The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) forced an Oklahoma elementary school to remove a live nativity from its annual Christmas production, according to Breit Bart.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit sent a letter to the Center for Education Law in Oklahoma City regarding an Edmond elementary school’s alleged constitutional violation over the religious scene.

“Teaching students the biblical story of the birth of Jesus and having them regularly rehearse a performance of that story entangles the school with the bible’s devotional message,” the letter said. “Such a performance would be appropriate in a church setting, but not in a public school. We write to ensure that district teachers do not incorporate religious promotion into their lessons and that future school events do not include live nativities or other religious performances.”

Although the school district ultimately gave into the FFRF’s demands, the Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit litigation firm protecting religious liberty, reached out to the Edmond School District and offered free legal assistance to fight the accusations.

“A live Nativity scene as part of a balanced Christmas program is not an automatic Establishment Clause violation,” the letter read. It continued, giving several examples of previous rulings where appeal courts have rejected FFRF’s lawsuits regarding nativity scenes.

Judge Easterbrook wrote…

Nearly one-third of independent abortion clinics in the U.S. have closed in the past seven years, according to a new report that is drawing concern from the pro-choice community but celebration from pro-lifers.

The report by the Abortion Care Network shows that 32 percent of all independent abortion clinics have closed since 2012, when 510 of them were open. As of November, that number was down to 344, according to the report. 

Independent abortion clinics don’t receive the political attention that Planned Parenthood does, even though such clinics provide the most abortions. Independent clinics represent about 25 of the nation’s abortion facilities but 58 percent of all abortion procedures, according to the report. 

“Over the last decade, abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming rate,” the report says. “Of those closures, the vast majority have been independent abortion care providers.”

The report blamed “medically unnecessary abortion restrictions and financial barriers.”  

“Given that independent clinics make up the vast majority of clinics providing abortion care later in pregnancy, the closing of independent clinics means that the constitutional right to care throughout pregnancy increasingly exists in name alone,” the report says. “… Anti-abortion restrictions continue to impose onerous barriers on independent clinics’ ability to provide comprehensive…

Famed dictionary company Merriam-Webster has announced its much-anticipated word of the year. The winner? “They.” In a statement, the organization said the term was the most looked-up word of the year due to its newfangled association with those who identify as gender non-binary.

“English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun to correspond neatly with singular pronouns like everyone or someone, and as a consequence ‘they’ has been used for this purpose for over 600 years,” the company explained.

“More recently, though, ‘they’ has also been used to refer to one person whose gender identity is nonbinary, a sense that is increasingly common in published, edited text, as well as social media and in daily personal interactions between English speakers.”

Earlier this year, British pop singer Sam Smith came out as gender non-binary and announced that his pronouns are now “they/them.”

“I understand there will be many mistakes and misgendering,” Smith wrote on Instagram. “But all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now.”

Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large, told the Associated Press that searches for the term skyrocketed after a number of celebrity figures announced their gender-neutrality, including model Oslo Grace and Amandla Stenberg. “It’s a word we all know and love,” Sokolowski said. “So many…

As the House Judiciary Committee began debate Tuesday over whether to proceed with two Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump, the Senate’s chaplain asked God to “restore the souls” of lawmakers during his opening prayer for that chamber.

Chaplain Barry Black’s 90-second prayer, which included references to Psalm 23, was aired on C-SPAN and social media. He called for God’s wisdom during “this turbulent season.”

“Let us pray. Eternal Father, the center of our joy,” Black prayed. “Bless our lawmakers with the peace and wisdom needed to lead in our challenging world. Give them eyes to discern and understand the intricate complexity of this turbulent season. Lord, guide our senators to the right paths, lead them beside still waters, restore their souls.

“Let them lack nothing, for You can keep them whole. Overflow their cups with gentleness, care and understanding for the people they represent. Let them fear no evil and take courage in adversity for You continue to lead them with Your all-knowing right hand. We pray in Your everlasting name, Amen.”

Although Black’s prayer alluded to a divided Congress, he said during a July panel discussion on political division, covered by the Christian Post, that he believes American disunity is not as great as media reports make it seem.

“I’m startled many times when I hear news people pontificating about how…

Former Nickelodeon comedy actor Kel Mitchell recently announced that he’s become a youth pastor at a church in California, according to the Christian Post.

“Blessed and thankful for my Spirit Food [Christian Center] Family and thank you Pastor [Garry D.] Zeigler for seeing the calling of God on my life and trusting me with your youth department,” Mitchell said in a Facebook post.

He continued to quote Romans 8:28-29: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Mitchell is known for his roles in the ‘90s sketch comedy show “All That” and sitcom “Kenan & Kel” with now SNLcast member, Kenan Thompson. He also went on to star in the movie “Good Burger.”

But his career struggled to take flight after those roles and he dipped into depression in 2015.

“I have been through so many ups and downs in my life,” Mitchell said on his website. “Suicidal, divorce, drug and alcohol usage, deep in sin, dealing with the lost (sic) of [loved] ones to gang violence, debt, hurt, pain, vanity, lust, heartbreak, feeling LOST looking for answers. I have seen, felt and been in all types of sin and have been done wrong by others.”

After his…

Former female inmates from Massachusetts are receiving a little extra help this holiday season, thanks to St. John’s Episcopal Church of Ashfield, according to the Christian Post.

The congregation started a ministry called “Love in a Backpack” that supplies former inmates with three bags of items packed into a backpack. One bag contains personal care items and toiletries; another, food and water; and a third, a Bible and a hand-written note of encouragement.

“We have experienced the joy of doing God’s work through our hands, serving the women most in need during a fragile and scary transition time,” said Mary Link, who helps lead the ministry. “Several other churches and groups have partnered with us each year, helping us increase the number of backpacks we can pull together to provide for the women. Some partners just collect packs or toiletries, others fill three or more whole packs.”

Women who are released from prison have little to live from. “She has the clothes on her back and a small stipend for transportation,” according to the ministry’s website.

“Love in a Backpack” began after the church discovered that former inmates struggled for basic needs after release from prison. A ministry existed for men but none for the women, so the church set to work. The first year, the group provided 32 backpacks. Both last year and this year, they have…

China’s crackdown on the booming house church movement continued this fall, with government officials raiding worship services and even telling Christians they could no longer read the Bible. 

By law, churches in China must register with the government and join either the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (if they’re Protestant) or the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. But because such churches face severe restrictions, millions of Christians have joined illegal, unregistered house churches.

In October, a house church in Jinan, Shandong province was ambushed by a group of local officials, according to the watchdog Bitter Winter. 

“From now on, you are not allowed to meet here, nor are you allowed to read the Bible,” a local government official told the church members. “According to orders from the central government, the Bible is banned. You’re designated as a target of the campaign to ‘clean up gang crime and eliminate evil.’” 

House churches “all over Shandong province are to be shut down,” the church members were told.

“What kind of government is this?” an elderly Christian asked Bitter Winter. “They turn a blind eye on evil-doers and criminals, but persecute us Christians.”

In August, police officers and government officials raided a house church in the province of Yunnan and ordered the members to join a Three-Self congregation that was…