The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped the constitutional question May 16 of whether Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate substantially burdens the rights of certain faith-based organizations to exercise their religion, sending seven cases back to lower courts after both sides conceded there may…
Legislation would bar religious discrimination in immigration
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty joined 30 other religious and religious-liberty organizations in a broad coalition urging passage of legislation making it illegal for Donald Trump, if elected president, to bar Muslim immigration. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) unveiled the…
BJC offers timely answers to questions about religious liberty
A new one-page resource advocates a “golden rule” for religious liberty. “Do not ask government to promote your religion if you don’t want government to promote somebody else’s religion; and do not permit government to hinder somebody else’s religion if…
BJC, others, oppose discrimination by federal contractors
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty was among 42 religious, education, civil rights, labor and women’s organizations opposing an amendment to a defense policy bill that would exempt religious organizations from a 2014 executive order by President Obama barring…
A nation devoted to religious freedom, struggling to define it, state by state
Not all efforts to protect religious liberty are futile or misguided. Here’s how you can fairly evaluate religious liberty needs and understand proposed legislation.
Group files new challenge to clergy tax break
The Freedom From Religion Foundation once again has filed a lawsuit claiming the IRS ministerial housing allowance is unconstitutional. The Wisconsin-based group that advocates separation of church and state from a secularist position sued April 6 in federal court. It…
What’s driving religious freedom debate in the U.S.? Fear, say some.
It was just about a year ago when Baptist writer and minister Corey Fields wrote a column critiquing a spate of “religious freedom” bills pushed through statehouses around the country. Indiana’s version was one of the more high-profile measures. It…
Little Sisters get day in court
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments March 23 in combined cases to decide whether mandatory coverage of contraceptives under Obamacare violates the religious liberty of faith-based organizations that serve the public and hire non-adherents as employees. Charities including several…
BJC’s Brent Walker urges vote on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee
A Baptist church-state expert welcomed President Obama’s March 16 announcement of a nominee for a Supreme Court seat vacated by the death last month of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. In a Rose Garden ceremony Wednesday morning, the president announced his…