A Philadelphia federal judge has issued an injunction to stop the Trump administration’s rules which would broaden religious exemptions for the birth control mandate in health insurance plans, from going into effect on Monday.  

According to the New York Times, U.S. Federal District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone issued a nation-wide injunction Monday to stop the Trump Administration’s contraception rules from going into effect, only one day after a California Federal Judge issued a 13-state injunction.

The Washington Examiner explained that the new rules would allow employers to choose if they would offer health care coverage that would include contraception based on their religious or moral values. 

The National Review reports, only churches and small private employers are currently exempt from the Obama-era policy that requires all employers to provide health-care coverage for birth control at no additional cost to the employee.

According to the New York Times, representatives for the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey challenged these new rules before Beetlestone, saying that the rules would cause the states a great deal of hardship as they would have to provide contraception to women who lost coverage.

Caitlin Oakley, spokeswoman for Health and Human Services, made a statement about the injunction calling it a violation…

An elementary school violated the U.S. Constitution when it prevented students from passing out “Bring Your Bible to School Day” flyers during lunch and recess, according to a new lawsuit.

The students, who are brothers in the fifth and second grade, wanted to had out the flyers to their friends at John R. Peterson Elementary School in Huntington Beach, Calif., but were told that both hours are considered “instructional blocks.” 

Bring Your Bible to School Day is an annual event each October and sponsored by Focus on the Family. 

“Plaintiffs believe that they have a constitutional right to distribute their Bring Your Bible to School Day promotional flyers at John R. Peterson Elementary School during recess, lunch and other non-instructional times,” says the federal lawsuit filed by the religious legal group Freedom X. 

The suit was filed on behalf of their parents, Jason and Holly Bausch. It claims the school’s policy violates the students’ constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and religion.

“Students, regardless of grade level, have a First Amendment right to express a religious viewpoint to another student, including the right to distribute religious flyers, without fear,” said Freedom X president and chief counsel Bill Becker. “One wonders how school administrators come to believe that the voluntary expression of…

The Wisconsin-based atheist group, Freedom From Religion Foundation, warned public schools not to take their students to the Creation Museum or the Ark Encounter Park because of their “overtly religious atmosphere.” 

CBN News reports that the FFRF sent over 1,000 letters to school districts across the country, many of them in Kentucky, warning them to stay away from these Christian attractions writing, “Public schools cannot organize trips for students to either the Creation Museum or the Ark Park. It is unacceptable to expose a captive audience of impressionable students to the overtly religious atmosphere of (Ken) Ham’s Christian theme parks.”

When the Ark Encounter founder Ken Ham heard about the FFRF’s letters, he decided to challenge them, noting that he would not stand for their “bullying and intimidation.”

Ham offered free admission to all public school teachers and students that come for “official public school trips.” 

He told Fox News, “The atheist groups like American Atheists and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have been increasingly aggressive to restrict the free exercise of religion — particularly Christianity — and they’ve tried to brainwash people with an interpretation of the First Amendment…it does not mean that Christians are second class citizens.”

He continued,…

A Presbyterian pastor who posted a sign calling homosexuality a sin and Bruce Jenner a man has been forced out of his California church.

Justin Hoke of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church in Weed, Calif., said most members of the small congregation had promised to leave if he stayed. 

“It was determined that it would be in the best interest of the local body for us (TBPC and the Hoke family) to part ways,” Hoke wrote on his Facebook page Saturday. “I would like to add this, I did not want to leave, I did not quit, and I was willing to stay.”

Hoke had posted a sign in front of the church that read: “Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still sin. The culture may change. The Bible does not.”

It drew protests outside the church building and sparked coverage in local media, too, including a story in The San Francisco Chronicle and The Sacramento Bee. About two dozen people protested outside the church Jan. 6. The church is located about four and a half hours north of San Francisco.

“We’ve really had to refine our message to be one strictly of love and support for anyone who feels like they are the target of the sign,” protester Amelia Mallory told The Chronicle. “Debating religion is unproductive, for one, and we also don’t want anyone to feel like we are against Christianity as a whole. People are welcome to their own…

Florida state legislators recently introduced a new bill that will require the school districts to offer classes on religion and the Bible in public high schools.

House Bill 195 was filed by Florida House Democrat Kimberly Daniel last week and requires “each school district to offer specified courses relating to religion, Hebrew Scriptures, and the Bible to certain students as elective courses,” WFTV 9 reports.

Along with the study of the Bible, the bill states it will also allow for a “brief meditation period.” 

Teachers teaching these courses will be required to approach the subject in an objective matter as to adhere to state and federal laws. 

The bill states that all teachers must maintain “religious neutrality and accommodating the diverse religious views, traditions, and perspectives of all students in the school. A course offered pursuant to this section may not endorse, favor, or promote or disfavor or show hostility toward a particular religion, religious perspective, or nonreligious faith.”

The act, which will serve as an amendment to Florida’s 1003.45, F.S. law, will take effect July 1, the bill states.

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