Update: On Wednesday, Sept. 6, Joseph Kennedy quit his part-time job at Bremerton High School, having been present for only one game. The part-time assistant high school football coach who took his desire to pray at the 50-yard-line after…
Most Americans love the First Amendment, but some are confused
Americans deeply value the First Amendment, but increasing numbers of people don’t understand the protections and limits of the doctrine, according to new research by the Freedom Forum. And while support for the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment…
7 reasons religious liberty matters
Religious liberty, the freedom to practice one’s faith without intimidation or persecution, is a cornerstone of democratic societies around the world. Our Baptists ancestors were among the many who contended for this liberty for people of all faiths or no…
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…
Armed with high court’s praying coach decision, more conservative Christians hope to score religious discrimination claims
Attorneys in three ongoing freedom of religion cases are urging federal judges to consider recent U.S. Supreme court decisions when ruling on their disputes. The development was pointed out by Don Byrd, author of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty’s…
Appeals court allows priest’s defamation case to proceed against Russian Orthodox Church
Faith groups cannot claim religious belief and doctrine as exemptions from lawsuits that include issues of secular law, a federal court has ruled in the case of an Orthodox priest who sued church officials for defamation. The Aug. 17 opinion…
Don’t take preaching lessons from Christian nationalist Gen. Flynn
I’m attempting to wrap my mind around the idea of a former Army general telling me I should preach from the U.S. Constitution. I mention this only because Michael Flynn has been occupying American pulpits, recommending the Constitution as a…
‘The problem with a theocracy is everyone wants to be Theo’
No sooner had the Supreme Court of the United States begun releasing its summer decisions than the word “theocracy” started trending across social media in headings like, “Supreme Court Accused of Starting A ‘Theocracy’ Following Public School Prayer Ruling” and…
Church-state separationists join Justice Sotomayor in blasting the Supreme Court’s ruling in a Maine school voucher case
Church-state separationists lambasted a June 21 decision of the United States Supreme Court that granted parents in Maine access to taxpayer-funded vouchers to send their children to private religious schools. Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a scathing dissent from the…