Religion

Academia

A battle over religion and schools in Oklahoma could decide the future of the First Amendment

April 4, 2025 Lawrence Hurley via NBC News 4

Under Walters’ watch, the state approved the first ever religious virtual public charter school, a provocative move that is now before the Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the move next month. He has also proposed placing Bibles in schools, a move that was recently blocked by the state Supreme Court, and is seeking to add more Christian-related themes to the curriculum, including information about the Ten Commandments. […]

Education

St. Louis Schools Ordered to Pay $90,000 Each to Two Employees in COVID Vaccine Mandate Suit

March 15, 2025 Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. via Children's Health Defense 0

“The District’s alleged Policy put Plaintiffs to a choice: compromise their convictions or lose their livelihoods,” U.S. Chief District Judge Stephen R. Clark wrote. “Restrictions impermissibly infringing on constitutional rights, like the right to freely exercise one’s religion, spread across the country like a virus.” more here… […]

Free Speech

British Blasphemy? UK Government Moves Toward New Definition of “Islamophobia” for Speech Regulation

March 12, 2025 Jonathan Turley via JonathanTurley.org 1

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced that the government will be further cracking down on hate speech with a new working group tasked with defining ‘Islamophobia’. The free speech community is raising the alarm that the effort is likely to further broaden the government controls over speech.

It was announced last week that Rayner’s working group would be chaired by former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve KC, who has himself admitted that defining Islamophobia while safeguarding free speech is ‘extremely difficult.’ Notably, Grieve wrote the foreword to the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) report on Islamophobia, which advanced a definition that many critics argue is far too broad. […]

Propaganda

An Ex-Jihadist Working for the Government is Smearing Trump

March 10, 2025 Daniel Greenfield via Jihad Watch 1

The VOA, an arm of the government, was promoting Russiagate and unsubtly nudging voters to turn against Trump during three presidential elections in violation of its charter and mission. And the man behind some of these articles had been recruited by a related arm of the government back in the 1980s during his days as a Jihadist to engage in a war of propaganda. Now that propaganda was being aimed within the United States against the president.

And it’s still going on.

A propaganda machine once aimed at America’s enemies is now run by our enemies and aimed at us. The story of Masood Farivar shows why the Voice of America needs urgent reform. […]

Religion

What? Feds Instructed Banks To To Search Customers’ ‘Religious Texts’ Purchases

January 20, 2024 Mark Tapscott via The Epoch Times 1

The war against Free Speech is spilling over into religious persecution in America. The Federal government instructed BANKS to sift through records to find purchases related to “religious texts.” For instance, if you a purchased a Bible or other religious books, you could potentially be tagged as a Christian extremist. This is beyond the pale. […]