Nadine Maenza is nearing the end of a two-year term as chair of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and a four-year term as a commissioner. USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan government agency that monitors religious freedom worldwide and…
Threats to religious freedom and to women go hand in hand
Whenever and wherever religious freedom is threatened, so too are the fundamental rights of women and girls, a panel of experts said during a recent virtual hearing before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “Gender-based and religiously based discrimination…
Latest PRRI data show growing gap between white evangelicals and other Americans over same-sex marriage and legal protections for LGBTQ people
While the same-sex marriage now is the law of the land in the United States, white evangelical Christians remain distinct outliers among all Americans in accepting that reality. This finding from Public Religion Research Institute comes amid a backdrop in…
BNG webinar offers conversation on Ukraine, Eastern Europe and religious freedom
Two experts on international religious freedom will be featured in a Baptist News Global webinar Thursday, March 3, at 3 p.m. Eastern time. The speakers are Wade Kusack, founder and president of Love Your Neighbor Community, a nonprofit that promotes…
Supreme Court to hear case of wedding website designer who won’t serve same-sex couples
First it was about wedding cakes. Now it’s about wedding websites. And the United States Supreme Court has agreed once again to wade into the troubled waters of evangelical Christian business owners refusing to serve same-sex couples. Although same-sex marriage…
Samford and Candler grad at center of Tennessee controversy over Bible history class in public schools
A middle school teacher with an undergraduate religion degree from a Baptist university and a master of divinity degree from a Methodist seminary now finds herself at the center of a controversy over alleged hate speech against Jews. Moreover, Chattanooga’s…
Jewish couple sues after United Methodist agency receiving taxpayer funding refuses to help them adopt a disabled child
Among the core beliefs espoused by Holston United Methodist Home for Children in Tennessee are assertions that “it is the birthright of every child to have a family” and that “the best place for a child to be raised is…
Justices appear skeptical of Boston’s reasons for excluding Christian flag
The latest religious liberty case heard by the United States Supreme Court should have been settled before it got to Washington, justices said during oral arguments Jan. 18. Yet the court accepted the case and spent 90 minutes debating it…
Religious freedom and human rights groups praise Biden for diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
A broader-than-usual coalition of religious liberty and human rights groups are praising the Biden administration’s Dec. 6 announcement that the United States will not send a diplomatic delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Although stopping short of a…