By Bob Allen Presidential assistant Melissa Rogers credited the Baptist heritage of defending religious liberty and the separation of church and state with shaping her work as head of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships June 27…
BJC opposes Colorado voucher plan
By Bob Allen The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has joined a lawsuit asking the Colorado Supreme Court to declare a pilot program using taxpayer dollars for private school vouchers unconstitutional. The BJC, a religious-liberty organization that serves 15…
SCOTUS got this one wrong
With all due respect to my blogging colleague, Jonathan Waits and his blog post, the US Supreme Court got the decision wrong about the town of Greece, NY and their ceremonial prayers. How prayers are handled in government sponsored settings…
Supreme Court upholds ceremonial prayer at public meetings
By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 May 5 that overtly Christian prayers at government meetings do not violate the First Amendment’s ban on establishing religion. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the town of Greece,…
Busy year ahead for religious liberty, BJC
By Jeff Brumley In some ways, 2013 was a typical year for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, with legal briefs to file, politicians and Supreme Court justices to sway and religious liberty to defend. In other ways, it was a ground-breaking year…
RFRA needed now more than ever
By Bob Allen A little-known federal law enacted to bolster the rights of religious minorities is less popular but more needed now than when it became law 20 years ago, the head of a broad coalition that worked for passage…
High court debates ‘legislative’ prayer
By Bob Allen A divided U.S. Supreme Court debated Nov. 6 whether explicitly Christian prayers at a New York town board’s meetings violate the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. “What we heard this morning in the courtroom was…
Groups want probe of NYPD surveillance
By Bob Allen The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty joined more than 120 national, state and local organizations in an open letter Oct. 24 urging the Department of Justice to investigate post 9/11 surveillance practices in New York City…
SBC leader defends ‘sectarian’ prayer
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top expert on religious-liberty concerns says the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold a New York town’s practice of opening its city council meetings with sectarian prayer. “A prayer, by definition, isn’t a speech…