RELIGION HEADLINES SUN 10-12-25

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(SRN NEWS) Legal experts say the conservative-majority Supreme Court is taking the American justice system back to its original purpose.  For some years, the court had followed what people on the left call a “living reading” of the Constitution, which holds that the document should adapt to the changing cultural norms in the country.  But the current court is adopting originalism, which aims to enforce the constitutional principles understood by the Americans who ratified them in the first place.  Conservative justices say if the law is to be changed, it must be done by the elected legislature, not activist judges. 

(  )  State governments continue to add non-Christian holidays to their calendars.  California is the third state to designate Diwali (dih-WAH-lee) as an official statewide holiday.  Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. The California law allows public schools and community colleges to close on the holiday.  State employees can take the day off, and students will get an excused absence. Pennsylvania and Connecticut have also recognized Diwali as a holiday. Meanwhile, Muslim holidays have been creeping into American school calendars for several years as the number of Muslims in the country has steadily increased.  

(  )  The Trump administration says the state of Minnesota and its governing body for high school athletics are violating a key federal law against sex discrimination by allowing boys to compete in girls sports.  The ruling comes from the civil rights offices at the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. The agencies say the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title Nine, which was designed to provide for and protect female sports.  Minnesota has allowed boys to compete in girls skiing, lacrosse, track and field, volleyball and softball.  

(  )  A former Wyoming library director who was fired amid an uproar over inappropriate books in the children’s section will be paid 700,000 dollars after settling a lawsuit.  Terri Lesley was fired as the library system director in Campbell County in 2023, two years into the book dispute at the library in Gillette.  The books objected to in Gillette included “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson, “Sex is a Funny Word” by Cory Silverberg, and “Dating and Sex: A Guide for the 21st Century Teen Boy” by Andrew P. Smiler.  Similar disputes are breaking out across the country as parents learn what kinds of books are being made available to kids at the library.