We already know Louisiana legislators want to substitute Christianity in place of science education, but that’s not the only way they’re making it abundantly clear that non-Christians should just pack their bags and get out of there. Now, a Ten Commandments monument is set to go up on Capitol grounds: Senate Concurrent Resolution 16 by Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, approved after more than 40 minutes of debate by the Senate Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs, would direct the… Read more
Pastor Scott Rainey was invited to deliver a Memorial Day invocation at Houston National Cemetery. Cemetery director Arleen Ocasio told him: The tone of all messages must be inclusive of all beliefs, need to be general and its fundamental purpose should be specific to those we are honoring, and non-denominational in nature.” Sounds like the typical way government tends to wrap itself in religion… but Rainey wasn’t having any of that. He filed a lawsuit to make sure he could… Read more
Instead of taking on Bastrop High School in Louisiana separately, several organizations have banded together to send the Bastrop Independent School District a letter of disapproval (PDF). It’s a nice gesture, but it won’t ultimately make any difference. Notice how the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, and ACLU of Louisiana are tiptoeing around any threat of a lawsuit. Our organizations are deeply troubled by Bastrop… Read more
After everything 17-year-old Zack Kopplin did to get the wrongly-named “Louisiana Science Education Act” repealed, lawmakers sided against him. Temporarily, anyway. Currently, the law allows public school science teachers in the state to “supplement” state-approved textbooks with their own materials — including unscientific texts that support Creationism/Intelligent Design. Zack and others were trying to put a stop to that. 43 Nobel Laureates wanted LSEA repealed. Several national science organizations agreed. Even the New Orleans City Council Council unanimously endorsed the… Read more
For anyone in Chicago, here’s a local event you won’t want to miss. On Saturday night, Liz Gaston will be giving a talk about science and the media — how is science used by the entertainment industry? What are good and bad examples of it? What can we do about it? After her talk, the band Folk Death will perform: Folk Death will tear the house down with some acoustic tongue in cheek tunes! Folk Death has been kicking butt… Read more
