Alabama Senate committee approves religious instruction policy mandate
Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, laughing on April 16, 2025, in the Senate Education Policy Committee meeting in the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. Shelnutt's bill that requires local school boards to adopt a policy on released time religious instruction (RTRI) passed the committee 8-1 on Wednesday. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that would require school boards to adopt policies on whether to allow students to leave school for religious study and give them academic credit for it.
SB 278, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, mirrors HB 342, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, which was rejected by the House Education Committee on April 2. The state already has a law that allows school boards to adopt such policies, known as Released Time Religious Instruction (RTRI). The bill would mandate the development of those policies.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
The committee heard from critics and supporters of the legislation last week.
'The bill is designed to provide local control and flexibility, ensuring a district can implement policies that best suit their needs, while respecting the constitutional rights of students and parents,' Shelnutt said Wednesday.
The senator said the policy could forbid RTRI.
'Yes, local boards have the ability to adopt their own policies,' he said. 'If the policy they implement is super narrow because this does not work in their district in any way, then so be it.'
Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, echoed a concern raised by Dale County Superintendent Ben Baker last week that there is not enough time in the school day for students to leave campus for RTRI. He said religious instruction should happen at home.
'This is kind of boilerplate legislation, in my view. At some point we have to give parents the responsibility we say parents should have in terms of how they go about the process of sharing moral values with their kids,' Hatcher said. 'In fact, I know that it should begin at home.'
Hatcher also questioned the intent of the bill. Although the legislation says that any religious group can participate, Hatcher was concerned about what that would look like and if it would happen.
'I do know that there's a slippery slope to this kind of legislation,' he said. 'I do know that a part of the intent of legislation like this has a great deal to do with this notion of Christian nationalism.'
Sen. Roger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, raised concerns over liability. He said that students could sign up for the program, leave the school and not attend the program.
'We don't have control over them but they're still under us, but we don't have control. That's an hour that is returned outside during the hours of eight to three,' Smitherman said.
Shelnutt said the groups that host RTRI, like LifeWise Ministry, will assume all liability. According to LifeWise's sample curriculum, it teaches the Christian belief that 'God created all things good' to a list of virtues that the nonprofit describes as 'LifeWise qualities.'
At least 30 school board representatives from across the state attended Wednesday's meeting. Sally Smith, executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, said she is disappointed the legislation passed, but would continue to have conversations with lawmakers. Smith has consistently expressed concern and opposition to the bill.
'We think that we just have to have continued conversations with our senators due to local leaders' concerns with this bill,' Smith said in an interview. 'It is in the area of making policy that presents constitutional challenges to local boards of education. So it is not as clearly clean cut as some may think.'
The bill was approved 8-1 with Hatcher as the only member that voted against the bill. Smitherman said he only voted for it to get it out of committee, but that it still needed significant work. Shelnutt said he would work with Smitherman on his concerns.
'I'm going to vote to get the bill out of committee, but I do think that before we move that bill on the floor, that these things have got to be tightened up,' Smitherman said.
The bill moves to the full Senate.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Southern Baptist public policy arm survives challenge to its conservative credentials
DALLAS (AP) — Southern Baptist representatives on Wednesday fended off two efforts to move the staunchly conservative body even more sharply to the right, giving a vote of confidence to its public-policy agency and defeating a proposed constitutional ban on churches with women pastors. The votes came just before the adjournment of the two-day annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination. Church 'messengers' voted 3,744-2,819 to retain their public policy agency, rejecting calls for its abolition from those who allege the entity is tainted by liberal affiliations on immigration issues and who want it to be even more conservative than it already is. The bid to enshrine a ban on churches with women pastors in the SBC constitution received a 3,421-2,191 vote, but that 61% majority fell short of the two-thirds support needed to initiate a constitutional ban. The measures reflect debate only on the degree of conservatism in the SBC. It comes just a day after messengers overwhelmingly endorsed a call to overturn the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalizing same-sex marriage, and any other court and legislative actions with similar results. And it comes in a denomination that officially opposes women pastors, and where the debate is over whether that applies to women in subordinate pastoral roles. The action affirming the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission amounted to a vote of confidence in the public advocacy voice of the nation's largest evangelical body, coming at a time when Christian conservatives have unprecedented influence in Washington. Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida, said he filed the motion to abolish the ERLC with the aim of making it heed member criticisms. Had the measure passed, he argued, it would have given the agency time to enact changes by next year's annual meeting, when its fate would have come up for a final vote. 'But make no mistake, this motion is a wake-up call,' he said. But Richard Land, a former longtime president of the commission, said it would be 'tragic' to silence Baptists' voice in Washington. 'We have more opportunity right now to influence public policy in our nation's capital than we have had in my lifetime,' Land said. 'We have a president who is more sympathetic. … We have more congressmen and senators who are sympathetic to what we as Southern Baptists are trying to do, and to turn back the barbarians at the gate in our culture.' President Donald Trump has created at least three religion-focused entities with a strong evangelical Christian influence, reflecting the overwhelming support he's received from that demographic. Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, presented a slideshow in defense of the organization. It included a photo of him with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Southern Baptist. A day before the vote, an ERLC event championed a Tennessee ban on certain medical treatments for transgender minors that faces a Supreme Court challenge. Abolishing the organization 'means the public square would be abandoned by the SBC, losing a powerful voice for the truth of the Gospel and in effect, rewarding secular efforts to push religion out,' Leatherwood said. What does the ERLC do? While not a lobbying organization, the ERLC has advocated against abortion and transgender rights. It has promoted a strongly pro-Israel stance, a longtime evangelical priority. The commission has also provided ultrasound machines for organizations that seek to dissuade women from having abortions. Leatherwood credited the ERLC with advocating for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which was realized in a 2022 Supreme Court decision ending the nationwide right to an abortion. That was followed by abortion bans in several states. Leatherwood also touted ERLC advocacy for a pending congressional move to defund Planned Parenthood. But some criticism focused on the ERLC's opposition to criminal penalties for women who seek abortions. 'Time after time, they've opposed righteous pro-life legislation that seeks equal justice for the unborn, arguing that those who choose abortion should face no legal consequences,' Ethan Jago, pastor of Five Bridges Church in Panama City, Florida, said in calling for the vote to abolish the commission. Rice contended that 'outside progressive advocacy organizations have financially supported' the commission. But Leatherwood said more than 98% of commission funding comes from the SBC, with the remaining coming Baptist state conventions and individuals. While the ERLC has been criticized for its advocacy on immigration reform, the commission says it has promoted only stances in keeping with official SBC resolutions calling for both the rule of law and respect for human dignity. Women in pastoral roles debated The proposal on women pastors was a rerun of recent years' meetings. A similar proposal received two-thirds of votes in 2023, but fell just short of the necessary supermajority in 2024. Wednesday's vote sought to restart the process. The denomination's official statement of belief, the Baptist Faith and Message, reserves the role of pastor to men. Southern Baptist churches are self-governing. But the convention can kick them out if deemed not in 'friendly cooperation,' based in part on how closely they adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message on issues such as women pastors. But there remain disagreements over whether the faith statement applies only to women as a senior pastor or similar role, or whether it applies to ministry assistants with the title of pastor. In recent years, the convention began purging churches that either had women as lead pastors or asserted that they could serve that role. That included one of its largest congregations, California's Saddleback Church. But when an SBC committee this year retained a South Carolina megachurch with a woman on its pastoral staff, some argued this proved the need for a constitutional amendment. The church later quit the denomination of its own accord. Other ERLC-related controversies Criticism has long dogged the ERLC. After Leatherwood last year commended former President Joe Biden — who is deeply unpopular among religious conservatives — for withdrawing his reelection bid, the then-chairman of the commission announced his firing. However, the commission retracted that announcement and the chairman resigned when it became clear that its board's executive committee hadn't agreed to that. Instead, the board gave Leatherwood a strong vote of confidence along with a warning against stirring unnecessary controversy. A previous commission president drew fire for his harsh criticisms of pro-Trump pastors in 2016. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
More Americans see increased influence from religion in US: Gallup
More Americans said they see an increased influence from religion in the U.S., according to a new Gallup poll. The Wednesday poll found that 34 percent of respondents said they believe 'religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life,' up 14 points from May 2024. In December, 35 percent said the same about religion, one point higher than the recent Gallup poll. Back in April, President Trump pledged that 'religion is coming back to America' after kicking off his first White House Easter Egg Roll since coming back to office 'We're bringing religion back in America. We're bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America. That's why you see the kind of numbers that you see, the spirit and the kind of numbers that you see,' the president said in April. In Wednesday's Gallup poll, 59 percent of respondents said they believe religion's influence is dropping, down 2 points from December. Two percent also said religion's influence is the 'same' while 5 percent had 'no opinion.' In February, a Pew Research Center survey found that a decline in the number of Americans who identify as Christian appeared to be slowing down following years of losses. The Gallup poll took place from May 1 to 18, featuring 1,003 people and plus or minus 4 percentage points as a margin of sampling error. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man detained by ICE was already scheduled to leave, advocates say
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids immigration advocates are seeking the release of a man who they say was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement only days before he was scheduled to leave the country. Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE say Carlos Menjivar is at the Calhoun County Correctional Facility, which is an ICE holding facility. ICE did not immediately confirm that to News 8 Wednesday. The advocacy groups say Menjivar was detained June 4 when he went for what they called a 'routine check-in' at the office for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program on Michigan Street NE near College Avenue in Grand Rapids. ISAP is an ICE program in which people are under supervision while their immigration cases make their way through the system, which can take years. Through it, contracted case managers can keep ICE agents up to date on cases and whether people are abiding by the conditions of their release, explains. '(Menjivar) was asked to come to this ISAP office with his paperwork, so his passport, and approve of them leaving (the United States). They had agreed, actually verbally agreed, with the ISAP office to departure this Saturday,' Movimiento Cosecha organizer Gema Lowe said at a Wednesday news conference. She said ISAP workers were supposed to check the paperwork and plane tickets for their return to Menjivar's native El Salvador. Instead, she said, he was 'arbitrarily' detained and ICE now has his and his family's passports. 'This family, they have been compliant to everything Immigration has asked them since they came to this country as refugees in 2017,' Lowe said. She argued that asking Menjivar to report to the ISAP office was a 'trap.' At the news conference, one of Menjivar's children held a sign that read, 'Te amamos, Papa,' or 'We love you, Dad,' in Spanish. ICE did not immediately provide answers after Target 8 sought information about Menjivar's status and details about how frequently people are detained at ISAP check-ins. GR Rapid Response to ICE organizer Jeff Smith suggested between eight and 10 people were detained at the ISAP office June 4. It was unclear how he reached that count. ICE has not provided any information. Immigration advocates went to the ISAP office that day and Grand Rapids police were called to ask them to leave. Smith said everyone who went to an ISAP appointment after the advocates arrived was allowed to leave as expected. Smith said the group is now offering to send advocates with people when they have appointments. Smith said advocates are calling for Menjivar to be released in time for the family's scheduled departure Saturday, that the passports be returned to the family for that travel and that ICE documentation note he left voluntarily. They have also asked U.S. senators and representatives to intervene. In the meantime, Menjivar's wife and three children are seeking sanctuary at Fountain Street Church, a nondenominational Christian church in downtown Grand Rapids, the advocates say. 'When the residents of our community are under attack or under threat, our doors are open to provide shelter and sanctuary,' Rev. Nathan Dannison, the pastor at Fountain Street Church, said. 'Our beliefs here at Fountain Street compel us to act.' Smith called on other Grand Rapids faith organizations to offer themselves up as sanctuaries. 'We're asking the public to see what's happening. This is the faces that they are brave enough to show and say, 'We're here,'' Lowe said. 'Even though they did they did everything they were asked to, they've still been separated. It's structural violence.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
