UPDATE: Court records show Christopher Alan Riggs has pled guilty. Muskingum County Common Pleas Court records show that on May 14, 2026, Christopher Alan Riggs was arraigned upon a Bill of Information and pled guilty. The docket states that sentencing has been deferred pending a pre-sentence investigation and that the court ordered Riggs to have…

This is the part people need to understand: It will not always be called LifeWise. Sometimes it will be “God Squad.”Sometimes it will be “character.”Sometimes it will be “Bible release time.”Sometimes it will be some sweet little local name that sounds harmless. Different name.Different flyer.Different curriculum.Same basic model: Pull public school children out during the…

LifeWise Academy is not a tiny local Bible club. Ohio workforce data shows LifeWise Academy appearing among top education/training employers posting online job ads in the state…listed alongside universities, hospitals, school districts, community colleges, and major education employers. That should make people look twice. Because the public is repeatedly told these programs are “private,” “local,”…

Yes, we know. Prince of Egypt is a great movie. Killer soundtrack. Beautiful animation. Well researched compared to a lot of religious media… That is not the point. The point is that Christianity has been treated as “normal” in public schools for so long that many people don’t even recognize when it is being centered.…

Lear. Brenner. Williams. Three Ohio politicians who helped drag religion deeper into public schools. Lear and Williams cosponsored HB 8, the bill that became Ohio law and included released-time religious instruction language for public schools. (The Lifewise Bill) Brenner cosponsored it in the Senate, chaired the Senate Education Committee, and helped move it through. HB…

They are trying to launder religious education through the public-school system. That is what the Oklahoma religious charter fight is really about. Everything else is just noise to distract you. A proposed virtual Jewish charter school is trying to become what St. Isidore could not: the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school. Do NOT…

Happy Mother’s Day to the moms and caregivers breaking cycles. To the moms refusing to teach their children that exclusion is normal. To the moms speaking up when public schools blur the line between church and state. To the moms protecting kids who are being singled out, pressured, or made to feel like they do…

This article is a disappointing example of what happens when reporting on released time religious instruction repeats the program’s preferred framing without fully examining the impact on public schools. LifeWise is not simply a feel-good Bible club. It is a rapidly expanding, franchise-style religious program operating during the public school day – and that deserves…

Texas children are hungry. Texas children need food, clothing, school supplies, working technology, safe buildings, teachers, nurses, counselors, and support. But Ken Paxton is not investigating whether children have lunch. He is investigating whether classrooms have the state’s preferred religious poster on the wall. That is OBSCENE. More than 60% of Texas public school students…

LifeWise keeps insisting it is “just optional Bible education.” Then why is LifeWise Christian Academy of Wells County listed in an Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse community plan alongside legitimate public-health, youth-service, and government-linked agencies like Wells County DCS, WIC, Wells County Probation, Community Care of NEI, Family Centered Services, and the YWCA? This…

In case you missed it …. This is what public school complicity looks like. 👀 Former Caldwell High School principal Ben Rutherford is now lobbying Ohio lawmakers to pass HB 531 — the “School Chaplain Act” — using his public school experience as the sales pitch. And the timeline matters. Before Caldwell, Rutherford was Headmaster…

This is what public school complicity looks like. Ben Rutherford is not just a private citizen supporting Ohio’s school chaplain bill. He is a former public school principal using his public-school experience to urge lawmakers to pass HB 531 — the “School Chaplain Act.” And the timeline is hard to ignore. Public-facing materials show Rutherford…

When a public-school-day religious program tells children to be “obedient to the point of death,” parents are allowed to ask questions. Families have every right to teach their children their faith at home, in church, and through private religious instruction. But public schools should not be coordinating access to children during the school day for…

We fully support public schools. We support public school teachers, counselors, staff, and administrators who show up every day for students under increasingly difficult conditions. But support does not mean silence. Public school employees and leaders hold positions of public trust. They have a responsibility to protect every student’s right to attend a school that…

When children are asked what they love most about LifeWise, and the answer is “snacks and prizes,” adults should be paying attention. This is not just “parent choice.” It is a private religious program using the public school day to separate children from their classmates — and then making participation more appealing with treats, rewards,…