A Baptist church/state specialist said after oral arguments April 20 the U.S. Supreme Court should rule against a Missouri church seeking state aid to make its playground safer, citing Baptist history when colonial dissenters objected to paying taxes to support…
Mississippi religious liberty law has day in court
An attorney defending Mississippi’s controversial law allowing state employees to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and various businesses to deny services to LGBT individuals claimed in federal court April 3 that individuals challenging the statute should not…
Religious freedom clashes coming to a Sunday school class near you
A new small-group study curriculum produced by the Southern Baptist Convention portrays religious liberty as under siege in the United States of America. A joint project of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and LifeWay Christian Resources, the six-week…
Supreme Court schedules case involving church-state dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court has set oral arguments in one of the year’s most anticipated cases involving religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, set for arguments April 19, involves a Missouri church…
Southern Baptist leader apologizes for legal brief supporting mosque
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board has apologized for his agency’s decision to file a legal brief supporting Muslims seeking to build a New Jersey mosque. “I grieve how the amicus brief in the recent mosque…
Faith leaders support death-row inmate’s religious discrimination claim
More than 500 faith leaders across the country have endorsed a statement calling for a new trial for a Texas death row inmate claiming religious discrimination in the selection of his jury. National faith leaders including Tony Campolo and Shane…
BJC leader says churches can influence policy without being a PAC
The head of a Baptist religious liberty watchdog group warned in a Religion News Service op-ed Feb. 9 that removing limits on political activity by tax-exempt charities could harm churches more than help them. Amanda Tyler, executive director of the…
Judge says N.J. town discriminates against Muslims
A federal judge has ruled that requiring a mosque to have more parking spaces than churches or synagogues is unconstitutional, citing in part a friend-of-the-court brief filed by a diverse coalition of civil rights and religious groups including the Baptist…
Southern Baptist leaders, others, oppose laws battling LGBT discrimination
More than 75 religious conservatives, including several leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention, have signed a public document opposing policies that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Charter signers of the “Preserve Freedom, Reject Coercion” proclamation coordinated…
Religious liberty amidst religious pluralism
I spent Sunday with the good folk of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo. It is a strong American Baptist Churches-Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church, and annually the congregation hosts a Baptist Heritage Sunday. Last year Dr. Neville Callam of…
Uzbek Baptist fined for possessing Christian literature
A Baptist in Uzbekistan has been punished for the second time within a year for having religious books at home, according to Forum 18, an international news service based in Norway that monitors religious freedom violations. Stanislav Kim, a Baptist from…
BJC’s Walker says Okla. ballot question poses danger to religious institutions
A Baptist expert on religious liberty termed a ballot initiative repealing Oklahoma’s prohibition against using state funds for religious purposes “a dangerous road” toward the intermingling of church and state. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for…