Samuel Smith and World Watch Monitor

Latest

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  Dec 19, 2019

  Senate compromise to reauthorize USCIRF included in spending bill as deadline looms

  The U.S. Senate has agreed on a compromise for the reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as funding for the congressionally mandated watchdog body is set to expire this month if Congress does not act. 

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  Dec 18, 2019

  Supreme Court to hear 2 cases on employment decisions for religious institutions

  The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear appeals brought forth by two California Catholic schools sued for terminating religion teachers, a case that could determine how far ministerial exceptions go in protecting employment decisions for religious institutions.

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  Dec 18, 2019

  Christian university blocks pro-life group but says it doesn't support abortion

  A Christian university in Tennessee is standing behind its student senate’s decision not to officially recognize a local chapter of the pro-life activist organization Students for Life of America. However, students are still hopeful they will be able to get recognition in the spring.

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  Dec 18, 2019

  Coptic activist arrested on 'preposterous charges' in Egypt; UN agency demands release

  The international community is condemning Egypt’s imprisonment of a prominent Coptic Christian activist who they say has been jailed on “preposterous charges” despite the government’s promises to promote religious coexistence. 

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  Dec 18, 2019

  New York school district reverses decision to reject student's Christian club

  A public school district in New York will allow a freshman student to form a Christian club after school officials refused her request for months, a national legal group reports.

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  Dec 17, 2019

  35 psychologists resign from UK gender identity clinic with 3,000 kids on wait list

  Thirty-five psychologists have resigned from the children’s gender-identity service in London in the last three years as there has been an exponential increase in referrals for gender dysphoria in the last decade, according to an investigation from Sky News. 

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  Dec 17, 2019

  Former NewSpring volunteer sentenced to 75 years for sexually abusing kids in daycare

  A former volunteer at NewSpring megachurch in South Carolina has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing children while serving in the church daycare. 

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  Dec 16, 2019

  USCIRF commissioner charged with concealing contributions to Clinton campaign

  A commissioner on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has been indicted along with seven others in an alleged conspiracy to conceal millions of dollars in excessive campaign donations to benefit Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

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  Dec 15, 2019

  Beach town threatened with lawsuit for banning nativity display from boardwalk

  A nonprofit legal group is accusing a Delaware beach municipality of violating the First Amendment by banning a Catholic church’s nativity display from the bandstand circle at its town boardwalk. 

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  Dec 14, 2019

  Over 1,000 Christians in Nigeria killed by Fulani, Boko Haram in 2019: NGO report

  Over 1,000 Christians have been killed this year in Nigeria as attacks led by Fulani extremists continue to plague rural farming communities in the Middle Belt, according to an estimation published by the U.K.-based nongovernmental organization Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust.