The power of advocacy for just causes is grassroots — it grows from the ground up, a pair of nonprofit leaders stressed during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Atlanta June 30. Cassandra Henderson, executive director of the Interfaith…
Religious freedom has been ‘white too long,’ BJC speakers declare
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and its new Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation are urgently needed to counter the white supremacy menacing religious liberty for all in the United States, scholar and Baptist minister Adam Bond said. They…
Supreme Court says evangelical web designer doesn’t have to serve same-sex couples
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Lorie Smith, an evangelical graphic artist who says she wants to create wedding websites and is “willing to work with all people” but not same-sex couples. Her free-speech case was based…
High court unanimously seeks a compromise on religious accommodation in the workplace
In a rare unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court June 29 found a compromise on a thorny religious liberty claim: What constitutes “undue hardship” on an employer required to accommodate a worker’s religious practices? Rather than unwinding legal precedent —…
Oklahoma’s OK for nation’s first religious charter school to be challenged in court
Legal, political and faith-based opposition is mounting against Oklahoma’s action clearing the way for the nation’s first religious charter school. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State announced preparations are under way for legal action after the Oklahoma…
The Respect for Marriage Act helped de-escalate the culture wars
Editor’s note: This is the fourth opinion piece in a new series on religious liberty authored by BJC Fellows and made possible by a grant from the Prichard Family Foundation. For years, media narratives have cast religious freedom advocates…
Shurden Lecture takes on the ‘myth of American chosenness’
Modern American Christian nationalists stand apart from their predecessors who at least claimed some degree of respect for religious freedom and other values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, a religion scholar said. Catherine Brekus, professor of the history of religion…
U.S. Department of Education issues guidance on religious expression in schools
“Although a government may not promote or favor religion or coerce the consciences of students, schools also may not discriminate against private religious expression by students, teachers or other employees,” according to new guidance issued by the U.S. Department of…
Ten Commandments bill dies in Texas Legislature
A controversial effort to require posting the Ten Commandments in all Texas public school classrooms has died for this session. Senate Bill 1515 passed through the Texas Senate on party-line votes but was among dozens of bills that didn’t get a…