Category: Indiana Writers Group

For the use of the membership only; not for duplication, distribution or quotation without permission of the author. by Tom Charles Huston Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) articulates the Democratic case against the religious-freedom statute in a temperate and reasoned Facebook post while professing his own commitment to defending “anyone’s right to their belief and any…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Let’s start with a riddle: What federal legislation was popular 20 years ago but created a firestorm when Indiana passed a similar law last week? If you’ve been paying attention to any media, the answer is obvious: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Agitation and confusion over the law’s intent may…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. Gallons of ink have been spilled over the problems of higher education — and rightfully so. Colleges and universities have been given the task of remedying all kinds of problems from income inequality to cancer. Too often collegiate administrators and their in-house publicists have encouraged the view that higher education is…

For the use of the membership only; not for duplication, distribution or quotation without permission of the author. by Tom Charles Huston When the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was pending before Congress in 1993, the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that passage of the measure was “the most important action that Congress can take for…

by ANDREA NEAL After almost two years on the State Board of Education, I’ve reached a conclusion that shatters previous notions I had about federalism and local control of schools. Hoosiers don’t determine education policy in Indiana. The federal government does. Whether through the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) or its companion waiver program…

For the use of the membership only; not for duplication, distribution or quotation without permission of the author. by Tom Charles Huston I am astonished at the fury the gay lobby has succeeded in unleashing with respect to legislation that is likely to have little practical impact on gays. This success should be a bell…

by Joy Pullmann Indiana’s current debate over government’s role in education mirrors the national debate, which has resurfaced as Congress considers bills to rewrite No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the central federal-education law. Republican leaders in Congress had to pull a vote on one of those rewrites for lack of conservative votes after constituents peppered…

A Procrustean bed: a scheme or pattern into which someone is arbitrarily forced by either stretching or cutting. WE HAVE REACHED a point in Indiana’s public discussion in which a citizen who decides between the proffered options faces a dreadful ordeal. The liberal gentry of Indianapolis, both Republican and Democrat, is fine with this. Its…

by Andrea Neal Not much has changed since the first Indiana State Fair in October 1852. Farmers showed off their finest specimens of cows, hogs, horses and chickens. A “Mechanics Hall” displayed the newest reapers and plows. Corn growers competed for a silver cup for the heartiest ears. And right outside the main entrance, a…

by John Tatom, Ph.D. Two separate reports dated March 4, 2015, by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) on the Michael Brown killing and on the Ferguson, Mo., police and courts set new, but mixed, benchmarks for what happened. While the DOJ could find no reason to question Officer Darren Wilson’s account of the shooting of…