National Catholic Register; Full Text: Pope Leo XIV’s Letter on the 250th Anniversary of America’s Founding
"Editor's Note: Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, Pope Leo XIV penned a letter marking the historic moment. The letter, dated June 25 and released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday, is reprinted in full below."
Ashley Oliver , Fox News ; Supreme Court decides whether to allow parents to shield children from LGBTQ books in school
"The Supreme Court held Friday that a group of Maryland parents are entitled to opt their children out of school lessons that could violate their beliefs in a case centered on religious freedom.
The justices decided 6-3 along ideological lines in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents can exclude their children from a Maryland public school system's lessons that contain themes about homosexuality and transgenderism if they feel it conflicts with their religious faith."
"It finally happened. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox found that Hobby Lobby’s broad guarantee of “religious freedom” to businesses exempts religious employers from the federal ban on workplace sex discrimination. Cox ruled that, under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, for-profit corporations may claim a legal right to fire employees for being transgender. His decision marks the first time a court has used Hobby Lobby’s holding to abridge LGBTQ employees’ rights under nondiscrimination law—an extension of “religious liberty” that anti-LGBTQ advocates insisted would never occur... Cox’s decision, then, will almost certainly be overturned. But it is still a useful reminder of Hobby Lobby’s power in the hands of anti-LGBTQ judges. There’s a reason states rushed to pass mini-RFRAs in Hobby Lobby’s wake: A right-leaning judiciary can always cite “religious liberty” to abridge others’ rights, and LGBTQ people are usually first on the chopping block. For years, conservative activists have sworn that the new campaign for religious freedom is not a Trojan horse designed to legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Judge Cox just proved them wrong."
"Technology leaders are looking beyond an Indiana battle over gay rights that united them in the past week, and are calling on all states to enact anti-discrimination protections for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people. More than three dozen chief executives and other senior Silicon Valley leaders issued a joint statement on Wednesday, asking state legislatures to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes to their civil rights laws... “Religious freedom, inclusion and diversity can coexist and everyone, including L.G.B.T. people and people of faith, should be protected under their states’ civil rights laws,” their statement reads. “No person should have to fear losing their job, or be denied service or housing because of who they are or whom they love.”"
