RELIGION HEADLINES THR 6-25

(SRNN NEWS)

(  )  U.S. charitable giving rose three percent last year, surpassing 600 billion dollars for the first time.  The 617 billion that Americans gave to churches, ministries and all other non-profits was the second-highest ever in inflation-adjusted terms, but it fell short of the record set in 2021.  This growth in giving was slightly faster than the long-term annual average of 2.7 percent, thanks to the nation’s relatively strong economy.  A closer look at the numbers shows a particular increase in charitable bequests.  Those are gifts to causes that happen after someone dies.  They represented about 10 percent of all U.S. giving in 2025.

(  )  The Supreme Court has barred a former Louisiana inmate from suing prison officials who cut his dreadlocks in violation of his religious beliefs.  The justices ruled against Damon Landor, who is a Rastafarian, holding that a federal law designed to protect inmates’ religious rights does not permit lawsuits for money damages.  The high court agreed with lower courts that had ruled the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act can’t be used to hold those who violate inmates’ rights financially responsible. The justices declined to adopt the rationale from a 2020 decision that allowed Muslim men to sue under a sister statute.

(  )  The Egyptian courts have sentenced a Christian to five years at hard labor for posting videos on YouTube that compare the beliefs of Christianity with those of Islam.  Augustinos Saman was found guilty of “contempt of religion and misuse of social media”.  The case illustrates the plight of Christians in Egypt where they make up just 10 percent of the population.  While the Egyptian government rarely appears on any list of the worst persecutors in the world, it still places restrictions on the religious freedom and free expression of anyone who is not a Muslim.  Dozens of other members of minority faith groups have been jailed.

(  )  The Trump administration has launched an anti-Semitism investigation of the nation’s largest teachers union.  The National Education Association is facing accusations of discrimination by some of its Jewish members.  They say they were subjected to harassment and physical intimidation by other NEA members at the organization’s annual convention last year.  A number of Jewish teachers say other NEA members allegedly cheered the mention of an attack on Jews in Colorado in 2025.  Other charges concern a union handbook for Indigenous People’s Day that included a map of the Middle East in which Israel was labeled “Palestine”.  Another handbook mentioned the Holocaust but failed to state that Jews were its primary victims.

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