Charles C. Haynes

Jan 13, 2025 | freedomforum.org | Charles C. Haynes

Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas have passed laws that test the current limits on how religion is treated in public schools under the establishment clause of the First Amendment. If successful, public schools in some states may soon require posting the Ten Commandments in every classroom, teaching the Bible beginning in elementary school and allowing chaplains into schools to counsel students.

Oct 30, 2024 | deseret.com | Charles C. Haynes

Ellery Schempp knew he could get into trouble. The studious 16-year-old wanted to make a point that a Pennsylvania law mandating a morning religious devotional in his homeroom class violated his First Amendment right to religious freedom. So, on a chilly Monday morning in November 1956, as an Abington High School classmate began reading 10 verses from the King James Bible, Schempp quietly read a copy of the Quran he borrowed from a friend.

Jan 18, 2024 | freedomforum.org | Charles C. Haynes

Religious freedom in the United States is guaranteed by two provisions of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. One, commonly known as the establishment clause, has been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent government from either advancing (that is, establishing) or hindering religion, preferring one religion over others, or favoring religion over nonreligion.

Jun 14, 2023 | freedomforum.org | Charles C. Haynes

The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School will become the first government-funded religious charter school in the United States after a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. If ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, the use of tax money to fully support a religious-based school would radically alter a core First Amendment principle of church-state separation that traces all the way back to the founding of our country.

Feb 19, 2023 | calitreview.com | Roberto Bolaño |Charles C. Haynes

Books In 2008 Roberto Bolaño’s 900-page epic 2666 was published. Appearing out of relative obscurity, Bolaño’s novel was soon being discussed as a potential masterpiece and, perhaps more importantly, sustained steady popularity in the bookshops.