The Practice of Debanking is Harming Americans

Religious Freedom,

Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco recently appeared on Fox Business where he explained how debanking harms Americans.

In recent years news outlets have reported how government policies encourage banks to designate conservative organizations as posing a “high risk” — giving the banks an excuse to close their accounts.

In 2021 Family Council’s credit card processor terminated our account after designating our organization as “high risk.” Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Other organizations have had similar experiences as well. In fact, corporate shareholders, state attorneys general, congressmen, and news outlets all have expressed concerns over conservatives being wrongly labeled as “high risk” or “hate groups” and subsequently debanked.

Banks that are too big to fail should also be too big to discriminate. Nobody should have their bank account closed for what they believe.

You can watch Jeremy Tedesco’s comments to Fox News below.

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Bill Filed Clarifying Public School Students Can Receive Religious Instruction Off-Campus

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New legislation in Little Rock would make it clear that public school students may be excused from school for religious instruction off-campus during the week.

Legally in America, public schools may set aside “released time” during the school week for students to voluntarily attend religious classes off-campus.

Released time makes it possible for students to be excused from school so they can attend weekly Bible studies or other religious classes during normal school hours.

Historically, state laws and court rulings have let public schools establish released time policies. In 2007 the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote about released time programs in Arkansas and elsewhere around the country, noting, “Even the Arkansas American Civil Liberties Union agrees it’s allowable.”

H.B. 1139 by Rep. Brit McKenzie (R — Rogers) and Sen. Joshua Bryant (R — Rogers) is a good bill that would strengthen Arkansas’ law concerning released time. The bill writes released time into state law, and it clarifies that public schools must excuse students for released time for one to five hours a week, if the student’s parents request it.

H.B. 1139 helps respect and protect the religious freedom of public school students. You can read the bill here.

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Americans Say Homelessness, Crime, Personal Finances Have Gotten Worse. We Believe Churches Can Help

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Polling shows Americans feel homelessness and crime are growing problems in America, and they say their personal finances have gotten worse.

In October, Rasmussen published results of a survey showing 61% of American adults believe homelessness in America has gotten worse over the past four years.

In a separate survey, 40% of American adults told Rasmussen their personal financial situation had worsened in the past six months.

Rasmussen also found nearly half (47%) of American adults feel crime has gotten worse in their communities.

Each survey polled more than 1,000 people.

Stories like these underscore why Family Council launched the Church Ambassador Network initiative earlier this year.

The Church Ambassador Network builds relationships between church leaders and elected leaders regardless of their political leanings. Our goal is for elected officials to see churches as a resource that can address many of the problems that communities face.

Many Americans do not fully appreciate how much churches do for their communities. Nationwide, researchers estimate that churches, ministries, and religious charities provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of services every year.

Our Arkansas Church Ambassador Network currently has about 400 churches in it. In the coming months, we want to help elected officials and churches work together to address issues like foster care, fatherless homes, addiction, and human trafficking in Arkansas.

If you help lead a church or similar ministry in Arkansas, we would invite you to join the Church Ambassador Network for free today.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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