November 2016 Church & State - November 2015

U.S. Education Department To Monitor Religious Bias

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The U.S. Department of Education will begin collecting data this year to track religiously motivated discrimination and bullying allegations from students.

“Students of all religions should feel safe, welcome and valued in our nation’s schools,” Catherine E. Lhamon, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said in an announcement.

The Washington Post reported that many students who are Muslim or perceived to be Muslim have experienced bullying or bias in public schools. However, the Education Department’s initiative will protect all students, Christian, Jewish, atheist, etc. from bullying and harassment.

The decision was met with approval by the Muslim community.

“It [harassment] is creating a kind of toxic learning environment in which these students feel like they are under attack because of their faith,” Ibrahim Hooper, a spokes­man for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Post.

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


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