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Tag: Religious freedom

Faith and Free Speech Prevail in Colorado Student’s Parking Space Battle
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Fox News, Approved, Local

Faith and Free Speech Prevail in Colorado Student’s Parking Space Battle

By: Kristine Parks | Fox News Sophia Shumaker's shepherd and sheep design initially rejected under religious imagery ban A Colorado high school student who challenged her school's ban on religious designs for senior parking spaces will now be allowed to repaint her space to reflect her Christian faith. In August, Sophia Shumaker, a senior at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs' Academy School District 20, requested permission to decorate her paid parking space with a design illustrating Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep. The school has a tradition of allowing seniors to reserve and pay for their own parking space and decorate it with school-approved artwork. Shumaker’s design featured a shepherd, a staff and sheep, along with a reference to the Bible verse 1 Cor...
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From stomachache to ideology: How Colorado’s “Right to Know” built a hospital compliance registry
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From stomachache to ideology: How Colorado’s “Right to Know” built a hospital compliance registry

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Just after midnight, an 18-year-old Colorado woman—identified here as “Clarity” to protect her identity—went to the ER, hoping the pain was only a severe case of gastritis. She’s a recent high-school graduate now working for a Colorado nonprofit and was granted anonymity by RMV. When Clarity was finally told she could leave, someone brought over an iPad and said she needed to finish a few discharge questions before going home. On the screen was Colorado’s Patients’ Right to Know Act Service Availability Form—pages of items about gender-affirming care, abortion services and end-of-life options. “She was yelling at us over Zoom, saying, ‘Do you understand that you have access to these services and you’re knowingly denying them?’” Clarity ...
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School District Faces Backlash After Banning Bible Verse in Student Artwork
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BizPac Review, Approved, Local

School District Faces Backlash After Banning Bible Verse in Student Artwork

By: Chris Donaldson | BizPac Review A Colorado high school set off a free speech battle after it refused to allow a Christian senior to use religious imagery to decorate her personal parking spot in what she says is a violation of her First Amendment rights. Sophia Shumaker was only looking to express her faith when she submitted her original design depicting a shepherd, a sheep, and a Bible verse to Rampart High School, only to have it denied because the school’s guidelines prohibit anything that is “offensive, negative, rude, gang-related, political, or religious.” “The shepherd and the sheep, the 99 sheep basically represent the shepherd leaves the 99 sheep to go find the lost one,” she told Fox 21 News. https://twitter.com/FOX21News/status/1981405727550763392 ...
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Supreme Court case claims Colorado’s conversion therapy ban erases gay identity, silences counselors
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Supreme Court case claims Colorado’s conversion therapy ban erases gay identity, silences counselors

By Mia Cathell | Washington Examiner A controversial Supreme Court case challenging a ban on so-called conversion therapy, as it pertains to treating transgender children, is attracting unlikely allies. At issue in Chiles v. Salazar, soon to be argued before the Supreme Court, is whether a Colorado law prohibiting “conversion therapy” for pediatric patients unconstitutionally restricts a counselor’s free speech rights, via viewpoint discrimination, when that therapist wants to counsel children experiencing gender dysphoria toward embracing their biological sex. A number of traditionally progressive third parties are siding with the plaintiff, Kaley Chiles, a licensed Christian counselor who nudges clients to “live consistently with God’s design.”...
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CU Boulder Condemns Anti-Mormon Chant at BYU Game
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

CU Boulder Condemns Anti-Mormon Chant at BYU Game

By Micah Smith | Denver7 According to community members who attended the Colorado vs. BYU football game, several students chanted “f*** the Mormons” BOULDER, Colo. – On Sunday, the University of Colorado Boulder chancellor and athletic director released a joint statement condemning a student chant that targeted Mormons during CU Boulder’s football game against Brigham Young University (BYU). According to community members who attended the game, several students chanted “F*** the Mormons” and said other hateful statements throughout the game. In their statement, Chancellor Justin Schwartz and Athletic Director Rick George said: The University of Colorado Boulder strongly condemns the use of expletives and religious slurs by individuals in the stands during the recent football...
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Prove him right: The American Idea is worth fighting for
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Think Again USA, Approved, Commentary, National

Prove him right: The American Idea is worth fighting for

By Melanie Sturm | Commentary, Think Again USA Substack Can we restore the American Idea — for our children and our humanity? When Talking Stops I’m glad I waited to watch Charlie Kirk’s memorial before finishing this post. For days I struggled to write — distracted by the “he-had-it-coming” justifications of his murder, and by the claim that finding common ground is no longer possible. But I refuse to accept that. This essay is my attempt to prove why — and to enlist you in restoring dialogue at a moment when America desperately needs it. They say grief comes in waves. This summer I lost two dear friends far too soon, and then came the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old husband and father of two. Though we were only acquaintances, the footage replaying on my f...
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How early Christians stood against Rome, Part 2
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

How early Christians stood against Rome, Part 2

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s note: Douglas County resident Russ Minary first wrote this devotional in 2013 and felt prompted to share it now, in a season when revival is stirring across communities. This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read Part 1 here. Every spiritual movement takes place in a practical way, from person to person, in the real world. Miracles did take place, the faith spread, and the church grew, for a few reasons which I provide here. Please note that this is entirely conjecture, but I believe that it aligns with Scripture and historical fact, and the context of the times in which it took place.   Here are nine principles that were used by the early church to survive and thrive in a world that was openly hostile to th...
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The fruit of true martyrdom: What Stephen, Bonhoeffer and Kirk reveal
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The fruit of true martyrdom: What Stephen, Bonhoeffer and Kirk reveal

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Undercurrent Substack The Test of True Martyrdom Is in the Fruit It Bears Martyrdom is a word thrown around with reckless ease. In our political and cultural vocabulary, anyone who dies for a cause is immediately baptized as a martyr. But that is a sloppy use of a sacred word. There is a difference — a decisive one — between dying for an idea and dying for Christ. And the difference shows itself in the fruit. The first Christian martyr, Stephen, wasn't executed for a partisan position or a social grievance. He was stoned because he would not soften the charge that the religious elite had betrayed and murdered the "Righteous One." He looked up to heaven and declared that he saw Christ standing at the right hand of God. His sermon enraged the Sanh...
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How early Christians stood against Rome, Part 1
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

How early Christians stood against Rome, Part 1

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s note: After reading a recent RMV article and interview with Chris Goble, Douglas County resident Russ Minary was reminded of a devotional he first wrote in 2013 for the pastor of a large Colorado congregation. With revival on many hearts today, he is sharing it with Rocky Mountain Voice readers. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Read Part 2 here. “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in t...
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Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a shot heard around the world—sparking revival
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a shot heard around the world—sparking revival

By Scott Shamblin | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 19th, 1775 the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord sparked the American Revolutionary War. Commonly referred to as the "Shot heard round the world," ultimately leading to the birth of the United States on July 4th, 1776, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776. The men who wrote the declaration knew that ultimately this would mean they'd be hunted by the tyrant, King George III. Yet they accepted this fact with extreme courage. This act of treason against the royal crown was for the sake of freedom. They wanted to be able to practice Christianity, without the King's control. The historian David McCullough during a speech in 2005 stated that "At the time of the Revol...
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