Georgia’s Baptist governor announced March 28 he would veto a controversial “religious freedom” bill that opponents said would foster LGBT discrimination. Gov. Nathan Deal, a member of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-aligned First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Ga., said he had no…
Online tool tracks ‘faux religious freedom’ claims
By Bob Allen Americans United for Separation of Church and State enumerated five of the year’s worst legislative ideas — so far — in a new online tool tracking “religious freedom” bills in state legislatures and Congress that AU believes are intended…
AU says Christian printer has no ‘religious freedom’ right to discriminate
By Bob Allen A Kentucky printer’s religious beliefs do now entitle him to refuse to make T-shirts for a gay-pride event, Americans United for Separation of Church and State argued in a legal brief filed Dec. 28. The friend-of-the-court brief…
Church/state group says county clerk must issue marriage licenses to gays
By Bob Allen A group that advocates for both the free exercise of religion and separation of church and state says in a brief filed with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Kentucky county clerk must issue marriage…
Lawmaker says longer summer would buoy Ark park tourism
By Bob Allen A Kentucky lawmaker is proposing a bill to postpone the start of the school year in hopes that more students will travel to visit a creationist theme park under construction in his district. State Sen. Damon Thayer…
Church-state group says matrimony sentence out of bounds
By Bob Allen A Texas judge had no right to sentence a man to marriage and court-ordered Bible study, a Washington-based church-state watchdog group said Aug. 10. Americans United for Separation of Church and State attorneys wrote Smith County Judge…
Church/state group attacks ‘bogus’ religious liberty claims
By Bob Allen Americans United for Separation of State unveiled a new initiative July 7 to counter attempts by the Religious Right to conflate religious liberty with the right to discriminate against LGBT Americans. The new Protect Thy Neighbor initiative…
Baptist ministers oppose tax break for ‘Ark Park’
By Bob Allen Four Kentucky taxpayers — two of them Baptist ministers — say giving tourism tax credits to a Christian ministry building an amusement park featuring a life-sized Noah’s Ark would effectively compel them to subsidize a religious ministry against their…
Church-state group urges IRS to investigate Ted Cruz speech at Liberty University
By Bob Allen The head of a watchdog group advocating the separation of church and state says the IRS should investigate whether Liberty University broke the law when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced on campus he is running for president….