Saturday, April 22, 2023

This Week in Religion - Faith-based school debates enter new chapter

Lead story

A diverse group of five teenagers hold hands, with heads bowed, in a classroom.

Editor's note:

Public money, private schools? It’s always been a controversial combination, and one that brings plenty of legal headaches – never more so than when those private schools are faith-based.

Recent years’ Supreme Court decisions have opened the door wider for government funding directed to students at religious schools – due, perhaps, to new justices’ interpretations of the First Amendment, writes education law expert Charles Russo. But Oklahoma pushed this debate into new territory this month when Catholic educators submitted an application for an explicitly religious charter school, which would have been a first.

The school board rejected the proposal for now but gave organizers 30 days to reapply. Keep an eye on conversations about religious charters, says Russo, a professor at the University of Dayton: “While this legal battle is just heating up, it has the potential to reshape public education as we have known it.”

A picture of Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor at The Conversation U.S.
 

Religion News

Conservative Christians aren’t the only ones asking for accommodation in mailman case

Religious minorities — Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Seventh-day Adventists — have filed briefs asking the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that gutted a civil rights statute’s protections for religious accommodation. By Yonat Shimron/Religion News Service

Black church, NHL's Penguins reach historic land-use accord 

The Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team has reached an agreement with a historic Black church to provide it development rights to a 1.5-acre parcel near the church's former property. Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church's old sanctuary was demolished along with much of the surrounding Black neighborhood in the 1950s in a now-lamented urban-renewal project. By Peter Smith/The Associated Press 

'(I) grew up in the moral movement with Rev. Barber and the Poor People's Campaign,' said Rep. Justin Jones. By Jack Jenkins/Religion News Service

Workers perform maintenance work on solar panels that provide partial electrical power to Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Muslims around the world consider climate during Ramadan 

“Green Ramadan” initiatives in Indonesia and around the world promote an array of changes during the Muslim holy month, which has fasting and, in many cases, feasting elements as people gather around food to break their fasts. By Mariam Fam and Edna Tarigan/The Associated Press

Russell Crowe stars as Vatican’s ‘James Bond of exorcists’ 

The Rev. Edward Siebert, a Jesuit priest who runs a film production company at Loyola Marymount University, bought the rights to the story of the late Father Gabriele Amorth, a renowned exorcist for the Diocese of Rome who is said to have performed thousands of exorcisms. The result is “The Pope’s Exorcist,” a film starring Russell Crowe that just opened at U.S. theaters. By Deepa Bharath/The Associated Press 

 

Commentary and Analysis

Political situations in both Israel and the US could be changing prior patterns with these donations, which fund hospitals, museums and a wide array of organizations. By Jamie Levine Daniel for The Conversation

The government should consider the guidance of the collective wisdom of Jewish institutions. By David Saperstein/Religion News Service

Arab American Heritage Month is becoming more well-known, but the simple words 'Arab American' encompass a wide array of religious and ethnic groups. By Yasmin Moll for The Conversation

 
Jewish men attend an outdoor prayer and celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Jewish men attend an outdoor prayer and celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover, in central Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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  • This Week in Religion is a publication of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, a collaboration among the Religion News Service, The Associated Press and The Conversation U.S.
  • The three news organizations work to improve general understanding and analyze the significance of developments in the world of faith.
 
 

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