A court of appeals ruling just overturned Supreme Court precedent on posting the Ten Commandments in public schools — and the majority opinion conscripted a legendary colonial Baptist figure who fought for church-state separation to justify their actions.
Notably absent from the lineup are representatives from other non-Christian faiths, such as Islam or Indigenous spiritual traditions, or leaders from mainline Christian or historically Black denominations.
The ruling sets up a potential clash at the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue in the future. Arkansas and Louisiana have passed similar laws, which have also been challenged in courts.
‘If they wanted this to be a unifying American project, there would have been a whole lot more attention to getting political diversity and ideological diversity,’ added Brian Kaylor of Word&Way.
A new Kansas law will allow college students to sue their schools for free-speech violations. In Tennessee, a new law will encourage teachers and professors to include ‘the positive impacts of religion’ in American history courses.
In addition, ‘The Surprising Story of How Speaker Johnson Read a Fake Jefferson Prayer’ won the magazine feature category and Best in Class for Writing for Periodicals and our Unsettling Advent devotionals won the editorial series category and Best in Class for Specialized Writing.
Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself ‘secretary of war,’ read a prayer during the latest government worship service that echoes a scene written by Quentin Tarantino calling for ‘great vengeance and furious anger.’
‘Church-state separation ensures we are all free to live as ourselves and believe as we choose, as long as we don’t harm others,’ Rachel Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State countered.