Last week, the Ohio House approved a measure to protect student rights to “religious expression in public schools, including prayer, school assignments, artwork and clothing,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Republican Rep. Tim Ginter, who sponsored the bill, believes the legislation clarifies freedom of religion on public school campuses. It is “inclusive legislation that will positively enhance liberties,” he said.

But critics of the bill believe it’s unnecessary. “I appreciate the sentiment,” said Rep. Phillip Robinson (D). “But we already protect religious expression.”

The law, which still must travel through the Republican-led Senate, will give student religious groups the same access to school facilities as secular groups. It will also lift bans that limit religious expression to lunch or non-instructional times and allow students to speak on religion in their homework or artwork.

According to Faithwire, this provision would allow students to embrace creationism in their science classrooms instead of adhering to evolution.

The interpretations of the bill, however, have been contested. According to the Washington Post, chief lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio fears the bill would allow students to answer “incorrectly” based on religious beliefs than science and not be penalized.

However, Charles Haynes,…

A Bolivian police officer who was shot in the chest during civil unrest over the ousting of Bolivia’s now-former president Evo Morales said he was saved by a Bible tucked into his left breast pocket.

“Yes, it was a miracle,” the unnamed officer, a devout Christian, told Bolivian media.

Pictures of the Bible appeared in local media and on a Spanish-language Facebook post chronicling the incident. The front of the blue Bible shows a small hole about the size of a pencil eraser. An exit hole on the back cover is larger and shows several pieces of its pages torn and dangling from the damage. The officer also carried brass knuckles in the pocket, which was broken in half by the bullet.

Oscar Gutierrez, head of the Special Force of the Fight Against Crime of Santa Cruz, said the officer was part of a contingent of law enforcement trying to restore order in the town of Yapacani on Wednesday when he was “shot by a projectile” believed to be a 9mm round.

“He is a young officer whose life was saved miraculously, he was shot by a projectile,” Gutierrez declared, adding the patrolman “had a Bible that stopped the projectile.”

The police supervisor said the uninjured officer was taken to a Santa Cruz hospital for routine tests and was expected to return to work soon.

The skirmishes in Yapacani were part of nationwide protests following an apparent…

A Bible giveaway program sparked by Kanye West’s new album has surpassed expectations.

A spokesperson for the American Bible Society told Christian Headlines Friday that more than 10,000 free Bibles have been given away as part of a “Bibles for Kanye Fans” giveaway that launched after Kanye released his album, Jesus Is King. Originally, the goal was to ship out 1,000 Bibles.

American Bible Society got the idea for the giveaway after noticing a spike in Google searches for information about Christianity the week the album was released. 

“Kanye West’s album has had an immediate effect on the current news cycle. ‘Jesus is King’ was a trending internet search last week with over 1 million queries on Google alone,” John Farquhar Plake, director of ministry intelligence at American Bible Society, said in the October press release. 

“Coincidentally, something we’re seeing as a rising trend is that most Americans turn to Google as a de facto spiritual guide,” Plake added. “Our goal with this campaign is to give Americans – and, yes, Kanye fans – the opportunity to look for answers to their most pertinent questions at the source.”

Kanye fans who want a free Bible can get one shipped to their address by filling out a form at abs.bible/kanye. The giveaway is scheduled to end Nov. 22.

“Kanye West” was the No….

(RNS) — At “91 and a half,” Joanne Rogers remains a devoted advocate for the legacy of her late husband, the iconic star of the long-running children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Fred Rogers’ widow shared churchgoing traditions and a love for music with her husband, whose story is depicted in the new movie, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”

The film, set to release Nov. 22, stars Tom Hanks and depicts the friendship that developed between Fred Rogers and Tom Junod, a journalist who profiled the TV luminary in Esquire magazine.

Joanne Rogers continues to attend Pittsburgh’s Sixth Avenue Presbyterian Church, the congregation where she worshipped with her husband, who was ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1963 and died in 2003. The former longtime professional pianist recalls that beyond making TV his mission, her husband — who majored in music before attending seminary — was “a very fine pianist” who shared his talent with her at home.

“I had a lot of two-piano literature, and so, when Fred and I would have a chance, we’d sit down and sometimes I’d make him play the other part,” she said, “so that I could practice a little, and he would do that. Had a good time at two pianos.”

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You have said that your husband used to say the space…

(RNS) — As Americans gear up for a long and bitterly contentious presidential election year, their message to religious leaders and institutions couldn’t be clearer: Keep out.

That’s the finding in the latest Pew Research poll, which found that 63% of Americans say churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics, and 76% said religious congregations should not make political endorsements.

The poll, which Pew conducted online this past March from among 6,364 U.S. adults, also found that slightly more than half of U.S. adults say that the Republican Party is friendly toward religion (54%). Only one in five, (19%), think the Democratic Party is friendly toward religion. (According to Pew, Republican respondents said the Democratic Party is unfriendly toward religion, while most Democrats view their own party as neutral toward religion.)

“It used to be Republicans were viewed as friendly toward religion and Democrats were viewed as neutral,” said David Campbell, professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame. “Now you see a growing number of people saying, no, the Democrats are unfriendly toward religion.”

But the view that religion should not have as big a role in politics cut across religious faiths. Jews and the religiously unaffiliated are more likely than Christians to oppose mixing religion and politics. Even among Christians,…