In the good ol’ USA, July 4th is a time to give thanks for our unrivaled freedom, and a great time to highlight and celebrate our religious liberty. Religious liberty refers to the right to worship freely without fear of persecution….
Remembering James Dunn
A memorial service for James M. Dunn was held Saturday, July 18, at 11 a.m. at Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. Click here to watch a video of the entire memorial service. For more on his life and legacy,…
Remarks at James Dunn’s Retirement Dinner
Obergefell decision does not remove the separation of church and state
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel Click here for a 2-page handout about the decision (PDF link). Early in the U.S. Supreme Court decision finding a constitutional right to marriage that includes same-sex partners, Justice Kennedy describes the “transcendent…
The ISIS crisis
The capacity of ISIS to enthrall and recruit youth and young adults from Western democratic countries has left many baffled. It is such a counterpoint to the spirit of the mass demonstrations that characterized the Arab Spring, which now seems…
BJC speaker explains why many blacks cool to First Amendment
By Bob Allen Religious liberty doesn’t mean much to people who are physically enslaved, an African-American preacher reminded a predominantly white audience at an annual Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty banquet that this year coincided with the holiday celebrated…
Challenges today defy easy answers, demand best efforts of Baptists and others
By General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman These are trying times to promote “religious liberty for all” as the BJC mission statement demands. Many of the current challenges on the legal and cultural fronts are not conducive to easy answers.
A tale of two commencement addresses
By Executive Director J. Brent Walker School is out, and summer vacation is here! Congratulations to our graduates – not just high school, college, seminary and graduate school but, nowadays, all the way down the line. My five-year-old grandson even…
Baptists fined for public worship in Crimea
By Bob Allen Seven Baptists in Crimea were fined in May for allegedly violating more restrictive limits on public demonstrations since Russia annexed the former Ukrainian territory last year, according to Forum 18, an international news service that monitors religious…
Supreme Court sides with Muslim woman in hijab dispute
By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 1 that retailer Abercrombie & Fitch violated the civil rights of a Muslim woman not hired because her religious obligations conflicted with the company’s policy on employee attire. Overturning a decision…
The Bible shouldn’t be a state symbol
By Staff Counsel Jennifer Hawks In my office, I proudly display my Tennessee roots. I grew up discussing Tennessee politics with my grandfather, a former state representative. While I was in law school, he gave me several items from his…
Exploring the church-state side of the same-sex marriage cases
By Executive Director J. Brent Walker When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the same-sex marriage cases, the justices did not invite briefs on religious liberty. In its writ of certiorari granting review, the Court framed the issues to…