By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 May 5 that overtly Christian prayers at government meetings do not violate the First Amendment’s ban on establishing religion. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the town of Greece,…
Church-state groups skeptical about Hobby Lobby Bible curriculum
By Bob Allen A group that advocates for separation of church and state says Hobby Lobby owner Steve Green’s new high school Bible curriculum is likely unconstitutional and warns that school districts that use it risk getting sued for violating…
SBC leader says cake-decorating mom helped shape his religious liberty views
By Bob Allen Southern Baptists’ top spokesman for public policy says he knows from personal experience that religious-liberty concerns such as whether a cake decorator can refuse service for a same-sex wedding are anything but trite. Russell Moore, head of…
SBC leader says evangelicals paying price for ‘narrow vision’ of religious freedom
By Bob Allen Loss of the historic Baptist commitment to religious liberty has left U.S. evangelicals ill-prepared for current threats to the free exercise of religion, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral and public policy concerns suggested April…
Do for-profit corporations have religious liberties?
By David Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee The now-famous Hobby Lobby (HL) case finally has been argued before the Supreme Court, with a decision expected in June. I believe their claim should be denied. Here is my analysis. It…
Let’s clear the air a bit
With RFRA being in the news again as the Supreme Court recently heard arguments on the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties case, my mind drifted back to the last time it was in the news: when Jan Brewer vetoed…
Mississippi religion bill gets new life
By Bob Allen A revised “Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act” held up over concerns that it could legitimize discrimination against gays has passed the state legislature and is on its way to the governor. Both houses voted April 1 in…
ACLU defends student’s right to read Bible
By Bob Allen The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee is speaking up for an elementary school student reportedly told he could not read the Bible during an after-school program funded by taxpayers. The group often in the news for…
Bad assumptions
I recently had the opportunity to read a stirring challenge to those most opposed to the still-controversial and legally-unsettled HHS mandate requiring all businesses to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees including four abortifacient drugs. The two prongs of the…
Saying goodbye to Christian America
By David P. Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee One day in a doctoral seminar at Union Seminary, my ethics mentor Larry Rasmussen said words I will never forget: “There are advantages and disadvantages in every power position for the…
Former Soviet-era prisoner fined in Kazakhstan
By Bob Allen An 87-year-old former Soviet-era prisoner of conscience and Baptist pastor has been fined for conducting religious activities without state permission in Kazakhstan. Forum 18, an international news service that monitors religious freedom violations, says Yegor Prokopenko, pastor…
Mohler says gay marriage a religious-liberty threat
By Bob Allen “Religious liberty has never been threatened in our lifetimes, and probably in terms of the American experiment, like it will be threatened with same-sex marriage,” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, warned in a video…