continue Reading

Since 2009, several American pastors and leaders have condemned legislation in Uganda that in its initial version imposed the death penalty for some offenders. Under the revised law signed recently by President Yoweri Museveni, the death penalty was removed and replaced with life in prison in some cases. Now, American evangelicals who insist they never supported... Continue Reading

“He added the Western church appeared unaware of their double mindedness. “Many people have spiritual blindness but let us not mix issues. One hundred and thirty six years ago, the Church of England sent graduates from Oxford University to Africa to evangelise. America is a super power built on Christian principles… but in all this... Continue Reading

To be clear, I’m certainly not calling for a crusade against Judaism. I’m simply telling Jewish people that they needn’t be worried about Christians “tricking” them into abandoning Judaism or Christians making their Zionism contingent on Jewish acceptance of Jesus. By the same token, Jews needn’t demand that Christians abandon a central part of their... Continue Reading