A federal judge has struck down a controversial Mississippi bill allowing citizens with “sincerely held religious beliefs” to deny services to gays, lesbian and transgender persons. U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued a 60-page opinion June 30 blocking enforcement…
Mississippi pastors support law widely-described as anti-gay
More than 50 Southern Baptist ministers in Mississippi recently issued an open letter supporting a new law which purports to protect religious liberty but is widely-described as the country’s most aggressive anti-LGBT legislation. Baptist pastors including current and past presidents of the…
‘Excruciatingly different’ Mississippi religious liberty law specifies beliefs
Most of the religious freedom laws privilege religion over non-religion, but the Mississippi law also privileges religion over religion, he explained. He called that additional step a “deadly mixture of ignorance and hubris.”
Mississippi religious liberty law challenged in court
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit May 9 challenging Mississippi’s religious freedom law, which critics say could be used to discriminate against gays.
When religious liberty demands cease to be legitimate
I think most Americans, even non-religious Americans, are on board with the idea of religious liberty — in the abstract. But like so many of the things we hold dear, what sounds great in theory becomes deeply complicated when the…
Mississippi church a window into national gay rights debate
The juxtaposition of beliefs at this church in the Deep South is a window into a debate in much of the U.S. that sometimes puts friends, neighbors and even fellow church members at odds.
Pastors urge veto of Mississippi ‘religious liberty’ law
Update: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the “religious liberty” bill into law on April 5. Three Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastors are opposing Mississippi’s so-called “religious liberty” law, which would, among other things, allow public employees, businesses and social workers to deny…
SBC agency backs Mississippi ‘religious freedom’ bill
The Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm has voiced support of a controversial Mississippi religious freedom bill being decried as anti-gay. The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission published an article April 1 titled “Will Mississippi Lead the Way?” The…
Bill termed anti-gay authored by Baptist lawmaker
The Mississippi Senate has passed what critics call the most sweeping anti-LGBT legislation in the United States, sponsored by a Baptist layman who is a trustee at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, a member and former…