While the world’s attention has been riveted on the Jan. 6 Capitol melee, the Trump administration in its waning days has continued to push through the social agenda of conservative evangelicals. Despite pending litigation with the Supreme Court, the Department…
On Epiphany, tend the light of Christ with truth and love
On Epiphany, which the worldwide church celebrates today, we should ask ourselves how we, the church, will rise and shine in these dark days of discouragement so that we will be a light to the world. The answer has to…
Rick Warren: Churches aren’t being persecuted by COVID restrictions
Christmas week brought more twists and turns to the legal battles in California over coronavirus-forced closures of in-person worship, while the spike in COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths skyrocketed. In contrast to a few pastors and churches that have made…
Trump administration expands ability of employers to discriminate on religious grounds
To supporters, it is a “clarification” that protects religious expression. To critics it is yet another misuse of religious liberty language to promote discrimination. The “it” in this case is a U.S. Labor Department rule issued in the last days…
House passes bipartisan resolution against blasphemy, heresy and apostasy laws
It turns out there is something Republicans and Democrats can agree on about religious liberty in the current lame-duck session of Congress. On Monday, Dec. 7, the House of Representatives passed on a 386-3 bipartisan vote House Resolution 512, calling…
Is attacking a candidate’s sermon different than attacking a candidate’s speeches?
Attacking a political candidate for something said in a speech is different than attacking a candidate for something preached in a sermon, according to Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Tyler and BJC Director of…
In Tennessee and Kentucky, religious freedom claims and COVID prevention plans are in conflict
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain the already contentious boundaries of religious practice versus public policy. In the same week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled New York may not restrict religious worship gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus, two…
Everything I know about separation of church and state I learned from my mother
I must have been in the third or fourth grade when Mama said to me, “When people want prayer in the schools, they are assuming the person who is praying has the same beliefs they do.” And then she added,…
What does the Supreme Court’s midnight COVID ruling really mean for religious liberty?
Has Amy Coney Barrett’s arrival on the United States Supreme Court changed the court’s perspective on houses of worship and COVID-19 restrictions? Or, were the restrictions imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo simply more draconian than restrictions in California…
Interfaith group calls on Biden administration to ‘restore’ religious freedom protections
A group of nearly 100 interreligious leaders has offered four suggestions to the incoming Biden-Harris administration on urgent work necessary to restore religious freedom protections. “The Trump administration has taken many actions that undermine religious freedom,” the group’s letter says….
Americans United proposes 10 ways for Biden administration to reset church-state separation
As a new administration comes to Washington, a fundamental restatement of church-state separation should become a top priority, according to officials with Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “The Trump administration’s misuse of religious freedom to harm others…
Barrett joins in debate as Supreme Court weighs Philadelphia religious liberty case
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments Nov. 4 in its first major religious liberty case since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and installation of a new firm conservative majority on the court. The case, Fulton v….