Catholic groups suing White House over birth control provision
AROUND MISSISSIPPI — Ten Catholic groups in Mississippi are suing the Obama administration over a mandate that most employers provide birth control coverage as part of health insurance plans. Roman...
View ArticleChurch still defiant as court hears congregation’s appeal
HOLLY SPRINGS — A tiny Mississippi congregation is fighting a city’s attempt to ban churches from the town square, a move that the pastor said is aimed at preventing the church from taking up valuable...
View ArticleStudy: ‘Religious’ states give more to charity
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — A new study on the generosity of Americans suggests that states with the least religious residents are also the stingiest about giving money to charity. The study released by the...
View ArticleGovernor reiterates his anti-abortion position
JACKSON — Gov. Phil Bryant told several dozen pastors and other abortion proponents yesterday that he supports a bill that would ban the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. It’s similar...
View ArticleSchool prayer bill makes it out of Senate committee
JACKSON — The Senate Education Committee has approved a measure meant to make it legal for students to pray before public school groups. Senate Bill 2633, sponsored by Sen. Chris McDaniel, a Republican...
View ArticlePersonhood to announce new amendment today
JACKSON — Personhood Mississippi will hold a telephone news conference today to announce the filing of a new personhood amendment. The announcement was made in a news release from Personhood USA. The...
View ArticleBill legalizing school prayer sent to governor’s desk
JACKSON — The House has sent a bill to Gov. Phil Bryant that could legalize student prayer before school audiences. Senate Bill 2633 is also meant to guarantee religious freedom in Mississippi public...
View ArticleACLU could sue over state’s new school prayer law
JACKSON — Gov. Phil Bryant has signed a bill that could lead to student-led prayer over school intercoms or at graduations or sporting events. The American Civil Liberties Union said the measure, which...
View ArticleACLU chapter: School prayer can make students feel like outsiders
JACKSON — The ACLU of Mississippi says it supports constitutionally protected, voluntary student-led prayer in school for students who want to pray. What ACLU-MS does not support, it reports in a...
View ArticleBILL CRAWFORD — Covetous politicians, corporations, consumers befoul America
“You shall not covet” says the commandment. But, my observation is that such selfish desires of the body, mind, and soul befoul American culture today. We covet power, money, sex, material things, and...
View ArticleControversial religious freedom bill not dead yet
JACKSON — Mississippi House members want to study a much-disputed religious practices bill, keeping it alive for possible further action. The House passed Senate Bill 2681 by an 80-37 vote yesterday...
View ArticleLegislators approve final version of religious practices bill
JACKSON — Mississippi lawmakers yesterday passed the final version of a bill that says state and local governments cannot put a substantial burden on religious practices, a measure that sparked debate...
View ArticleLawmakers go home after hammering out budget
JACKSON — Mississippi lawmakers ended their 2014 session last night after passing the final parts of a state budget for the year that begins July 1. During the three-month session, they passed a bill...
View ArticleStudent files contempt motion over school prayer
BRANDON — A student supported by an atheist group says the Rankin County school district is still violating a ban on school prayer. The senior at Northwest Rankin High School, represented by the...
View ArticleGroups plan protest of new religious freedom law
JACKSON — At a leafy college campus in north Mississippi and an upscale dinner club in New York, groups are protesting a Mississippi law that opponents say could sanction discrimination against gays...
View ArticleHuman Rights Campaign pushing for anti-discrimination law
JACKSON — A national group plans to seek anti-discrimination state laws to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. Human Rights Campaign...
View ArticleGroup faces challenges in fighting new religious freedom law
JACKSON — A national civil rights group called Human Rights Campaign faces significant challenges as it tries to make Mississippi’s legal climate more open for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender...
View ArticleReport: Mississippi ranks second in U.S. in charitable giving
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Even as the income gap widens, the wealthiest Americans are giving a smaller share of their income to charity, while poor and middle-income people are donating a larger share,...
View ArticleProposal would designate the Bible as Mississippi state book
Mississippi is the birthplace of William Faulkner, Richard Wright and recent U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey. However, some lawmakers say they want to look beyond the secular literary world and...
View ArticleBILL CRAWFORD — Religion bill a sign of the times
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine in “The Crisis” on December 23, 1776. He was recruiting citizens to fight for the Creator-endowed unalienable rights of all men to life,...
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