A federal court decision Thursday about a Pennsylvania county’s seal bodes well for religious symbols in public settings throughout the country. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Lehigh County can keep the Latin cross on its seal because it has historical and cultural significance beyond its meaning as a Christian symbol. The 3rd Circuit judges followed a new precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court this summer in the case of the Bladensburg cross, a 40-foot World War I monument in Maryland that a group of atheists wanted taken down.

Divine inspiration isn’t often highlighted in American diplomacy. Yet in his office Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a framed index card with words from Psalm 126: “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” 

Four Wheaton College students are requesting changes to a restrictive speech code affecting Chicago’s popular Millennium Park after the city blocked them from preaching or distributing Christian literature there.

Wayne State University has joined the wave of colleges trying to dictate which students can serve as leaders of campus clubs and ministries.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs updated its policies last week to better protect the religious liberty of U.S. military veterans and their families. The revised rules, effective last Wednesday, assure that religious displays and pastoral care remain accessible and protected from discrimination.

Public libraries, which have long been battlegrounds for First Amendment rights, are at the center of a new fight involving LGBT advocates, community leaders, and concerned parents. Police in Spokane, Wash., arrested a pastor at a protest outside a drag queen story hour at the Spokane Public Library’s South Hill branch last month, igniting another local skirmish over free speech, religious liberty, and sexuality.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decided Friday to delay the implementation of new rules allowing medical workers to claim religious exemptions to performing abortions or other procedures that violate their consciences. The rules require agencies that receive federal funding to comply with about 25 laws codifying protections for religious workers.