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.
On Secular Governance: This volume edited by Ron Duty and Marie Failinger (Eerdmans, 2016) offers a distinct Lutheran take on the intersection of law and religion in our society today with a range of subjects from women’s issues to property law and the environment, immigration reform, human trafficking, church-state questions, and more. See a review by Lawrence Novak […]
Ministerial Exception Doctrine Bars ADA Claim By Adventist Music Teacher: In Curl v. Beltsville Adventist School, (D MD, Aug. 15, 2016), a Maryland federal district court held that the ministerial exception doctrine applies to prevent a music teacher at a Seventh Day Adventist school from pursuing federal claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in […]
Largest For-Profit Christian College to Open Seminary This Fall: GCU has announced that it will open an independent, non-denominational, for-profit theological seminary this fall. It will also remain publicly traded after the HLC denied its plan for a parallel profit/non-profit corporation.
Armed Forces Court of Appeals Interprets RFRA In Military Context: Two appeals judges ruled, “Appellant has failed to identify the sincerely held religious belief that made placing the signs important to her exercise of religion or how the removal of the signs substantially burdened her exercise of religion in some other way.” The dissenting judge argues, […]
State senator drops proposal that angered religious universities in California: [This series of events can serve as an instructive case study for classes in political science, church and state, sociology, and administration.] Faced with intense opposition from religious colleges in California, a state Senator said Wednesday he has decided to amend a bill by dropping a provision […]
Will SB 1146 End LGBT Discrimination in California’s Religious Schools? This background piece from USC’s religion site offers some information on the draft revisions to the state legislature’s bill intended to protect the civil rights of LGBT and transgender students on Christian campuses. The article can be analyzed for the issue it examines, its content, […]
Illinois Governor Signs Bill Amending Conscience Protections For Health Care Personnel: The new Act requires health care facilities to adopt written protocols that assure conscience-based objections by medical personnel will not impair patients’ health. The Illinois Catholic Health Association took a neutral stand on the bill. The Liberty Counsel complains that the new law forces “Christian and […]
Ministerial Exception Claim Requires Case-Specific Factual Analysis: In Collette v. Archdiocese of Chicago, (ND IL, July 29, 2016), an Illinois federal district court refused to dismiss an employment discrimination suit brought by plaintiff who for 17 years was employed as the Director of Worship and Director of Music at Holy Family Parish in Inverness, Illinois. He was […]
An After School Satan Club could be coming to your kid’s elementary school: This WaPo guest piece from Katherine Stewart (The Good News Club: the Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children, 2012) presents a view on the current state of religion and equal access to public schools. The Satanic Temple intends to introduce its After […]
Research: Unchurched Will Talk About Faith, Not Interested in Going to Church — Americans who don’t go to church are happy to talk about religion and often think about the meaning of life. They’re open to taking part in community service events hosted at a church or going to a church concert. But only about a third say […]
