A U.S. District Judge has dismissed a female professor's claims
that she was fired unlawfully from Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary's School of Theology. Leaders at the
seminary maintain that women should not have authority over men,
referencing an epistle in the Bible where Paul states: "I permit
no woman to teach or have authority over a man" (1 Timothy
2:12). The professor, Sheri Klouda, says she is not surprised by
the judge's ruling: "Generally speaking, federal courts try to
avoid becoming entangled in matters dealing with religious
institutions." The problem is that although there are anti-
gender discrimination laws, religious institutions can protect
their practices, even if they are discriminatory with regards to
women. Of course the real question is, if this case involved
another religious institution and not the largest Protestant
denomination in the U.S. (and the religion of our President—and
Britney!), would the outcome, and media attention, have been
different? [CBS News]