By Executive Director J. Brent Walker School is out, and summer vacation is here! Congratulations to our graduates – not just high school, college, seminary and graduate school but, nowadays, all the way down the line. My five-year-old grandson even…
Exploring the church-state side of the same-sex marriage cases
By Executive Director J. Brent Walker When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the same-sex marriage cases, the justices did not invite briefs on religious liberty. In its writ of certiorari granting review, the Court framed the issues to…
Ten commandments for campaigns
By Executive Director J. Brent Walker The 2016 election season began in March when Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced his candidacy for president of the United States at Liberty University’s convocation in Lynchburg, Virginia.
BJC releases statement on RFRA legislation in Indiana and Arkansas
By Bob Allen The head of a Baptist group that specializes in religious liberty said today he does not support controversial bills pitting religious conservatives against supporters of gay marriage in Arkansas and Indiana. J. Brent Walker, executive director of…
Do states need religious freedom legislation?
By Executive Director J. Brent Walker Click here to read Walker’s April 1 statement on Indiana and Arkansas RFRAs. Recently, state legislatures across the country have been making headlines for considering variously-named religious freedom bills. The proposed legislation currently attracting…
Exploring RFRA in light of Hobby Lobby’s narrow victory
By Holly Hollman and Brent Walker The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in the consolidated cases of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell has generated more interest in religious-liberty law than any other…
OPINION: A both/and solution to the contraceptive coverage question
Jonathan Waits unfairly criticizes me and the Baptist Joint Committee for not vigorously opposing what he considers to be religious liberty violations in connection with the implementation of the new health care law. Let me set the record straight. The…
OPINION: Signs we’re taking ‘no religious test’ seriously
The upcoming election will be an important one and certainly historic in at least one sense. In the 223 years of our republic, this will be the first time that no white Anglo-Saxon Protestant will appear on either ticket of…
OPINION: Jeffress flap illustrates wisdom of ‘no religious test’
One would think we Americans would have learned our lesson by now about supporting or opposing candidates for office on the basis of their religious beliefs. Robert Jeffress’ recent endorsement of Gov. Rick Perry and criticism of Gov. Mitt Romney…