Law, Religion, and EducationKathleen A. Brady The following is an adapted excerpt from the chapter “Law, Religion, and Education” from the book, Faith in Law, Law in Faith: Reflecting and Building on the Work of John Witte, Jr. (2024). Reprinted under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC-BY-NC). This is part of a series of Literature…
St. Isidore of Seville (1655) depicted by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (CC0). Introduction As I discussed previously, a controversy arose on June 5, 2023, when Oklahoma’s Statewide Virtual Charter School Board authorized the creation of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. Named after the patron saint of the internet, and intended to operate under the leadership of…
Photo on Wikimedia by EOverbey (CC BY-SA 3.0). In 2013, Jane Doe 6 was a residential student at Liberty University, the country’s largest Baptist Christian university. One night, her boyfriend invited her to his house, gave her two glasses of wine, and she immediately became immobile from a date rape drug he put in her…
Old Florida State Capitol, Tallahassee by DXR (CC BY-SA 4.0) We Have Come Into His House is an essay published in two corresponding parts. The first part specifically examined recent Florida legislation that has restricted and restructured the way classrooms in primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions within the state may explore topics relating to race and racism.…
Old Florida State Capitol, Tallahassee by DXR (CC BY-SA 4.0). We have come into His house to gather in His name to worship Him” – Bruce Ballinger “We request Black teachers of Black studies. It is not that we believe only Black people can understand the Black experience. It is, rather, that we acknowledge the difference…
Oklahoma City’s Skyline by Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau (CC BY-SA 3.0). The school choice movement spurred on by Milton Friedman’s highly influential 1955 essay, The Role of Government in Education, affords parents greater opportunities to select where their children can be educated. A key component in this movement are charter schools. Charter schools…
Photo by Andrew Tan on Pixabay (CCO). Debates over affirmative action in higher education have raged for years. Supporters of the programs argue that they promote inclusion, while opponents believe that they are nothing more than reverse discrimination. A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has banned the use of racial preferences in admissions…
The Case for Parental Choice: God, Family, and Educational LibertyJohn E. Coons This is an adapted excerpt from Chapter 5 of The Case for Parental Choice: God, Family, and Educational Liberty (Notre Dame Press, 2023) by John E. Coons and is based on previously unpublished remarks to the C.S. Lewis Foundation in February 2006. In…
“Library” from Pixabay (License) After its recent attempts to challenge conscience exemptions for medical professionals whose faiths prevent them from participating in procedures such as abortion or gender reassignment surgery, the Biden administration has continued its assault on religious freedom. This time the administration and the Federal Department of Education (DOE) are placing the status…
Approaching Vatican City, Rome by Fenous (CC BY-SA 4.0). Speaking in the Vatican to a gathering of the Italian General Confederation of Labor on December 19, 2022, Pope Francis eloquently proclaimed “there are no free workers without unions.” Francis affirmed the long-standing labor teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which began in 1891 with Pope…