By Bob Allen In a press release Jan. 7, the 1.3 million-member Georgia Baptist Convention protested the recent firing of Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran for writing a religious book deemed intolerant toward gays. Earlier, the 3,600-church state affiliate of…
Baptist fire chief fired over anti-gay book controversy
By Bob Allen Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran has been fired over controversy about a Christian-themed book he wrote criticized as promoting discriminatory attitudes against gays. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced the termination in a press conference Jan. 6, Cochran’s…
$2 million gift will establish chair in religious freedom at Baylor
By Lori Fogleman Baylor University has announced a $2 million gift from Jerry and Susie Wilson of Dallas that will establish an endowed chair in religious freedom to support the university’s educational mission and its Institute for Studies of Religion….
Kirk Cameron, Chuck Norris, and war on Christmas
It seems every year there is an outcry from Christians who bemoan culture’s lack of acceptance of Christmas displays and call it the War on Christmas. Kirk Cameron is the latest to defend Christians from a supposed secular atheist attack…
BJC supports workplace accommodation in Supreme Court brief
By Bob Allen The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty joined 12 other religious liberty and civil rights organizations in a U.S. Supreme Court brief filed Dec. 10 supporting a Muslim woman denied a job by clothing retailer Abercrombie &…
BJC program will equip young professionals for religious liberty advocacy
By Bob Allen Next year the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty will launch a new advocacy program for young professionals, the Washington-based church-state watchdog group announced Dec. 8. The BJC Fellows Program is for people from diverse educational, professional…
Half of Americans want separation between church and state in marriage
By Bob Allen About half of Americans and a quarter of Protestant ministers believe clergy should say “I don’t” to the tradition of solemnizing marriages as agents of the state, according to a new poll by LifeWay Research. The research…
Officials get mixed messages about right of conscience in marriage laws
By Bob Allen Government clerks have no legal right to refuse to issue a marriage license to same-sex couples in a state where gay marriage is legal, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said in a legal memorandum…
Religion’s killing fields: When will we ever learn?
By Bill Leonard “Afterwards it happened, before I had ever heard of the existence of [Anabaptist] brethren, that a godfearing, pious man, named Sicke Snyder, was beheaded at Leeuwarden, for being rebaptized. It sounded strange to me, to hear a…
Maryland school board ‘steals’ Christmas
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist leader in Maryland denounced a local school board’s decision to eliminate references to all religious holidays on its published calendar for 2015-2016. The Montgomery County Board of Education voted 7-1 to make the change…
A new day in America
We are entering a new day in America. Do you feel excited yet? New things always bring with them a bit of trepidation, but there’s so much buzz about this particular new day that it can’t be bad, right? Well,…
Freeing the web: A human rights and religious freedom agenda
By Elijah Brown There is an opportunity to stand with thousands of human rights activists and persecuted religious minorities in a way that could literally change the world. 4.9 billion people live in countries where either complete or partial restrictions…