Posts by Charles C. Haynes:
Atheists, the First Amendment, and the demand for equal treatment
Inside the First Amendment: A government-sponsored “prayer day” is an anachronism, a vestige of a bygone era in America when the majority faith was often imposed as a national creed.
Freedom goes viral: trouble for dictators
Inside the First Amendment: Millions of people are using the virtual public square to exercise their right to speak freely, publish their opinions, assemble peacefully and petition for redress of grievances.
School wars over religion heating up (again)
First Amendment principles are starting to work in public education, but backsliding into lawsuits and yelling will reverse the gains.
The truth about Muslims in America
Throughout our history, the United States has endured periodic outbreaks of fear and hysteria — from the Red Scare to the Yellow Peril. To that ignoble list, we can now add the “Muslim Menace.”
Echoing “takeover” rhetoric from the past (communists in government, Asians in the workplace), demagogues and anti-Islam groups are using legitimate concerns about [...]
At Super Bowl, God doesn’t make the cut
In the perennial post-game buzz about Super Bowl ads, the buff body of the new GoDaddy girl (aka Joan Rivers) was a big hit this year. So was the pugnacious pug dog flattening his owner to grab the Doritos. And, of course, who can forget the woman who got smacked in the head with a soft-drink can?
Religious liberty in a divided (and confused) America
Ignorance and contention abound surrounding First Amendment’s religion clauses, yet U.S. remains world’s most successful experiment in living with religious differences.
For pro-democracy revolutions, democracy is not enough
The revolutions sweeping across Northern Africa and the Middle East could mark the beginning of a historic advance for democratic freedom — ranking in significance with such milestones of liberty as the American Revolution of 1776 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Or these upheavals could end with one tyranny replacing another, as [...]
At Super Bowl, God doesn’t make the cut
In the perennial post-game buzz about Super Bowl ads, the buff body of the new GoDaddy girl (aka Joan Rivers) was a big hit this year. So was the pugnacious pug dog flattening his owner to grab the Doritos. And, of course, who can forget the woman who got smacked in the head with a [...]
County can uphold religious freedom by taking Commandments down
It’s not every day that a school board votes unanimously to ignore legal advice, defy Supreme Court precedent and invite litigation.
But that’s exactly what happened earlier this month in Giles County, Va., when members of the board ordered school administrators to hang the Ten Commandments on the walls of the county’s five public schools.
Rehang, actually. [...]
Religion Commentary | Charles C. Haynes
Memo to Sumner County: Local schools aren’t local churches
If only a fraction of the allegations are true, public school officials in this Tennessee county are wrongly treating their school district like a missionary field for the Christian faith.