RELIGION HEADLINES

(SRN NEWS) – Many colleges accused of tolerating anti-Semitism on their campuses have been settling with federal civil rights investigators.  By cutting such deals the schools close the cases against them as long as they meet the terms of the agreements, which mostly have involved training and reviews of past complaints.  But many colleges at the center of the highest-profile cases — including Columbia and Cornell — face investigations that remain unresolved.  They run the risk of harsher penalties as President Trump begins his second term in office. 

China’s population has fallen for the third straight year, pointing to further demographic trouble for the world’s second most populous nation that is now facing both a graying population and an emerging shortage of working age people. The figures follow trends worldwide, but especially in East Asia, where Japan, South Korea and other nations have seen their birth rates plummet.  For decades China had a one-child policy which the Communist government enforced with a draconian policy of forced abortions.  The U.S. is also seeing its birth rate decline. 

President Trump has just begun his second term, but his influence is already rippling through state capitols.  Republican governors have announced Trump-themed policies on abortion, the LGBT agenda and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.  Even some Democratic governors are tapping into the themes Mr. Trump used to get elected, as far as their party will allow them.  In West Virginia, new Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey issued numerous orders on his first day, including one ending DEI initiatives at state agencies and institutions. 

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from parents in suburban Washington who want to pull their children from elementary school classes that use books that promote homosexuality.  The justices say they will review an appeals court decision that went against parents in Montgomery County, Maryland.  The moms and dads argue that school policy violates their constitutional religious rights by not allowing them to opt out of lessons that include the books.  The plaintiffs argue that public schools can’t force kids to participate in instruction that violates their faith.