Free Republic

Endorses Ted Cruz for PresidentHOUSTON, Texas – Presidential candidate Ted Cruz today announced the endorsement of Kelly Shackelford, a top religious liberty litigator and spokesman for more than a quarter century.Kelly Shackelford is the President and CEO of Liberty Institute, one of the nation's largest legal organizations dedicated entirely to defending and restoring religious liberty. He is a constitutional scholar who has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, testified before Congress on constitutional issues, and won three recent landmark First Amendment and religious liberty cases. Texas Lawyer named Shackelford one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter...

<p>OVIEDO — The parents of an Oviedo 5-year-old insist their daughter was stopped from praying over her school lunch last month, but Seminole County Public Schools officials say no one remembers that happening.</p> <p>Marcos Perez posted a video last week on YouTube of his daughter, Gabriella, a kindergartner at Carillon Elementary in Oviedo, saying she was confronted when she bowed her head to pray at lunch.</p>

Imagine hearing this story from your 5-year-old when you ask her how her day was in kindergarten. Kudos to these parents for staying calm and teaching this little girl that she can pray absolutely anywhere she wants.

In San Antonio, where the mayor is rising Democratic star Julian Castro, a broad new anti-discrimination ordinance under consideration may catch opponents of same-sex marriage in its net, in what opponents consider a disturbing infringement on liberty of conscience. The ordinance would prohibit bias toward people on account of sexual orientation. Opponents are concerned that opposition to same-sex marriage or other viewpoints about homosexuality would be considered bias. “If you, for instance, oppose same-sex marriage, that’s going to be interpreted as opposing someone based on sexual orientation,” explains Jeff Mateer, general counsel for the Liberty Institute, an organization that focuses...

“I don’t think, generally, Christians are being persecuted in this country.” So said Barack Obama, during his first run for the White House. The president won’t be able to make that claim this time around. Not after the release this week of the “Survey on Religious Hostility in America,” jointly produced by Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council (the recent target of such religious hostility). Liberty and FRC declare, “Hostility to religious liberty has reached an all-time high, and the attacks are increasing at an unprecedented rate.” Their well-researched survey documents more than 600 cases of bigotry against people...