Christopher Vondracek

Iowa State sued over ban on sidewalk chalk

A free speech litigation group is suing Iowa State University for, among other rules, a ban on sidewalk chalk.

January 3, 2020

Methodist Church proposes breaking up over gay marriage

The United Methodist Church, the nation's third-largest religious denomination, announced a plan that would spin off a new denomination that would continue to bar gay marriage and clergy.

January 3, 2020

Samuel Rodriguez, influential evangelical, Hispanic minister, antes up for Donald Trump

A national leader for Hispanic Protestant Christians offered his full-throated support for President Trump and chided the Democratic Party for abandoning the moderation of the Obama years, as the president was set to speak at a Hispanic megachurch in Miami to mobilize evangelicals for his reelection campaign.

January 3, 2020

Christian group warns of ‘chaos’ in Iraq after U.S. strike

A leading international group monitoring persecution of Christians says Iran, newly spurned by Thursday night's drone strike that killed the Islamic republic's elite military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, may target Christians living in Iraq as revenge for the U.S. attacks.

January 3, 2020

Massachusetts bill removing parental consent for abortions faces battle

Pro-life advocates in Massachusetts are hoping a bill to remove parental consent requirements for minors seeking abortions will remain stalled through the end of the legislative term, but are bracing for a fight if the so-called ROE Act reemerges.

January 2, 2020

Losing our Religion: Houses of worship struggle to attract youth drawn to ‘cultural agnosticism’

Why are millennials and Generation Z shunning religious denominations? It's a central question as churches, temples, mosques and other houses of worship enter a new decade.

December 30, 2019

Television watchdog blasts spike in ‘toxic’ content involving children

A television watchdog is decrying an increase in violent content involving children, pointing to graphic depictions and coarse language in a slew of shows.

December 26, 2019

Videographer sues over national park fees

An independent filmmaker calls fees charged by the National Park Service on commercial filming "unconstitutional" in a lawsuit filed this week.

December 13, 2019

Russia sentences Jehovah’s Witness to six years in prison

A Russian court has convicted a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for engaging in so-called "extremist activity" -- one of the harshest penalties imposed since a ban on the faith in 2017.

December 13, 2019

Revised loan forgiveness program to exclude students of now-defunct for-profit schools

The Education Department says it's put the finishing touches on revisions to an Obama-era loan forgiveness program that will make thousands of former students ineligible, ones who say they were misled by now-defunct for-profit colleges.

December 11, 2019

Catholics likely to vote for a Democrat over Trump, poll finds

If the presidential election were held today, more Roman Catholic voters would opt for any major Democratic candidate over President Trump, according to a new poll from EWTN and Real Clear Politics.

December 10, 2019

United Methodist Church files lawsuit to stop Southern Methodist University from cutting ties

A regional conference of the United Methodist Church has filed a lawsuit to stop Southern Methodist University from severing more than a century of legal ties and property rights over the church's recently reaffirmed opposition to same-sex marriage.

December 9, 2019

House Republicans back Fairness for All Act, but critics blast religious loopholes

A group of House Republicans is backing legislation that would protect LGBTQ people from some forms of discrimination but also provide exceptions for religious groups.

December 8, 2019

Maryland’s political ad law struck down

A law that required newspapers and online platforms to post information online about purchasers of political ads cannot be squared with the First Amendment, says a unanimous three-judge panel with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

December 6, 2019

Republicans introduce bill to protect LGBTQ Americans

Moderate Republicans in the House put forward pro-LGBTQ legislation on Friday that would federalize a number of anti-discrimination protections such as banning employers from firing gay employees but also leave wide exceptions for religious groups and persons or small businesses with firmly-held religious beliefs.

December 6, 2019

Undercover anti-abortion activists headed to criminal trial

A California judge on Friday allowed nine counts of criminal eavesdropping charges to go forward against two anti-abortion activists who surreptitiously filmed Planned Parenthood employees.

December 6, 2019

Washington Times report on replica dog tags prompts request for Defense Department to clarify policy

A House Republican is calling on the Defense Department to clarify its policy on licensing merchandise, after The Washington Times reported that the Army's trademark office has directed a Christian jeweler to stop engraving Bible verses on replica dog tags.

December 5, 2019

Hungarian Family Minister Katalin Novak touts efforts to country’s boost birthrate

Hungarian Family Minister Katalin Novak visited Washington this week to promote her country's effort to boost an anemic birthrate by making parenthood at a younger age "trendy, fancy, sexy."

December 5, 2019

Shields of Strength, dog tag with Bible verse seller, calls Army ban unconstitutional

A Texas-based Christian jeweler is challenging the Army's trademark office, which told the company this summer that it no longer can display military insignia and Bible verses on the replica dog tags it has sold to service members since the 9/11 attacks.

December 4, 2019

Melrose, Minnesota’s fight to restore Church of St. Mary comes to end

Catholic parishioners in a Minnesota town have run out of options to restore their arson-damaged church now that the state's Supreme Court has rejected their appeal of a lower-court ruling that says the local bishop has no obligation to rehabilitate the historic building.

December 3, 2019