The 3 - September 28, 2025

A high school in Florida, West Orange High School in the Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) district, had implemented a "Witchy Wednesday" series, which, according to Liberty Counsel, "was aired during mid-week morning announcements, was produced by students providing 'religious instruction' on spells, magic, moon worship, and other witchcraft rituals."

There was no opt-out provision, and Liberty Counsel, according to its website, sent a demand letter to the school district.  Its website states:

Liberty Counsel had cautioned the school district against making the instruction mandatory and that some students with sincere Christian religious beliefs would not be able to endorse this religious instruction nor would be able to sit through it. According to recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which ruled parents have the right to opt their children out of instruction that undermines their religious beliefs, schools must provide opt outs to “Witchy Wednesday” if parents and students wish to abstain.

The school district instructed the school to discontinue the practice; Liberty Counsel said: "the school district acknowledged that having certain speech on the school’s morning announcements could potentially violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. OCPS also noted that it did not want any student, whether religious or non-religious, to feel like 'outsiders' or that they were not full members of the school’s community."

In the aftermath of the shooting death of Charlie Kirk and the response to it, there has been debate and discussion over the issue of free speech.  National Religious Broadcasters, to which Faith Radio belongs, posted an article on its website, including statements from organization leaders, re-affirming NRB's commitment to free speech and urging the Federal Communications Commission to protect freedom of speech.

Troy Miller, President and CEO of NRB, related: "The strength of our democratic republic lies in its openness to diverse voices in the public square, and the government is responsible for allowing space for civil disagreement. When one voice is suppressed, all voices are at risk. If viewpoint-based suppression can be directed at mainstream broadcasters today, it could be directed at faith-based broadcasters tomorrow.”

Michael Farris, General Counsel for NRB, stated: "Ultimately, it is the FCC’s job to ensure that ‘broadcasting in the public interest’ is defined in a way consistent with the First Amendment. Imbalance alone should never serve as grounds for silencing a broadcaster. If that were the standard, Christian radio and television would be at risk, as they rightly take strong positions without providing equal time to opposing viewpoints. The role of government is to safeguard speech, not restrict it.”

The NRB article noted: "NRB affirms its commitment to working constructively with the FCC to ensure regulations are applied fairly and without political bias. NRB encourages the FCC to uphold its standards consistently for all broadcasters and communicators."

For years, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention has been chastised for its association with a consortium of organizations who claim to hold a Christian perspective on matters of immigration.  It's called the Evangelical Immigration Table, which is associated with the National Immigration Forum, which receives funding from notable progressive George Soros.

The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, fresh off the departure of its former President Brent Leatherwood, who replaced Russell Moore in that position, has now announced it will be withdrawing from the EIT.  A recent Baptist Press article stated:

Acting President Miles Mullin told trustees that executive leadership decided to break ties with the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) earlier this month.

“We feel we need to take a more independent posture on our immigration-related work,” Mullin told trustees.

Pointing to numerous immigration-related resolutions passed by Southern Baptists over the years, Mullin called the issue “a priority for the ERLC because immigration policy has been a priority for Southern Baptists.”

The article quotes Mullin as stating that the commission will "no longer have any formal relationship with EIT..."  At its recent trustees meeting, former Alabama Baptist pastor and South Carolina executive director Gary Hollingsworth was named Interim President.