Do you agree with the Apostle Paul?
That was the question police asked Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen repeatedly over the course of 13 hours of interrogation over a social media post she made featuring a Bible verse. 
Six years ago, Räsänen found herself in a small room being questioned after she <a href="https://x.com/PaiviRasanen/status/1140693636176384011">shared</a> a Bible verse from the book of Romans detailing the Christian understanding of sexuality. After she shared the verse, she was charged with hate speech and dragged to the police station for numerous rounds of questions about her beliefs. 
“It was a very, very absurd and surreal experience,” Räsänen said on Thursday when asked by The Daily Wire to describe her experience. “I was sitting in a small room in a police station. I had the Bible on the table and the police were asking me very theological questions.”
She said that she was asked about the meaning of Romans and about the concepts of sin and shame in the Bible. Räsänen said she was brought in for questioning three times for a total of 13 hours, leading to a joke that she was “going to have a Bible study” at the police station, she said. 
Räsänen said her experience reminded her of stories she heard about Christians being persecuted by the Soviet Union. 
“Those stories that I had heard from these communist countries,” she said. “So I was so shocked that something like that could happen in Finland, in a country that has long roots in Christianity and rule of law and freedom of speech and faith.”
After each interrogation, she was given two weeks to delete her social media post and apologize. She refused each time. 
“I said that I do not apologize… because it&#8217;s not my opinion, it is what the Word of God says,” Räsänen said. 
She is a member of the Lutheran Church and was previously Finland’s Ministry of the Interior, meaning she once oversaw the police who interrogated her. Her case is now before Finland’s top court and comes after she was unanimously acquitted in 2022 and 2023 by lower courts. She faces two criminal charges for “agitation against a minority group.”
Räsänen’s case was heard on Thursday by the Finnish Supreme Court. She was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom International and criminal defense lawyer Matti Sankamo. 
<div id="attachment_993749" style="width: 1674px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-993749" class="size-full wp-image-993749" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.20.01-PM.png" alt="" width="1664" height="1106" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.20.01-PM.png 1664w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.20.01-PM-300x199.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.20.01-PM-867x576.png 867w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.20.01-PM-768x510.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.20.01-PM-1536x1021.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1664px) 100vw, 1664px" />Räsänen outside the Supreme Court/ Alliance Defending Freedom International.</div>
In a press call after Thursday’s hearing, Sankamo said that it appeared that prosecutors had changed the primary focus of their case against Räsänen.
Also on trial is Bishop Juhana Pohjola, a Lutheran church leader who published a pamphlet in 2004 written by Räsänen defending the Christian view of marriage as between one man and one woman. Prosecutors have called for Pohjola to pull the pamphlet from circulation. 
“The Christian message of marriage and sexuality has been taught for two millennia, and it should never be considered a crime to speak what Christians have always believed,” he said ahead of the hearing. 
Both Pohjola and Räsänen face a hefty fine if they lose their case. The charges they face could come with prison time, though prosecutors have not requested that punishment. 
Paul Coleman, the executive director of Alliance Defending Freedom International, said that losing the case could make countless other Christian materials considered criminal. 
“We&#8217;ve not yet seen a case reach the highest court of a land where actual theological concepts like sin are considered hate speech, or where the words of the Bible are being put on trial,” he said Thursday. “And so again, if the prosecutor is successful, then that will set a new low, really, for freedom of expression in Europe and specifically for Christians.”
A verdict in the case is not expected until spring 2026, but Räsänen is hopeful that the result will be a resounding win for freedom of religion and speech. 
“The main question in this whole process is, the heart of this trial, is the question of whether teachings related to the Bible can be presented and whether it is still permissible to agree with the Bible, even when they contradict the main ideology of the society,” she said.

MixCollage-30-Oct-2025-01-20-PM-5744

The Bible On Trial: Christian Politician Goes Back To Court Over Religious Beliefs

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Christianity

Europe

Finland

Free Speech

Marriage

Religious Freedom

In the shadow of gleaming skyscrapers and a bustling democracy, a dark chapter in South Korea’s history is currently unfolding.
On September 8, 2025, just two days after meeting with Charlie Kirk at Build Up Korea — an event similar in style and purpose to Turning Point USA’s signature events here in the United States — Pastor Son Hyun-bo was arrested and imprisoned by the South Korean government.
His crime? Preaching from the pulpit, organizing prayer rallies, and daring to critique politicians in sermons that touched on moral issues like anti-discrimination laws and Biblical marriage.
This is clearly Christian persecution cloaked in the language of &#8220;election law violations.&#8221; It echoes the tyrannical playbooks of communist regimes past. And it is a stark reminder that the forces arrayed against Christianity are global, insidious, and relentless.
Pastor Son, the 63-year-old leader of Segero Church in Busan, is no radical agitator. He&#8217;s a man of unyielding faith who transformed a tiny, struggling, rural congregation of 20 members into a thriving megachurch with over 4,000 weekly attendees. Starting in 1993, he baptized around 1,000 souls annually for more than 15 years. During his military service in the 1980s under a dictatorial regime, he endured brutal beatings for insisting on Sunday worship, yet evangelized his entire Special Forces unit that he served in, earning the nickname &#8220;Special Forces Pastor.&#8221; Even amid COVID-19 lockdowns in 2021, he defied government bans, holding outdoor services to preserve the right to gather in faith.
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But Pastor Son&#8217;s boldness extended beyond the sanctuary. He organized massive &#8220;Save Korea&#8221; prayer rallies, including a 2024 event that drew over a million participants online and in person, decrying threats to religious freedom and national values. In 2025, during elections for Busan&#8217;s education superintendent and the presidency, Son’s sermons and events addressed candidates&#8217; stances on issues dear to Christians.
Prosecutors twisted these into &#8220;illegal electioneering,&#8221; citing the use of microphones, YouTube uploads, and even hymns as evidence of &#8220;disguised rallies.&#8221; The arrest warrant, issued by Judge Eom Sung-hwan on September 9, absurdly claimed a &#8220;flight risk&#8221; for a man who&#8217;s lived openly in Busan for three decades, cooperated with investigations, and left all his sermons publicly online.
This isn&#8217;t an isolated miscarriage of justice — it&#8217;s a calculated assault on religious liberty.
South Korea&#8217;s constitution guarantees freedom of religion under Article 20, and international covenants like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protect against arbitrary detention and suppression of faith. Yet here we see a pastor jailed for what amounts to moral commentary, while pro-North Korea activists have received leniency from the same judiciary.
Conservative leaders like Han Dong-hoon, Na Kyung-won, Kim Moon-soo, and Choi Jae-hyung have decried it as excessive, political retaliation, and a threat to democracy. The General Assembly of Presbyterian Churches in Korea called it a &#8220;grave situation that threatens the freedom of religion.&#8221; Pastor Son&#8217;s real offense? Criticizing leftist President Lee Jae-myung and standing firm against policies that erode Christian values.
Enter Charlie Kirk, whose tragic assassination just days after his visit to South Korea leaves his mission unfinished. On September 6 and 7, Kirk headlined the &#8220;Build Up Korea&#8221; event, rallying thousands of young Koreans to defend freedom and faith in a nation where Christianity comprises about 25% of the population. Backstage, he met Pastor Son, who had organized massive protests against a pro-trans bill and faced government raids for his activism.
Kirk promised that if Son were arrested, he&#8217;d alert President Donald Trump and mobilize America against this &#8220;weaponization&#8221; of law against Bible-believing Christians. In his speech, Kirk warned: &#8220;If you don’t focus on the second thing — making sure you can spread Jesus — then we will all be sharing the Gospel from a prison cell one day!&#8221;
Kirk&#8217;s words were prophetic. This is the communist tactic in action: ostracize Christians by painting them as threats to the state; characterize them as &#8220;others&#8221; who disrupt social harmony; terrorize them through raids, arrests, and imprisonment; and normalize that terror until dissent vanishes. We&#8217;ve seen it in Mao&#8217;s China, Stalin&#8217;s Russia, and now creeping into South Korea under a president cozying up to Beijing and Pyongyang. The Left doesn&#8217;t debate faith; it silences it, turning pulpits into crime scenes and prayers into indictments.
American Christians, this is our wakeup call. We&#8217;re in a revival moment, but revival without resolve is fleeting. We must channel Kirk&#8217;s unfinished work: amplify Pastor Son&#8217;s plight, pressure South Korea through diplomatic channels, and support organizations like the Free Press Foundation that expose such injustices. Petition your representatives to condemn this; pray for Son&#8217;s release; and demand that President Lee reverse course before South Korea slides further into authoritarianism.
Pastor Rob McCoy of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, and Pastor Stephen Martin of Vintage Church in Harker Heights, Texas, just returned from a visit to Segero Church, where they encouraged leaders to stand strong, speak out, and not go silently into persecution. They are seeking to carry out Charlie Kirk’s mission, which he had promised to return and complete. He would have undoubtedly done so had he not been martyred. These courageous pastors are working to draw attention to this unfinished mission of Charlie, protect Christian freedom in South Korea, and warn a slumbering church that we must not be silent.
After all, the church isn&#8217;t a bystander in history, it&#8217;s the bulwark against tyranny. As Charlie urged, put Jesus first, but fight for the freedom to do so. Pastor Son languishes in a cell for preaching truth; let&#8217;s ensure his suffering ignites a global stand. South Korea, turn back from this persecution. The world is watching, and the God of justice will not be mocked.
Daniel Hayworth is the Lead Pastor of Vintage Church Harker Heights near Fort Hood, Texas, where he lives with his wife and four children. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

South Korea Charlie Kirk

The Unfinished Fight: Charlie Kirk, A South Korean Pastor, And The Global War On Christians

Charlie Kirk

Donald Trump

North Korea

South Korea

The issue of religious freedom has become one of the most pressing global challenges of our time. While in Western countries debates often revolve around ensuring that Muslims can freely practice their faith, in many parts of the Islamic world, Christians continue to face harsh restrictions, discrimination, and even persecution. This striking contrast raises fundamental questions about reciprocity, human dignity, and the future of coexistence between different faiths.
Few stories illustrate this brutal reality more vividly than that of Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek — known as Saeed Abu Mustafa, a 30-year-old man, who has <a href="https://x.com/DanBurmawy/status/1961379307487437064">been arrested</a>, endured <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@saidabumustafa?_t=ZN-8zg1GnAN5yo&amp;_r=1">torture</a>, isolation, and persecution. During his detention, he was allegedly suspended with his arms tied to a wall in a <a href="https://www.copticsolidarity.org/2025/08/21/egypts-hidden-persecution-the-cost-of-leaving-islam/">crucified position</a> for hours each day, a deliberate mockery of the very faith he embraced. He has been beaten, humiliated, and forced to undergo procedures to burn away a small Christian tattoo. They stripped him of his wife and child. Saeed now sits in a prison cell, together with <a href="https://www.christiandaily.com/news/christian-convert-charged-with-terrorism-in-egypt-after-requesting-new-identification">Islamic terrorists</a>, accused of crimes as absurd as “membership in a banned group” and “contempt of the Islamic religion.” In truth, his only crime is that, in 2018, he converted to Christianity.
In the Roman Empire, Christians were thrown to lions, crucified on wooden beams, and burned alive in public squares. Their crime was simple: they refused to worship Caesar and chose to follow Christ instead. Twenty centuries later, the forms have changed but the substance has not. What the Roman Empire once accomplished with crosses and amphitheaters, Egypt — a nation that receives billions of dollars in aid from the United States — now accomplishes with courtrooms, prisons, and a bureaucracy steeped in Sharia law.
<h3>A Journey From Curiosity To Crucifixion</h3>
Saeed’s path to Christ began with a hunger for knowledge. As a teenager, he immersed himself in comparative religion, asking the questions Islam dared not answer. By 2018, his search ended with baptism into the Russian Orthodox Church. But his conversion would prove costly. His family harassed him. His neighbors denounced him. But above all, Egypt’s National Security marked him as a threat.
Desperate, Saeed fled to Russia in 2019, where he sought asylum. For a time, he breathed free air. But when provoked by Muslims on social media, he responded and lashed out. Russia responded not with tolerance but with jail. Eleven months later, they deported him — despite a UNHCR refugee certificate that should have guaranteed his protection.
Back in Egypt, his persecutors were waiting for him. They detained him, tortured him again, and warned, “If you want to be a Christian, so be it. But you must remain silent.” Silence, however, would prove impossible for this man.
<h3>The Arrest That Sealed His Fate</h3>
In July of 2025, Saeed did the unthinkable. He attempted to exercise his constitutional right to file a lawsuit to <a href="https://www.csw.org.uk/2025/07/24/press/6584/article.htm">update his official identity card</a> to reflect his Christian faith. In Egypt, religion is stamped on every official document: your driver’s license, your job application, even membership to a sports club. It is not merely paperwork; it is a mark of identity and, for converts, a mark of danger.
That step was enough to seal his fate. On July 15, 2025, plainclothes National Security agents stormed his apartment in Cairo’s Matariya district and arrested him. Days later, he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, charged with membership in a banned group, disturbing public order and peace, and contempt of the Islamic religion.
It is difficult to overstate the absurdity of these accusations. When asked how he could be accused of joining a banned group, Saeed responded simply: “How can I be? I am Christian.”
<h3>A Legal Farce, A Human Tragedy</h3>
Saeed’s hearings were conducted over video conference. His lawyer was not allowed to see him. He could not review the charges or the investigation files. Even basic rights guaranteed by Egypt’s own constitution were stripped away.
His lawyer, Saeed Fayez, stated:
<blockquote>“I am immensely worried for Saeed’s safety, because he is locked away in Institute Number 6, where Islamic extremist terrorists are held. He is in danger. Recently, Osama — an Islamist terrorist who desecrated Christian faith — posted a video showing Saeed being beaten. This is torture.”</blockquote>
Meanwhile, Saeed’s fiancé, Sophie, is heartbroken:
<blockquote>“This should not be happening in 2025. His treatment is not human. Egyptian interpretation of terrorism is very different from the rest of the world. When Egypt says he has joined a banned group, what do they mean? Are Christians a banned group? Why cannot these people convert and enjoy their freedom like everybody else? It is a matter of freedom.”</blockquote>
<h3>The Pattern Of Persecution</h3>
Saeed’s story is part of a long line of shattered lives. He is not the first, nor will he be the last.
In 2007, Mohammed Hegazy openly demanded recognition of his conversion. For that, he was arrested, tortured. He first stated that he had abandoned Christianity to return to Islam, but once released from prison, he revealed he had remained a Christian all along, explaining that his supposed conversion had been extracted from him under torture.
Decades earlier, Maher El-Gowhary had tried the same. Judges even admitted his case was valid, but they ruled conversion a “threat to public order.” He has lived ever since as a fugitive in his own land.
More recently, the stranglehold on religious expression continues. In early 2025, Abdulbaqi Said Abdo — a Christian convert detained since 2021 for speaking about his faith and aiding fellow converts online — was released after years behind bars on blasphemy charges. His fellow detainee, Nour Gerges, was also freed, yet both men still face pending accusations. Abdo spent months in solitary confinement, suffered deteriorating health, and even declared a partial hunger strike in protest.
Others have suffered in quieter ways, their names whispered in churches and exile communities. A young woman named Naglaa had her head shaved by her brother and her Bible burned before her eyes. Amir Ibrahim, a professor, was fired and charged for daring to declare himself Christian. A teenager called Andrew has changed homes seven times in six months to escape his family’s wrath. Mirna, a mother, lost custody of her daughter the moment she embraced the Cross. Karim Abu El-Kheir, at 19, was jailed for writing on Facebook: “Christ is my salvation.”
These are not isolated incidents.
Egypt’s constitution, however, contains a fatal contradiction. Article 2 enshrines Islamic Sharia as the source of law. Article 46, on the other hand, promises freedom of belief. And whenever they collide, Sharia wins.
That is why Saeed is in prison. That is why converts live as “ghosts,” hiding in basements, carrying fake names, unable to marry, work, or claim their children. Egypt’s notion of religious freedom appears paradoxical: one may hold personal beliefs, provided they never stray from Islam.
<h3>Why The West Must Act</h3>
Every year, America sends billions of dollars in aid to Egypt. Washington calls Cairo a “partner” and a “moderate.” But what moderation is this? A nation that jails a man for following Christ is no partner in freedom.
This is not simply a matter of cultural difference — it is a matter of right and wrong. If America believes in liberty, it must advocate for the release of Saeed and others like him. It must place conditions on aid when it comes to genuine freedom of religion. It must remind Egypt that partnership with the United States comes with moral obligations.
Saeed’s crucifixion may not be on Golgotha, but it is no less real. And it demands a response. If America still believes in the dignity of the human soul, then it must raise its voice. Because the true test of freedom is not how we protect the majority — it is how we defend the lone man in a cell, whose only crime was to whisper the name of Jesus.
In the early centuries of Christianity, martyrs faced lions with hymns on their lips. Today, in Cairo, they face prison walls and torture cells. But the hymn remains the same: Christ is Lord.
* * *
Paolo Gambi is an Italian multimedia artist, poet, and contributor to “Il Giornale,” Italy’s primary conservative newspaper. He is the founder of Poetry Renaissance, one of the main networks of poetry in Italy, present in various countries. He has published more than thirty books.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-13-Sep-2025-03-12-PM-7969

He Left Islam For Christianity. Now He’s Being Tortured In A Prison In Cairo.

Egypt

Prison

Religion

Torture

An assistant high school football coach who is also a school resource officer (SRO) in Clarksville, Tennessee, was removed from the coaching staff over complaints that he was proselytizing to players.
Trey Campbell, a volunteer assistant coach for Northwest High School, was escorted out of last week&#8217;s game at halftime by the school&#8217;s principal after he was holding a Bible and leading players in prayer, according to local news outlet, <a href="https://clarksvillenow.com/local/northwest-sro-put-on-leave-during-review-of-proselytizing-complaint-while-coaching-football/">Clarksville Now</a>. Campbell, a deputy with the Montgomery County Sheriff&#8217;s Office, was also placed on paid leave from his job as an SRO at the school.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) said that it had received complaints about Campbell doing more than just leading players in prayer and was attempting to convert players to his faith while in his official capacity as a school employee. The school district said it is currently investigating the incident, WKRN <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/clarksville/northwest-high-school-assistant-football-coach-removed-form-team-after-prayer-sparking-debate-over-faith-in-schools/">reported</a>.
&#8220;It’s my understanding that the concern was not with private prayer, but that the principal received a concern that an employee was proselytizing in their official capacity,&#8221; a CMCSS official added in a statement. &#8220;We will investigate, and I can share more when that investigation has concluded. We are not able to conduct interviews or comment further until after the investigation has concluded.”
According to the school district, &#8220;multiple witnesses observed and video footage corroborated Campbell spending significant time throughout the game on the sidelines with players and other students, quoting scripture, holding a Bible up to spectators, and leading prayers.&#8221;
The school district alleged that Campbell &#8220;became visibly emotional and confrontational&#8221; when he was asked to keep his prayers private. The district added, &#8220;However, multiple witnesses stated that when asked to stop causing a disruption and to put his Bible away, Campbell stated loudly that &#8216;I can’t do it, won’t do it,&#8217; and &#8216;my job is to save these babies.'&#8221;
CMCSS said that witnesses found Campbell&#8217;s behavior last Friday &#8220;uncharacteristic,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Campbell has otherwise been an outstanding SRO, coach, and valued member of the Northwest High School community. He has built positive relationships with students, families, and staff, and has contributed to the safety and well-being of the school.&#8221;
Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson told Clarksville Now that the department &#8220;firmly stands behind any citizen who chooses to lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. This includes our employees.&#8221; Fuson added, “As a man of faith, I was equally concerned about the initial information regarding this and how it appeared to have been handled.&#8221;
The sheriff, however, acknowledged that &#8220;there are always two sides to consider,&#8221; referring to the school district&#8217;s review of the incident involving Campbell. The deputy was placed on leave for &#8220;a couple of paid days off to process all of this,&#8221; according to the sheriff. Fuson added that Campbell&#8217;s position as an SRO at Northwest High School has not changed. When asked to provide further details about the incident and where the sheriff stands on the issue, the Montgomery County Sheriff&#8217;s Office told The Daily Wire that it did not have any further comment at this time.
The issue over Campbell&#8217;s religious practices at the football game comes as President Donald Trump moves to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-promises-fresh-push-to-defend-prayer-in-public-schools">protect prayer</a> in public schools. Trump said on Monday that he has directed the Department of Education to &#8220;issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.&#8221;
&#8220;America has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/">said</a>. &#8220;Together we will make our Country greater, stronger, more united, and more faithful than ever before!&#8221;
The controversy in Tennessee shares some similarities to a major Supreme Court case that was decided in 2022, when high school football coach Joseph Kennedy was pressured by a public school system in Bremerton, Washington, to stop his practice of praying on the field after each game; a practice that many of his players joined. Kennedy&#8217;s contract was not renewed after the controversy over his post-game prayer, and the coach sued the school board. The case made it all the way up to the Supreme Court, which ruled 6-3 in Kennedy&#8217;s favor.
In a phone call with The Daily Wire, Marc Wheat, General Counsel for former Vice President Mike Pence&#8217;s organization, Advancing American Freedom, brought up the Kennedy v. Bremerton School District case. Wheat, however, said that the issue in Tennessee appears to differ from the famous 2022 decision based on what&#8217;s been reported so far.
&#8220;My understanding is that Campbell&#8217;s prayer time was during a game where the football players are there to be coached on strategy, tactics, getting them pumped up to go back on the field,&#8221; Wheat said. &#8220;So that&#8217;s pretty different from the Coach Kennedy case.&#8221;
Wheat added that an important question that must be answered is whether the players were required to be present and listening to their coaches when Campbell was exercising his faith. He said that the arguments for and against Campbell practicing his faith at the game could change as more information comes out about the incident. Another aspect that Wheat pointed out that could add to a legal dilemma is that Campbell was acting as a volunteer football coach, while his employment was with the sheriff&#8217;s department.
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of the Conscience Project — a religious liberty advocacy group — told The Daily Wire that &#8220;often what&#8217;s reported isn&#8217;t what&#8217;s really going on&#8221; when it comes to religious liberty cases.
&#8220;Sometimes something becomes very sensational and school administrators often act, throwing the net wider than they should and disciplining people for exercising legitimate rights out of fear and ignorance,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;Obviously, there are elements to what&#8217;s been reported that look like religious activity was possibly going on during the game, during what would normally be the coaching of young people. And I think that&#8217;s where the record has to be developed more,&#8221; Picciotti-Bayer continued, adding, &#8220;There isn&#8217;t a problem unless there&#8217;s a level of coercion.&#8221;
Picciotti-Bayer said that new guidance from Trump&#8217;s Education Department could be vital for further protecting religious liberty. She said that she expects the guidance to allow school employees &#8220;to actually live your faith, say your prayer at lunch time. Maybe not over an intercom, but to let that be a part of your life. You don&#8217;t have to leave your faith at the parking lot of the school or the parking lot of the football stadium.&#8221;
This story has been updated to include additional comment from the school district.

Football Field, Bible

High School Football Coach Loses Gig, Placed On Leave After Carrying Bible, Praying With Players

School Resource Officer Loses Coaching Gig, Placed On Leave After Carrying Bible, Praying With Playe

High school sports

Public Schools

Religious Liberty

Tennessee

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that schools violate religious liberty when they bar parents from opting their children out of classroom instruction involving LGBT-themed books, a major win for religious conservatives.
Justices voted 6-3 along ideological lines to back a group of religious parents affiliated with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland who argued they should be able to opt their children out of lessons with LGBT themes.
The Maryland parents who sued included Catholics, Muslims, and Ukrainian Orthodox.
The controversial LGBT books included &#8220;Prince and Knight&#8221; about a prince who falls in love with a knight instead of a princess and &#8220;Uncle Bobby&#8217;s Wedding&#8221; about a girl&#8217;s uncle who marries another man.
Justice Samuel Alito penned the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-297_4f14.pdf">opinion</a>, writing that the school district burdened the parents&#8217; First Amendment rights.
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&#8220;Today, we hold that the parents have shown that they are entitled to a preliminary injunction. A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses &#8216;a very real threat of undermining&#8217; the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill,&#8221; Alito wrote.
Alito said the &#8220;storybooks unmistakably convey a particular viewpoint about same-sex marriage and gender&#8221; and the school board has &#8220;specifically encouraged teachers to reinforce this viewpoint and to reprimand any children who disagree. That goes far beyond mere &#8216;exposure.'&#8221;
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent that was joined by the other two liberal justices in which she criticized the court allowing &#8220;parental veto power over curricular choices long left to the democratic process and local administrators.&#8221;
&#8220;The reverberations of the Court&#8217;s error will be felt, I fear, for generations,&#8221; Sotomayor wrote.
Rosalind Hanson, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said she is &#8220;thrilled&#8221; with the decision.
&#8220;I am thrilled with the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold religious liberty and parental rights against our authoritarian school district pushing a one-sided agenda,&#8221; Hanson told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Our children should never have been forced to learn about such sensitive topics without the ability for parents to know or opt them out,&#8221; said Hanson, who also chairs the Moms for Liberty Chapter in Montgomery County.
The legal team for the plaintiffs called the decision a &#8220;historic victory.&#8221;
“Kids shouldn’t be forced into conversations about drag queens, pride parades, or gender transitions without their parents’ permission. Today, the Court restored common sense and made clear that parents — not government — have the final say in how their children are raised,&#8221; said Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the plaintiffs.
Trump called the decision a &#8220;tremendous ruling for parents.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;I think the ruling was a great ruling, and I think it&#39;s a great ruling for parents&#8230; they lost control of the schools. They lost control of their child, and this is a tremendous victory for parents.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Pla2qrLE36">https://t.co/Pla2qrLE36</a> <a href="https://t.co/jqySSHA8QM">pic.twitter.com/jqySSHA8QM</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1938631684284432695?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I think it’s a great ruling for parents. It’s really a ruling for parents. They lost control of the schools, they lost control of their child, and this is a tremendous victory for parents. And I’m not surprised by it, but I am surprised that it went this far,” Trump said in the White House briefing room on Friday.
Parental rights advocates and religious groups celebrated Friday&#8217;s decision as well.
“Storybooks like those at issue in Mahmoud convey normative messages on sex and gender, and those messages can and often do conflict with the beliefs of parents and their children,&#8221; said Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education.
&#8220;Today&#8217;s ruling should act as a directive to every American school district: notify parents of controversial material, and provide them the opportunity to opt their children out — especially if you provide opt-outs for other curriculum or other reasons,&#8221; Perry said.
Kelsey Reinhardt, president and CEO of CatholicVote said the case was a &#8220;major victory&#8221; but that it should &#8220;alarm every American&#8221; that the high court had to step in.
&#8220;For over two years, Catholic parents alongside parents of other faiths have been forced to defend their constitutional right to opt their pre-K-8th grade children out of radical LGBTQ+ course materials that contradict their own religious beliefs,&#8221; Reinhardt said, adding that Montgomery schools &#8220;insisted on forcing explicit curriculum about gender ideology on children as young as 3 years old.&#8221;
&#8220;The Court’s ruling sends a clear and powerful message: America still respects the rights of parents to raise their children in line with their faith and conscience,&#8221; she said.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Parental Rights Regarding LGBTQ Books In Schools

Supreme Court Sides With Parents, Says Schools Can’t Mandate LGBT Curricula

Supreme Court Rules Schools Must Let Religious Parents Opt Out Of LGBT Books

Courts

LGBT

Parents rights

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

U.S.

The Religious Liberty Commission met Monday for the first time at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., to discuss faith policies. The Commission was presided over by Chairman and Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Vice Chairman Dr. Ben Carson.
The commission was first established back in May by an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/establishment-of-the-religious-liberty-commission/">executive order</a> from President Trump. The executive order commissioned a panel of professionals and public religious figures under the Department of Justice and Attorney General Pamela Bondi, who spoke at this first meeting.
Some notable <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/05/president-trump-announces-religious-liberty-commission-members/">members of the commission</a> include Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, the founder of Word on Fire Ministry, and Pastor Paula White, the senior advisor to the White House Faith Office. Pastor Franklin Graham, a well-known Evangelical minister, Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the &#8220;Dr. Phil&#8221; talk show, and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, a premier Orthodox rabbi based in Manhattan, also serve on the commission.
The commission will run until July 4th, 2026, unless extended by Trump. Over the next year, the commission will meet periodically to hear the testimonies of prominent legal scholars and religious leaders.
Patrick began the meeting by restating the commission&#8217;s purpose, as laid out in its charter. The purpose, he said, was &#8220;to advise and to report to the president&#8221; their findings on the treatment of religion in America.
Carson, who has previously served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration, stated that the commission&#8217;s goal is to promote spirituality among Americans.
&#8220;This commission promotes freedom of beliefs and that spiritual aspect of our existence that advances civilization,&#8221; Carson said. &#8220;We will strive to facilitate the maintenance of one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.&#8221;
Kelly Shackelford, a constitutional scholar and member of the commission, remarked that, as the Founders of America believed, the first battle against dictatorial power would be fought on the grounds of religious freedom. Religious freedom, he said, is the &#8220;precipice of all of our freedoms.&#8221;
Paula White, a member of the commission, leads the first White House Faith Office for the president. White commented, &#8220;The Commission will focus on long-term strategies to secure religious freedom for future generations. We will gather data, conduct legal analysis, hold public hearings to capture the stories of everyday Americans related to religious liberty.&#8221;
Later in the meeting, Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the Trump administration’s stance toward religious liberty.
&#8220;From the start, the United States of America was envisioned as a place where religious liberty meant the freedom to discern good from evil without the heavy hand of the government weighing in,&#8221; she said.
Bondi condemned the arrests of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-activist-sentenced-to-over-four-years-in-prison-over-protest-at-d-c-abortion-facility">pro-life Christians</a>, those who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYK1XPKdV7M">blocked access to synagogues</a> in antisemitic protests, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bill-de-blasio-threatens-to-permanently-close-nyc-churches-if-they-dont-comply-with-social-distancing">prosecution</a> of church gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Biden administration’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-declares-easter-sunday-transgender-day-of-visibility">declaration</a> of a transgender day of visibility on Easter in 2024, as well as other anti-religious acts.
Bondi added, &#8220;This president and this administration are fully committed to restoring and defending religious liberty for all Americans. The Religious Liberty Commission will be the tip of the spear. Together we will return America to the vision of our Founders – a nation where faith merely isn’t tolerated but it&#8217;s embraced and celebrated.&#8221;

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Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission Meets To Discuss Faith Policies

Ben Carson

Pam Bondi

Trump Administration

A deadlocked Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a decision blocking an Oklahoma Catholic school from participating in the state&#8217;s charter school program.
The 4-4 decision upholds the Oklahoma Supreme Court&#8217;s decision to ban the Oklahoma City-based St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School from being eligible. It was unclear how the justices voted, but Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case.
The case pitted the Catholic school against Oklahoma Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who sued the school after the state&#8217;s charter school board voted to approve St. Isidore&#8217;s participation. Drummond argued that allowing religious schools to take part in the program would force taxpayers to fund schools with religious beliefs they did not support.
&#8220;The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of my position that we should not allow taxpayer funding of radical Islamic schools here in Oklahoma. I am proud to have fought against this potential cancer in our state, and I will continue upholding the law, protecting our Christian values and defending religious liberty,&#8221; Drummond <a href="https://x.com/Okla_OAG/status/1925559733697540373">posted</a> on X after the decision from the court was released.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the school and charter board argued that Oklahoma discriminated based on religion.
“Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more educational choices, not fewer,&#8221; ADF chief legal counsel Jim Campbell <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/divided-us-supreme-court-leaves-oklahoma-families-with-fewer-educational-choices/?sourcecode=11036715_r200">said</a>. &#8220;While the Supreme Court’s order is disappointing for educational freedom, the 4-4 decision does not set precedent, allowing the court to revisit this issue in the future. The U.S. Supreme Court has been clear that when the government creates programs and invites groups to participate, it can’t single out religious groups for exclusion, and we will continue our work to protect this vital freedom for parents and students.&#8221;
A win for St. Isidore would have struck down a provision of the Oklahoma Charter School Act that expressly forbids religious charter schools and could open the door for more religious charter schools across the country.
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In previous decisions, such as Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and Carson v. Makin, the Supreme Court sided with religious organizations that had been locked out of state programs based on their religious nature. In Carson, the Supreme Court struck down a ban in Maine on vouchers from going toward religious schools.
During oral arguments, several justices on the court&#8217;s conservative wing appeared to side with St. Isidore while the liberal wing signaled strong opposition.
&#8220;You can’t treat religious people and religious institutions and religious speech as second class in the United States,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-conservatives-signal-support-for-public-religious-charter-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, adding that excluding religious schools “seems like rank discrimination.”

Supreme Court Takes On Religious Charter School Case

Split Supreme Court Blocks Christian School From Participating In Charter Program

Oklahoma

Politics

Religious Schools

President Trump quipped about &#8220;forgetting&#8221; the separation of church and state and declared &#8220;we&#8217;re bringing religion back to our country&#8221; during a National Day of Prayer event on Thursday.
&#8220;They said separation of church and state, they told me. I said, let&#8217;s forget about that for one time. We said, really? Separation? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I&#8217;m not sure,&#8221; Trump remarked during the Rose Garden ceremony.
&#8220;But whether there&#8217;s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be, and you&#8217;re representing our country,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-jokes-his-admin-forget-about-separation-church-state-were-bringing-religion-back">told</a> faith leaders at the event, adding, &#8220;We&#8217;re bringing religion back to our country.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump: &#8220;We&#8217;re bringing back religion in our country. And we&#8217;re bringing it back &#8212; as I say &#8212; bigger and better and stronger than ever before.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/TM0Y0rx9gz">pic.twitter.com/TM0Y0rx9gz</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1917995948401193115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump signed an executive order, first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/donald-trump-to-establish-religious-liberty-commission?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=Exclusive&amp;elementPosition=24&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Donald+Trump%E2%80%99s+Next+Executive+Order+Will+Establish+Religious+Liberty+Commission">reported</a> by The Daily Wire, establishing the Religious Liberty Commission to be composed of church clergy, legal experts, and other Trump allies tasked with identifying “threats to domestic religious liberty,” such as attacks on houses of worship and First Amendment violations, and recommending protective actions.
During the Rose Garden ceremony, Trump thanked Paula White, White House senior advisor and leader of the White House Faith Office, for her dedication to religious freedom and emphasized the importance of protecting religious expression in American life.
“Prayer is not a religious act, it’s a national necessity,” <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/01/trump-religious-commission-church-state-00321814">said</a> Paula White, later adding asking God in a prayer to grant the president “wisdom beyond human understanding and capability, and … divine dreams.”
“We call for a spiritual reset in our nation, a return to what is right, a reverence for what is sacred, a real alignment with your divine purpose,” she said.
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, vice chairman of the committee, along with former Housing Secretary Ben Carson, was also present at the event, praising the president: “There’s never been a president who’s invoked the name of Jesus more than you.”
Trump’s latest order builds on Trump&#8217;s previous executive action in February, establishing a &#8220;Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,&#8221; which aimed to address what Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-the-religious-liberty-commission/">described</a> as the Biden administration&#8217;s &#8220;egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.&#8221;
Religious liberty concerns have escalated significantly in recent years, with numerous legal challenges arising across the country involving prayer in schools, religious symbols in public spaces, and faith-based organizations&#8217; hiring practices.
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/establishment-of-the-religious-liberty-commission/">The Religious Liberty Commission</a> is expected to hold its first formal meeting within the next several weeks, with the commission set to &#8220;terminate on July 4, 2026, which marks the 250th anniversary of American Independence, unless extended by the President.&#8221;

Trump Tells Church Leaders ‘We’re Bringing Religion Back’ As New Commission Forms

Executive Orders

White House

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday establishing a Religious Liberty Commission, delivering a win for social conservatives that helped put him in office.
The order will be signed during a National Day of Prayer event in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday, The Daily Wire can first report. The commission, composed of clergy, legal experts, and top allies, will be tasked with producing a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in the United States and threats to it.
It will be led by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Dr. Ben Carson will serve as vice chair. Other committee members will include Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ryan Anderson, Bishop Robert Barron, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Pastor Franklin Graham, Pastor Paula White, Gibson Dunn partner Allyson Ho, and Rabbi Meier Soloveichik.
The commission will focus on six specific areas: parental rights in education, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech, school choice, and &#8220;institutional autonomy,&#8221; according to a White House summary of the order shared with the Daily Wire. That commission will advise the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on executive or legislative actions as well as religious liberty policies.
The move builds on the president&#8217;s promise to protect Americans from threats to religious liberty. Trump has repeatedly pointed to how the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden showed an &#8220;egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.&#8221; In the first weeks of his administration, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eradicating-anti-christian-bias-trump-signs-executive-action-ending-targeting-of-christians">signed an executive order</a> establishing a &#8220;Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias.&#8221;
“The Biden Department of Justice sought to squelch faith in the public square by bringing Federal criminal charges and obtaining in numerous cases multi-year prison sentences against nearly two dozen peaceful pro-life Christians for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities,” Trump’s February order <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/">states</a>.
It continues: “Those convicted included a Catholic priest and 75-year-old grandmother, as well as an 87-year-old woman and a father of 11 children who were arrested 18 months after praying and singing hymns outside an abortion facility in Tennessee as a part of a politically motivated prosecution campaign by the Biden Administration.  I rectified this injustice on January 23, 2025, by issuing pardons in these cases.”
That order notes that “Catholic churches, charities, and pro-life centers sought justice for violence, theft, and arson perpetrated against them, which the Biden Department of Justice largely ignored,&#8221; pointing to the FBI’s 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics, the Biden Education Department’s attempts at repealing religious-liberty protections for faith-based organizations on college campuses, the Biden administration’s declaration that Easter Sunday was “Transgender Day of Visibility&#8221; and more.
“My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” the president&#8217;s order stated. “The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms.  My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”

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Donald Trump’s Next Executive Order Will Establish Religious Liberty Commission

Conservative Supreme Court justices suggested approval for the nation&#8217;s first taxpayer-funded Catholic charter school in a landmark case that could dramatically expand religious freedom in American education.
St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, proposed by two Oklahoma Catholic dioceses, would offer K-12 education with an explicitly religious curriculum as a state-funded charter school.
Hundreds of families have already signed up while the school awaits the resolution of legal challenges, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-mulls-legality-milestone-religious-charter-school-2025-04-30/">according</a> to Reuters.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back against the state&#8217;s exclusion of religion during arguments, stating: &#8220;&#8230; You can&#8217;t treat religious people and religious institutions and religious speech as second class in the United States,&#8221; adding that excluding religious schools &#8220;seems like rank discrimination.&#8221;
Attorney James Campbell, a lawyer for the state&#8217;s charter school board that approved St. Isidore, told Justice Kavanaugh that Oklahoma already permits charter schools with specific themes, noting that only religion seemed to be off limits, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-religious-catholic-charter-school-oklahoma-983ed57aabeae53e4b58367c5021f5e1">reported</a>.
“They’re not asking for special treatment, not asking for favoritism,” Kavanaugh concurred. “They’re just saying, ’Don’t treat us worse because we’re religious.&#8217;”
Chief Justice John Roberts challenged both sides of the argument, and will likely be the swing vote after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself without an explanation. She is a former Notre Dame Law School professor, a major supporter of publicly funded religious charter schools.
&#8220;This does strike me as a much more comprehensive involvement,&#8221; Roberts said, distinguishing it from earlier cases involving &#8220;limited state benefits, such as playground improvements, tuition and tax credits.&#8221;
The court’s three liberal justices were in uniform opposition to the charter school’s creation, with Justice Sotomayor <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2024/24-394_1b72.pdf">saying</a>, “What would you do with a charter school that doesn’t want to teach evolution? Or doesn’t want to teach history, including the history of slavery?”
In the event of a 4-4 tie, the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 6-2 ruling blocking the creation of St. Isidore would be left in place, which deemed the charter school a &#8220;governmental entity&#8221; that would violate constitutional limits on government involvement in religion.
The case has divided Oklahoma Republicans, with Governor Kevin Stitt and the Trump administration backing the school, while Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond opposes it, per Reuters.
If approved, St. Isidore would represent a significant shift in American education by becoming the first publicly funded charter school with an explicitly religious curriculum.
The Supreme Court&#8217;s decision is expected by the end of June.

Supreme Court Conservatives Signal Support For Public Religious Charter Schools

Amy Coney Barrett

Brett Kavanaugh

Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JD Vance</a> said Wednesday that religious freedom would be a top focus of the Trump administration at home and abroad, saying there was “much more to do” to secure religious liberty.
Vance made the comments during a speech at the International Religious Freedom Summit at the Washington Hilton, where he highlighted actions taken during the first Trump administration to advocate for religious freedom, saying the second administration would expand that focus. 
“We remain the world’s largest majority-Christian country and the right to religious freedom is protected by the people for everybody whether you&#8217;re a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or no faith at all,” Vance said. “But religious liberty is not simply, as we all know, about legal safeguards, it is also about fostering a culture in which faith can thrive, so that men and women can fully appreciate and respect the God-given rights of their fellow citizens.”
He said that religion helps people better connect to “the particular,” helping them be more committed to their neighbors and communities.
The conference was attended by 1,500 religious liberty advocates and sponsored by several companies and organizations, including Meta, The Washington Times Foundation, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, and Samaritan’s Purse.
“In China, across Europe, and throughout Africa, and the Middle East, the first Trump administration took critical steps to protect the rights of the faithful, whether that was by rescuing pastors who were persecuted by foreign regimes or bringing relief to Yazidis, Christians, and other faith communities facing genocidal terror from ISIS,” Vance said. 
He then pointed to actions already taken by Trump during his first few weeks in office, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issuing pardons</a> to 23 peaceful pro-life protesters who were targeted by the Biden administration. 
“The president has issued orders to end the weaponization of the federal government against religious Americans, pardon pro-life protesters who were unjustly imprisoned under the last administration, and, importantly, stop the federal censorship used to prevent Americans from speaking their conscience and speaking their mind whether it&#8217;s in their communities or online,” Vance said. 
The VP also praised Trump’s choice to nominate his former senate colleague, Marco Rubio, as Secretary of State, saying he was a “champion” of religious liberty. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom also <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-welcomes-secretary-rubios-confirmation-calls-religious-freedom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> Rubio’s confirmation, saying he would be stronger than his predecessor.

Sean Duffy Sworn In Transportation Secretary

Vance Says Securing Religious Freedom Will Be Top Priority Of Trump Admin

Foreign Policy

JD Vance

Washington D.C.

The vast majority of Americans believe that parents should be able to opt their children out of gender and sexuality-related curricula that violate their religious beliefs, according to a new survey shared with The Daily Wire. 
Data from the <a href="https://becketfund.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Becket Fund</a>’s annual Religious Freedom Index found that 77% of Americans believe parents should be able to opt their children out of curriculum violating their religious beliefs, up from 74% the previous year. Just 23% said they didn’t think parents should be able to opt their kids out for religious reasons. 
“Parents don’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to raising their children,&#8221; Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at Becket told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This year’s Index shows that a vast majority of Americans believe in this commonsense principle and in every parent’s right to excuse their children from classroom lessons that violate their faith.&#8221;
“Our nation is best when we empower parents, not the government, to decide what’s best for their children,&#8221; she added. 
Becket has <a href="https://becketfund.org/case/mahmoud-v-taylor/?_sm_nck=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested</a> the Supreme Court to hear a case featuring a coalition of Maryland parents, including both Christians and Muslims, who want to be able to opt their elementary school-aged students out of instruction on gender and sexuality. The parents argue that the Montgomery County School Board is violating their religious beliefs by forcing children as young as three to read books about transgenderism, pride parades, and preferred pronouns. 
The case is expected to be reviewed at one of the Supreme Court’s upcoming conferences. 
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The responses were gathered after Becket asked survey respondents if they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Parents should be able to opt their children out of public school curriculum on gender and sexuality that violates their religious beliefs or that they believe is not age appropriate.”
The data were shared with The Daily Wire ahead of the publication of Becket&#8217;s Religious Freedom Index, which measures American attitudes toward the First Amendment. This year’s survey featured answers from a representative sample taken from an online poll of 1,000 adults.
In <a href="https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20240116160431/RFI-One-Pager-2023_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous years</a>, the index has asked Americans about their attitudes toward religion in the workplace and whether they think religion can help solve America’s problems. 
Across the country, there is broad support for parents to have increasing control over their children’s education. A recent poll from Parents Defending Education found that 75% of parents do not support teachers providing instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity to elementary school students.

TOPSHOT-THAILAND-POLITICS

EXCLUSIVE: Most Americans Say Parents Should Be Able To Opt Kids Out Of Gender Curriculum

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