Religion news around the world

Measure would lift religious garb ban

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon legislative leader plans to introduce a bill to repeal a 1923 state law that bans teachers from wearing religious garb.

House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, said he will push to "allow teachers to have the same religious free exercise rights as every other Oregonian" when legislators meet in February.

Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and state schools Superintendent Susan Castillo, who recently sent letters to every lawmaker asking them to drop the ban, also support such a proposal.

The Legislature passed a law this year allowing all workers except teachers to wear religious dress at work in most instances. Its passage led to questions about why the law remains on the books, given that Oregon is one of only three states with such a ban.

The law, which was aimed at keeping Catholics out of public schools, has not been tested in court since the Eugene School District won a 1986 Oregon Supreme Court case that upheld its firing of a Sikh teacher for wearing a turban.

Idaho to pursue Bible investigation

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Attorney General's Office has told officials at a charter school the state won't back down from pursuing information about the school's possible use of the Bible and other religious texts.

Nampa Classical Academy is defying an order from the Idaho Public Charter School Commission to turn over the data. An Arizona-based religious liberty group that is defending the school threatened in a letter to sue the commission if it continues to seek the information.

The school drew attention last summer when school officials said they planned to use the Bible as a primary source of teaching material, but not to teach religion. The commission told the academy it couldn't use the Bible as an instructional text.

ACLU sues to allow anti-Islamic shirts

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a north Florida school district, claiming that the Alachua County School District violated students' rights by not allowing them to wear T-shirts with an anti-Islamic message.

The civil rights organization says that while it doesn't agree with the "Islam is of the Devil" message printed on T-shirts distributed by the Dove World Outreach Center, it does support the students' constitutional right to freedom of speech.