The State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations will apply new rules for inspecting religious organizations. Developed under the law “On freedom of religion”, the new rules aim to ensure the legality of the organizations’ activity and provide them with legal assistance, the State Committee reported. The number of registered religious organizations in Azerbaijan reached […]
India’s Supreme Court has recognized transgender people as a third gender, in a landmark ruling. “It is the right of every human being to choose their gender,” it said in granting rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female. It ordered the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and […]
NEW YORK — A nationally-recognized Christian legal organization has filed an appeal of a ruling that barred churches in New York City from meeting in public schools on Sundays. As previously reported, the case of Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York has been circling through the court system for […]
PISMO BEACH, Calif. — Officials in a California city have agreed to end their practice of presenting prayers at public meetings in order to settle a lawsuit with a local atheist organization. City officials in Pismo Beach state that they decided to settle the matter because they did not want to spend taxpayer money to […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has no plans to back out of a National Day of Prayer event after being urged by a prominent activist group to withdraw, reports state. Mikey Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, recently sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, asking that the Department of Defense […]
WARREN, Mich. — A mayor in Michigan has denied the request of an atheist activist to erect a ‘reason station’ near an existing ‘prayer station’ at city hall. Warren resident and member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) Douglas Marshall recently submitted a request to the Downtown Development Authority to use the atrium at […]
NEW YORK — The former mayor of New York City asserted in an interview this week with a prominent media outlet that he believes his work as mayor has earned him a place in Heaven. “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to Heaven, I’m not stopping to be interviewed. […]
WASHINGTON — Bipartisan members of Congress have submitted a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James regarding concerns over the need to revise current Air Force regulations that may hinder religious freedom. “We are concerned that the Air Force has not updated its regulations on religious freedom and appears to have the most restrictive […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge nominated by George W. Bush has overturned a North Dakota law that banned abortions when a heartbeat is detected, declaring the restriction ‘unconstitutional.’ As previously reported, lawmakers in the state passed HB 1456 in March 2013, which was later signed by Governor Jack Dalrymple. It would require any abortionist in […]
HAMPTON, Va. — The Virginia Community College System has agreed to alter its free speech policy as a means to settle a lawsuit with a Christian student who was barred from preaching the Gospel on campus last fall. As previously reported, last fall, student Christian Parks publicly preached the Gospel on four different occasions in […]