Nation

(RNS) — State Sen. Charles Perry recently stood on the floor of the Texas Senate in Austin defending a bill that would let state license holders assert their religious beliefs when providing — or denying — certain services.

LINCOLN, Neb. (RNS) — In the days following major midwestern floods this spring, people of faith prayed for their neighbors and got busy lending a hand. They also turned to their beliefs to make sense of the disaster.

BEAUREGARD, Ala. (BP) -- So much more -- that's what the March 3 tornadoes were to Rusty Sowell. So much more than he ever could've fathomed.

In a report published March 5, the total U.S. deaths attributable to alcohol, drugs and suicide in 2017 have more than doubled since 1999.

Victims of trafficking often end up with criminal records resulting from forced actions during enslavement, making it difficult for them to rebuild their lives after being freed from enslavement. Why?

OMAHA, Neb. (RNS) — In Nebraska, many residents are getting a first look at their homes since floodwaters raged weeks ago. Local churches, national faith-based disaster relief groups, and state and federal officials are stepping in to lend a hand with the recovery.

OMAHA, Neb. (BP) -- Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) leaders have established several sites in the Midwest to respond to historic flooding that has created at least $3 billion in damages in recent weeks.

U.S. states with higher levels of gun ownership and those with fewer restrictions have higher rates of mass shootings, according to research published this month by a United Kingdom-based medical journal.

CHICAGO (BP) -- A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled unanimously the long-standing clergy allowance does not violate the First Amendment clause that prohibits government establishment of religion, reversing a federal judge's 2017 opinion.

Funding for K-12 schools in the U.S. has increased in recent years, but in 24 states, it remains below levels before the “Great Recession,” according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ (CBPP) report published March 6.