Created for a New York Hasidic group in 1989, the Kiryas Joel Village Union Free School District has directed millions of dollars to the community’s network of private schools.
Tag Archives: Religion-State Relations
Zelensky Proposes Banning Ukrainian Orthodox Church Led by Putin Ally
Ukraine’s president called for legislation to prevent an ancient branch of the Orthodox Church, led by a Putin ally, from operating in his country, but it remains unclear how that would work.
Why Religious Freedom Matters, Even if You’re Not Religious
“If speech is popular, it doesn’t really need constitutional protection,” David French says.
France Expels Imam Accused of Hate Speech, Reviving a Thorny Debate
The government presented the deportation of Hassan Iquioussen as part of efforts to crack down on “Islamist separatism.” Critics called it a political stunt that infringed on civil liberties.
The God I Know Is Not a Culture Warrior
So why do we talk about God only when we’re fighting about something?
Alito’s Call to Arms to Secure Religious Liberty
The challenge, he says, is to convince people who are not religious that religion is worth special protection.
In the Face of Fact, the Supreme Court Chose Faith
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District reflects the conservative majority’s brazen efforts to inflict its political and religious agenda on the rest of the country.
Christian Nationalists Are Excited About What Comes Next
The way the movement’s leaders see it, Dobbs is just a way station.
Supreme Court Sides With Coach Over Prayers on 50-Yard Line
Joseph Kennedy, a former high school football coach in Bremerton, Wash., had a constitutional right to pray on the field after his team’s games, the justices ruled.
Maine’s End Run Around the Supreme Court Is an Example for Other States
The move in a religion case offers hope to those worried about the dominance of the court’s conservative majority.
A Pro-Religion Court
What the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority’s latest ruling means.
Coach’s Prayers Prompt Supreme Court Test of Religious Freedom
Joseph Kennedy, a football coach at a public high school in Washington State, lost his job after praying on the 50-yard line after games.
Who Will France’s Muslims Choose for President?
In Sunday’s decisive runoff election, they have a distasteful choice between Macron and Le Pen. They won’t necessarily back Macron.
Indian Court Upholds Ban on Hijabs in Schools
One school’s initial ban set off unrest and violence that spread to other schools in the southern state of Karnataka.
Vladimir Putin Has Revived ‘The West.’ Is That a Good Thing?
A clash of civilizations is never a good idea.
Build a New City or New Humans? A Utopia in India Fights Over Future.
Backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the new leadership of Auroville, an experimental commune, wants to create a model city. In the way stand trees, tree houses and a take-it-slow tradition.
No Hijabs for Now, Indian Court Tells Muslim Students
In a dispute that’s become a flash point over minority rights, students are told to avoid religious garments of all kinds, pending a ruling on whether schools can ban head scarves.
Tennessee Couple Says Adoption Agency Turned Them Away for Being Jewish
Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram are plaintiffs in a lawsuit claiming that state funding of a child-placing agency that discriminates based on religion is unconstitutional.
Supreme Court Appears Skeptical of Boston’s Refusal to Fly Christian Flag
The court seemed poised to rule that the city, which has approved many other requests to raise flags at its City Hall, violated a Christian group’s free speech rights.
Can Politics Save Christianity?
Why the power of belief, not political imposition, is the key to Christian renewal.
Trump Weaponized the Supreme Court
The three justices appointed by Trump are doing exactly what they were sent to the court to do.
A Public Flagpole, a Christian Flag and the First Amendment
The Supreme Court will decide whether Boston, which allows many kinds of groups to raise flags outside its City Hall, can reject one bearing the Latin cross.
French Clerical Abuse Report Puts Spotlight on Confession
In rare instances, it noted, the secrecy around the sacrament had been used to cover up abuse cases, again raising issues of whether church or state law should prevail.
Traveling Through a Divided Israel
Two Times journalists drive the length of Israel to discover what it means to be Israeli today. They meet a kaleidoscope of people, searching for belonging but far apart on how to find it.
A Year Later, a Schoolteacher’s Beheading Still Haunts France
The killing of Samuel Paty by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee intensified debate over security and immigration, and prompted intense scrutiny of the French secular model.
Sexual Abuse Revelations Accelerate Sense of a French Church in Retreat
The abuse of more than 200,000 minors by clergy over the past seven decades has shaken the nation and what was once a pillar of French society.
What Sandra Day O’Connor Stood For on the Supreme Court
Forty years after her appointment as the court’s first female justice, it’s worth reflecting on the path she took.
Covid Vaccine Resisters Seek Religious Exemptions. But What Counts?
Major denominations are essentially unanimous in their support of the vaccines against Covid-19, but individuals who object are citing their personal faith for support.
Legislating in the Name of God
Republican officeholders are no longer coy about their religion-driven mission to stop abortion.
Want to Enhance Civil Liberties? Embrace Vaccine Mandates.
They protect the most vulnerable among us.
This Is How Theocracy Shrivels
Radical ideas that once made Islamist extremism seem galvanizing have lost their luster.
The French and Indian War and U.S. History’s Complexities
What the French and Indian War suggests about our own history wars.
In France’s Military, Muslims Find a Tolerance That Is Elusive Elsewhere
In a nation wary of the growth of Islam, France’s military has embraced and integrated its Muslim soldiers by facilitating their religious practice.
Vatican Expresses Deep Reservations Over Gay Rights Bill in Italy
The move prompted cries of political meddling from liberal politicians and gestures of gratitude from conservatives. A church historian called it “an unprecedented act.”
How to Have the Hard Vaccination Conversations
Asking someone if they’ve had a Covid shot can be tricky. Here’s how to navigate the new norms of health disclosure.
Trappes est-elle, un ‘territoire perdu de la République’?
À Trappes, un âpre combat oppose le maire à un enseignant qui affirme que la ville est aux mains des islamistes. Leur conflit attise le débat national sur l’identité française.
The Mayor, the Teacher and a Fight over a ‘Lost Territory’ of France
A battle erupted after a high-school teacher said that Islamists had taken over the city of Trappes, a view vigorously countered by the mayor, sharpening a national debate over French identity.
A Supreme Court Case Poses a Threat to L.G.B.T.Q. Foster Kids
Will Philadelphia be able to exclude a Catholic adoption agency from its foster care system because it refuses to work with gay couples?
Alabama Lifts Its Ban on Yoga in Schools
For the first time in three decades, yoga can be taught, but the law will still bar teachers from using Sanskrit names for poses.
Quebec’s Ban on Public Religious Symbols Largely Upheld
The ruling exempts English-speaking schools and effectively allows provincial legislators to wear turbans or head scarves, but it angered civil liberties advocates as discriminatory.
The Supreme Court Is Making New Law in the Shadows
The justices are defying their procedural rules to rewrite the Constitution.
This Is What Judicial Activism Looks Like on the Supreme Court
In a dissent, two conservative justices invite a case to overturn a precedent on religion in the workplace that they dislike.
Building a Mosque in France, Never Easy, May Get Even Harder
The country’s principle of secularism has long disadvantaged Muslim communities, experts say, and President Emmanuel Macron’s new law against Islamism could deepen the disparities.
Republicans Have an Ambitious Agenda for the Supreme Court
Why the G.O.P. doesn’t need to try to pass mostly unpopular policies through the elected branches.
Heating Up Culture Wars, France to Scour Universities for Ideas That ‘Corrupt Society’
The government announced an investigation into social science research, broadening attacks on what it sees as destabilizing American influences.
French National Assembly Backs Law to Combat Islamist Extremism
The bill faced hundreds of amendments but passed comfortably, despite opposition from left and right. It now goes to the Senate for final approval.
France, Islam and ‘Laïcité’
After the beheading of a teacher in a Paris suburb, the debate over the relationship between government and religion is raging again.
Fear Spreads in Minnesota Town as ‘Extremist Group’ Moves to Open Church
Many residents of Murdock, Minn., said they were horrified that an organization condemned by watchdogs as a white supremacist hate group would open a church. City leaders said they had little choice but to grant a permit.
An Embattled Public Servant in a Fractured France
Nicolas Cadène sees the failings of France’s secular model even as he upholds it.
Macron, Once a Darling of Liberals, Shows a New Face as Elections Near
A centrist straddling France’s traditional political divide, President Emmanuel Macron now chases voters on the right and has alienated some supporters and members of his own party.