Anti-Muslim legislation and policies violate the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that government remain neutral in matters of religion, said Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Tyler offered the perspective during a May 13 House Judiciary subcommittee…
Six-state tour seeks to empower opponents of Christian nationalism
A faith-based advocacy network has launched a tour of six red states where overwhelmed activists need encouragement and support in opposing Christian nationalism. What the pro-democracy movements in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Texas don’t need, however, is any…
Christian schools endangered by new Trump rule
The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that could devastate Christian higher education by tying student loans to the earning potential of degree programs. The earnings metric would require recipients of undergraduate degrees to earn more in median income…
Who has the hardest time immigrating to America?
Nationals from 10 African countries face the steepest barriers to entering the U.S. for business, study, tourism or residency, according to a new study by a Florida law firm specializing in immigration. Senegal, Burundi and Nigeria are at the top…
SPLC pleads not guilty to feds’ fraud charges
The Southern Poverty Law Center pleaded not guilty to 11 fraud-related charges and is tentatively set to face trial Oct. 5 in an Alabama federal court. SPLC Interim President Bryan Fair entered the plea May 7 to the indictment handed…
Dream for America offers alternative to TPUSA
An organization created to organize liberal high school and college students against Turning Point USA is steadily gaining ground on U.S. campuses. And the task is an urgent one, said William He, the 19-year-old CEO of Dream for America, an…
What’s the status of ICE and ‘sensitive locations’? Confusing
A federal judge refused to block immigration actions near Minnesota schools while other courts consider Trump administration appeals to rulings in other lawsuits against raids at or near sensitive locations. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship alerted partner congregations this week that…
Louisiana bill would criminalize homelessness
Legislation moving through the Louisiana Senate would punish unhoused people with fines, incarceration, forced labor and compulsory treatment they would have to pay for themselves. House Bill 211 would “create the crime of unauthorized camping on public property” punishable with…
Death penalty abolitionists at work in Ohio and Tennessee
Death penalty abolitionists in Ohio and Tennessee are hard at work trying to prevent the executions of Death Row inmates in those states. More than 500 faith leaders signed a May 4 letter to the Ohio General Assembly pleading with…
Lawsuit alleges Trump created intentional trap for immigrants
The Trump administration is now preventing detained immigrants from submitting photos, fingerprints and other biometric measures because without that information immigration cases are automatically denied. In response, a group of noncitizen detainees has filed a federal class-action lawsuit in the…
Young King tells MLK’s backstory
Superhero films often demonstrate the importance of origin stories in showing how people and experiences shaped a given character, Stanford University scholar Lerone A. Martin said. Martin made the point to illustrate his motivation for writing his newly released book,…
Experts say anti-Christian bias task force report is full of bias
A new Justice Department report accusing President Joe Biden of discriminating against Christians is “absurd” on multiple levels, said Melissa Rogers, who led faith-based initiatives under the former administration. The April 30 study, “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias within the Federal Government,”…