USA Today has posted an interesting, interactive map that shows the religious breakdown of each state in America.
The map shows roughly 53% of Arkansans surveyed identify themselves as “Evangelical Protestant,” while 13% identify themselves as “Unaffiliated.”
Last December, school administrators in Greene County faced controversy over a Nativity Scene one employee put on a bulletin board. We wrote about that story rather extensively here.
It seems the bulletin board is still stirring controversy. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has written letters to the school, and is threatening further legal action if the school does not bar the bulletin board display in the future.
Here’s the bottom line: We stand with the school’s decision to keep the Nativity Scene bulletin board display. In our opinion, those bulletin boards constitute a limited public forum on which school officials can place approved material. School administrators approved the Nativity display. It would be an infringement of their freedom of speech for the courts to say the school doesn’t have the right to let teachers put up Christmas decorations like the Nativity–especially given the fact that Christmas is a federal holiday observed at every level of our government.
Read the latest news on the Nativity bulletin board display here.
Some two hundred people gathered Monday night at Calvary Baptist Church in New York City. Their purpose? To pray that local area churches will not be evicted by the city as a result of a new policy.
As we’ve said before, in places like New York, where real estate is both scarce and expensive, churches often obtain permits to hold meetings in schools outside of school hours. Almost any private group can do this under New York City’s rules and regs. However, the city has instituted a new policy that specifically bars religious groups from meeting in school buildings. As a result, as many as 160 churches (last we heard) could be without a meeting place by this time next month.