Very seldom do you hear governors wax theological. But Nathan Deal’s veto message last week was a solid blow struck in the fight over what it means to be a Baptist in the South.
What’s driving religious freedom debate in the U.S.? Fear, say some.
It was just about a year ago when Baptist writer and minister Corey Fields wrote a column critiquing a spate of “religious freedom” bills pushed through statehouses around the country. Indiana’s version was one of the more high-profile measures. It…
Mohler cites CBF in veto of anti-LGBT ‘religious liberty’ bill
A Southern Baptist seminary president says theology played a role in Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision to veto a measure that would have discriminated against the state’s LGBT community. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.,…
Anti-hate group scrutinizes SBC resolutions committee
The Southern Poverty Law Center questioned Southern Baptist Convention leadership for naming to a resolutions committee at the upcoming SBC annual meeting representatives of organizations the civil rights organization identifies as hate groups. The nonprofit legal advocacy organization — which began…
Georgia governor vetoes anti-LGBT ‘religious liberty’ bill
Georgia’s Baptist governor announced March 28 he would veto a controversial “religious freedom” bill that opponents said would foster LGBT discrimination. Gov. Nathan Deal, a member of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-aligned First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Ga., said he had no…
Little Sisters get day in court
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments March 23 in combined cases to decide whether mandatory coverage of contraceptives under Obamacare violates the religious liberty of faith-based organizations that serve the public and hire non-adherents as employees. Charities including several…
‘Religious liberty’ bill passes Georgia House, Senate
The Georgia General Assembly passed an amended “Free Exercise Protection Act” March 16 that now heads to an uncertain fate with the state’s Republican governor. Capping two years of lobbying efforts by groups including the 1.3-million-member Georgia Baptist Convention, the…
BJC’s Brent Walker urges vote on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee
A Baptist church-state expert welcomed President Obama’s March 16 announcement of a nominee for a Supreme Court seat vacated by the death last month of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. In a Rose Garden ceremony Wednesday morning, the president announced his…
The threat of ‘all or nothing’ demands
Legislative and administrative exemptions designed to protect religious liberty without harming other important interests should be encouraged.