Executive Order on Sexual and Gender Identity — Constitutional Law Professor Douglas Laycock overviews the status of Executive Order 11246, Title VII, the RFRA, pending court actions, and what all these may mean for religious liberty.
Items included for this subject area come from a variety of sources. The perspectives conveyed may or may not express a Lutheran ethos. They can serve our instruction as discussion-starters, examples (positive and negative), and illustrations of intersections between God’s two kingdoms, intersections sometimes characterized by tension, sometimes by congruence. Inclusion does not imply endorsement.
"Open Book" by R. Marxhausen: the Bible, the book open to us all
Student Housing, LGBT, and George Fox University
Student Housing, LGBT, and George Fox University — This Christian college in Oregon is the current instance in a growing number of cases of openly transgender students forcing schools around the country to address questions so basic that they were rarely asked just a few years ago, much less answered: What defines a person’s gender, […]
Young Earth Incident: Cal State Fires Microscopy Scientist
Young Earth Incident: Cal State Fires Microscopy Scientist — Mark Armitage filed a lawsuit against California State University Northridge this week, claiming he was fired by college officials after he discovered soft tissue on a triceratops horn and published his findings.
The IRS, the Church, and Political Speech
The IRS, the Church, and Political Speech — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has agreed to investigate the political activity of churches after reaching a settlement with an atheist legal group. But a court has yet to decide whether or not to close the case.
Presbyterian’s Procedural Problems
Presbyterians’ Procedural Problems — Joseph D. Small, director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Theology and Worship from 1989 to 2011, presents a case study on church body governance and polity in the PC-USA General Assembly’s decision to approve same-sex marriag
Catholic School Hires Gay, Fires for Same-Sex Marriage
Catholic School Hires Gay, Fires for Same-Sex Marriage — This case may be noteworthy for Christian educators, given the reported sequence of its development. Administrators, boards, and sponsoring bodies are facing increasingly complex conditions as they seek to sustain a practice of Law and Gospel.
Southwestern Christian University Expels Student for Same-Sex Marriage
Southwestern Christian University Expels Student for Same-Sex Marriage — A lesbian student who married her partner was expelled from an Oklahoma university one semester shy of her sports management degree. Christian Minard, 22, who belongs to an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in Oklahoma City, is a Christian, but her decision to marry her […]
Wheaton College and the ACA Contraception Mandate
Wheaton College and the ACA Contraception Mandate — The Supreme Court has granted Wheaton College an injunction against the ACA contraception mandate. The court’s action is discussed in a set of articles at SCOTUSblog. Note also the distinctions detailed in the GetReligion coverage.
The Hobby Lobby Decision
The Hobby Lobby Decision — Coverage of the Supreme Court Decision from SCOTUSblog and from the Pew Forum. Begins Pew: An analysis of the Supreme Court ruling shows that the decision is limited in its impact on religious-liberty rights and the Obama administration’s health care overhaul.
The Shia-Sunni Divide
The Shia-Sunni Divide — The Pew Research Fact Tank analyzes the divide between the two sects. Several links provide additional background and information with particular attention to Iraq. Iran and Iraq are two of only a handful of countries that have more Shias than Sunnis.
