The mantra of Indiana state Sen. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) seems to be: “Darn the Constitution, full speed ahead!” When it comes to injecting public schools with official religion, he isn’t going to let the nation’s governing document stand in his way.

Remember Emily Litella?

If you’re into crafts, scrapbooking, home improvement or even building model kits, you might be familiar with Hobby Lobby. The nationwide store chain sells a variety of products for fans of these and other pastimes.

The end of the year is a time for lists. You’re probably seeing a lot of them – “25 Best Books of 2012,” “10 Overlooked Movies,” “What’s Hot and What’s Not” or whatever.

Along those lines, here’s a list of the Top Ten Church-State Stories from 2012 (listed in no particular order):

Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) made a surprising statement this week about a major change he would like to see in schools: more prayer.

Voters in three states – Maine, Maryland and Washington – approved marriage equality at the ballot box last month. Speculation now holds that Illinois may soon join the growing list of jurisdictions that allow same-sex marriage.

Five days before Christmas, the Religious Right delivered a most unwelcome gift to the U.S.

It seems that closed-door negotiations between the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have produced a defense spending bill with a provision that could allow for discrimination against gays, lesbians and other minorities in the military.

This is a truth that we can’t handle.