From the Liberty Institute: 

Today, in an 8-0 decision, the Texas Supreme Court decided in favor of the Kountze Cheerleaders in the case of Matthews v. Kountze Independent School District.

Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, LLP, Liberty Institute, and Beaumont attorney David Starnes represented the students, asking the Texas Supreme Court to protect the rights of all Texas students to free speech and religious liberty.

(Read the court opinion: http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1284936/140453.pdf)

Kelly Shackelford, President and CEO of Liberty Institute, says, "This is an 8-0 victory for the free speech and religious liberty rights of all Texas students.

"We are delighted that the court considered this case so straightforward that it did not even require oral argument.

"In light of today's Supreme Court ruling, we hope the Court of Appeals will resolve this case permanently in the cheerleaders' favor."

James Ho, lead appellate counsel from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP says, "At a time when religious liberty is under assault nationwide, this ruling is a welcome reminder that the Constitution protects people of faith -- and a welcome rebuke to government agencies that try to play games with our rights.

Prerak Shah, co-lead counsel from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP says, "We are profoundly grateful to the Texas Supreme Court for enforcing our legal rights, and to Senator Cornyn, Senator Cruz, Governor Abbott, and General Paxton for their leadership and for standing with the cheerleaders in their fight to protect the First Amendment."

The case now returns to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth District in Beaumont, Texas.

Background on Case
In 2012, a group of high school cheerleaders from Kountze, TX painted Bible verses on their run-through banners for school football games.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation found out about the banners and filed a complaint with Kountze ISD (KISD).

In response, the school district banned the cheerleaders' signs. KISD claims the banners are government speech, which they can censor at will, while the cheerleaders' attorneys contend that the banners are the cheerleaders' private speech, which is protected under Texas law.

Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, LLP, Liberty Institute, and Beaumont attorney David Starnes represented the students.

The attorneys won a Texas Supreme Court victory that advances the fight for religious liberty in schools.

See Also
Foolish Kentucky School Censors "Charlie Brown" Christmas -- Don't Give in to Christian-Hating Spiritual Terror -- J. Richard Pearcey at Breitbart

Michael W. Chapman reports at CNSNews.com:

In reaction to a political science teacher at evangelical Wheaton College who decided to wear the hijab in solidarity with Muslims and suggested that, "Christians and Muslims worship the same God," Rev. Franklin Graham said this "is no minor issue that should be debated," because "Islam and Christianity clearly do not worship the same God."

"Islam denies that God has a Son. They deny that Jesus is God. They do not believe in a Triune God -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," CNSNews quotes Graham as saying.

"I can tell you -- Islam and Christianity clearly do not worship the same God," Graham said, according to CNSNews.

"How the faculty council can now support this professor being allowed to teach students is deeply concerning."

At the Daily Signal:

A Tennessee father is crediting Chick-fil-A with helping teach his daughter "life lessons" in his viral Facebook post about a store manager’s kindness toward a man in need.

Here's how the post concludes:

According to its corporate website, the fast food chain's purpose is "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A."

The Chick-fil-A website further claims everyone who works at the company is taught to treat "every person who comes through our doors with honor, dignity, and respect."

Read more.

Cathy Burke reports at Newsmax:

Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz are racing down to to the wire in a "too close to call" contest in Iowa for the GOP presidential nomination, with the real estate billionaire at 31 percent support and Texas lawmaker at 29 percent, a new poll shows.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at a distant 13 percent and the rest of the Republican field straggling behind in single digits with just six days left until the state's pivotal caucus voting.

Gov. Jeb Bush languishes at 4 percent, according to Newsmax.

Fox News reports:

A new video released by the ISIS terror group late Sunday shows nine of the extremists who carried out the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris beheading and shooting captives, as well as training with weapons while plotting the carnage that left 130 dead in the French capital.

The 17-minute video shows the extent of the planning that went into the multiple attacks in Paris, which French authorities have said from the beginning was planned in Syria. The video was provided online by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

"The video also contains threats against the United Kingdom, showing images of London landmarks Tower Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral and claiming extremists are ready to strike 'anytime, anywhere'," according to Fox. "At one point, the image of British Prime Minister David Cameron is shown with a crosshair over his face."

"A narrator describes the terrorists as 'nine lions of the caliphate who were mobilised from their lairs to make a whole country, France, get down on its knees," Fox reports.

Read more.

Stephen Brown writes at Frontpagemag.com:

Besides acts of sexual and religious terrorism meant to break down German society, the attacks against the women and the cathedral were also a show of Islamic power. Women and religious minorities can be terrorised by Muslim mobs just like in Islamic countries. Their reach is growing.

But perhaps the most important message the New Year’s Eve events were meant to convey was directed at Muslims living in Germany and the Islamic world. And the message is that Germany cannot protect either its women or its religion. It is weak.

"In fact," Brown writes, "German Christians are so feeble that one of their greatest cathedrals suffered a humiliating attack during a religious service, presided over by one of Germany’s highest churchmen, without consequences.

"And by [Muslim mobs] publicly molesting such large numbers of infidel women so boldly and brazenly without retaliation, German men are shown as equally weak."

Read more.

6ABC.com reports:

A Philadelphia funeral director who was arrested and charged after three decomposing bodies were found in her garage has had her license revoked.

The state Board of Funeral Directors announced Tuesday that Janet Powell Dailey's funeral director and supervisor licenses have been revoked, as was the license for her business Powell Mortuary Services.

The board said in its decision that Dailey "failed to fulfill one of the most fundamental responsibilities that a licensee has, to treat the deceased with dignity and respect."

One of the woman's daughters told 6ABC that her mom "said I want you to know I did nothing wrong. She said it's the media coming after poor, black businesses."

Accomplished and loving woman Jane Stuart Smith died January 14 in Roanoke, Va.

When I met her at L'Abri in Switzerland she was central to the L'Abri community founded by Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

I was 21 years old, enjoyed her table, her writing, her live voice, and recorded music, and have often missed her and what she represents. And look forward to seeing her again.

She was a light upon this earth and will no doubt brighten Heaven as well.

Until next time, Jane Stuart Smith, RIP.

Pamela Geller writes at Breitbart:

The British Parliament on Monday debated whether or not to ban Donald Trump from the country for the crime of saying that in light of jihad terrorist attacks, there should be a temporary moratorium on Muslim immigration into the U.S.

I did not expect for one moment that the Brits would ban the U.S. presidential candidate who may very well be the next President of the United States. A nation whose national self-esteem (or what’s left of it) is rooted deeply in its place in history would be infamous for having banned the leader of its closest ally, the one that saved her from the Nazi onslaught.

"On the other hand," Geller continues, "maybe they will ban Trump. After all, the British government banned me from entering the country for standing up against jihad terror. To ban Trump for calling for a temporary moratorium on Muslim immigration would just be more of the same. The British government, egged on by the left, seems determined to silence any and every voice against jihad terror and Islamization. The consequences for Britain will be catastrophic."

Geller concludes: "What’s bitterly ironic is that Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, a lapdog of Islamic supremacists, has just called on immigrants to learn English within two-and-a-half years of arriving in Britain, or face deportation. If Trump had said that, the British left would be working up another petition denouncing him. Will Cameron be banned from the country?

"The nation that gave the world the Magna Carta is dead."

Nancy and I will be speaking at a conference in the Houston area Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016.

Titled "Christ Culture Conference -- Finding Truth Now," the event will be held at Sienna Ranch Baptist Church in Missouri City, Texas, in the southwest Houston metro area.

Here's the schedule of the conference:

9:00-10:00 am -- Open doors/light refreshments

10:00-11:00 am -- J. Richard Pearcey presents: "Test Everything: What Every Atheist and Christian Needs to Know"

11:15 am-12:15 pm -- Nancy Pearcey presents: "Finding Truth: Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes"

Lunch Break: 12:15-1:15 pm (Lunch is provided by Sienna Ranch)

1:15-2:15 pm -- J. Richard Pearcey presents: "A Nation in Crisis: The Truth About Where We're Headed and What We Can Do About It"

2:30-3:30 pm -- Nancy Pearcey presents: "The Worldview Factor: Finding Sexual Healing in a Secular Age"

3:45-4:30 pm -- Book Signing: Nancy Pearcey available to sign books

Talks subject to change

This conference is free of charge, and there will be a book table.

For more information, please see this announcement from Sienna Ranch Baptist Church.

Raymond Ibrahim writes:

When it comes to the connection between Islam and "anti-infidel" violence, one fact must be embraced: the majority of those in positions of leadership and authority in America are either liars or fools, or both.

Read more.

In his most recent column, Walter E. Williams explains why: 

It is incompetence or dishonesty for my fellow economists to deny these two effects of minimum wages: discrimination against employment of low-skilled labor and the lowering of the cost of racial discrimination.

Read more.

Thomas D. Williams writes at Breitbart:

In a text that is coursing about on social media, professional God-slayer Richard Dawkins begrudgingly admitted that Christianity may actually be our best defense against aberrant forms of religion that threaten the world.

"There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings," Dawkins said. "I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death."

"In a rare moment of candor, Dawkins reluctantly accepted that the teachings of Jesus Christ do not lead to a world of terror, whereas followers of radical Islam perpetrate the very atrocities that he laments," Williams writes.

"Because of this realization, Dawkins wondered aloud whether Christianity might indeed offer an antidote to protect western civilization against jihad," Williams continues.

"I have mixed feelings about the decline of Christianity, in so far as Christianity might be a bulwark against something worse," Williams quotes Dawkins as saying.

Read more.

"Philly mayor Jim Kenney would be the funniest man in the City of Brotherly Love, if the stakes weren't so high," states Frontpage magazine.

Carol Brown writes at American Thinker:

Information continues to emerge on the war zone that erupted in Cologne, Germany, on New Year's eve when thousands of imports from Islamic lands threw bottles and fireworks into crowds and at the police, molested, raped, attacked, robbed, knifed, spit, defecated, urinated, vomited, ranted and raved as they turned an area of a beautiful city into a site of utter barbarism. (Other cities in Germany experienced similar violence on New Year's eve which is only now beginning to be reported.) . . .

One police officer said he hadn't seen anything like it in nearly 30 years and was struck by the high number of migrants and level of disrespect toward police officers. (Medical teams working that night confirmed the mob was comprised of "asylum seekers" and victims also corroborated that perpetrators were "migrants.")

Read more.

Jeffrey Lord writes at American Spectator:

Donald Trump has declared war on political correctness. And suddenly the Washington Post realizes Trump is winning the war.

This is a war that could not be won soon enough. To borrow from one of history’s terms for World War II, the war on political correctness is "the good war."

Why is Trump winning and hit the "proverbial political jackpot"? "Polls show the fury at political correctness goes across the political spectrum and is resented by large numbers of both whites and blacks," Lord writes.

Lord zeroes in on Trump's method: "He takes a subject that has about it 'elephant in the room' qualities -- something that's right there but no one wants to address because it's too sensitive."

And then, "breaking all the PC rules," Trump "turns the spotlight on the elephant -- and everyone gasps in disbelief. What follows next is endless conversation about the elephant -- with Trump leading the way. And winning support as a direct result."

Lord notes that political correctness is a form of totalitarianism "that has descended on all manner of 'ordinary' Americans" who "can see it every day in their own lives -- and they don’t like it. In fact they detest it."

For example, "they read the story of Major Nidal Hassan" (the American Islamic terrorist who murdered 13 and wounded 32 U.S. soldiers at Ft. Hood, Texas, in 2009), and they "understand instantly how all those American soldiers on American soil wound up mass murdered -- because of political correctness."

It's "offensive," you see, to question a person's religion. Feathers were not ruffled. Real-world result: mass murder.

Americans "don't like it," Lord continues. "In fact, with Trump leading the way, they are now in open rebellion against it. Which goes exactly to the Washington Post's amazed realization of just 'Why Trump may be winning the war on 'political correctness'."

"He is winning," Lord concludes. "It's a war that cannot be won soon enough."

Dustin Siggins reports at LifeSiteNews.com:

The Supreme Court's longest-serving justice, Antonin Scalia, says "there is no place" in the U.S. Constitution for privileging secularism over religion.

The idea of banishing religion from the public square is "absurd," said the jurist. . . . "To tell you the truth, there is no place for that in our constitutional tradition. Where did that come from? To be sure, you can't favor one denomination over another but can't favor religion over non-religion?"

"The 1986 Reagan appointee said there is 'nothing wrong' with invoking God in speeches. He also said that God has favored America," Siggins reports.

"God has been very good to us," Siggins quotes Scalia as saying. "That we won the revolution was extraordinary. The Battle of Midway was extraordinary.

"I think one of the reasons God has been good to us is that we have done him honor. Unlike the other countries of the world that do not even invoke his name, we do him honor. In presidential addresses, in Thanksgiving proclamations and in many other ways."

Says Franklin Graham: "I want to strongly urge Christians to run for public office at every level -- local, state, and federal. We will not be endorsing any political candidates, but I will be proclaiming the truth of God's Gospel in every state."

Greg Richter reports at Newsmax:

Some Democrats are losing faith that their presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton can win in a general election fight against Donald Trump, the fierce-tongued GOP front-runner who already has obliterated many of his opponents in his own party.

Early polls indicated Clinton would easily defeat Trump in a November head-to-head matchup, but a more recent Rasmussen poll shows the two in a statistical tie. 

"According to the Washington Times, some of Clinton's supporters still believe she can best a Trump candidacy," Newsmax reports, "but others fear her past provides too much grist for Trump, who already has gone after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, for his past with women, and has said Hillary Clinton is partially to blame for the creation of the Islamic State (ISIS) because of her time as President Barack Obama's secretary of state."