Same-sex marriage has tied American society into a seemingly intractable knot. Advocates of one great value pull a thread that ultimately tightens and restricts another cherished principle. And vice-versa. Human rights vs. religious liberty.
Southern Baptist ethics czar defends Indiana religious liberty bill on MSNBC
By Bob Allen In an interview March 30 on national television, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top expert on public policy denounced corporate boycott threats over Indiana’s new religious freedom law as “a confluence of sexual libertarianism and crony capitalism” attempting…
Supreme Court won’t force NYC to allow after-hours worship in public schools
By Bob Allen The United States Supreme Court refused March 30 to hear a case challenging a New York City policy of not allowing churches to worship in public schools. The high court declined without comment to review an April…
Is religious liberty declining around the world? One panel thinks so.
By Ken Camp Repressive governments, radical Islamists and reluctance by Western leaders to confront human rights abuses combine to create the worst global climate for religious liberty in recent history, say a university president with expertise in constitutional law, a…
Scouting for tolerance
In June of 2013 the Boy Scouts of America announced a policy change. The organization would reverse a longstanding policy and allow openly gay scouts to participate in the organization. I wrote then that the BSA’s attempt to please everybody…
BJC defends Muslim woman’s right to wear hijab to work
By Bob Allen In a closely watched case argued Feb. 25, a Baptist religious-liberty group urged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a Muslim woman to wear a religious head-covering to work. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based…
Uncoerced faith remains a burning question
By Bill Leonard On Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, the terrorists who call themselves an Islamic State released a lurid video showing the decapitation of 21 Egyptian laborers working in Libya. Taken hostage in January, largely because they were Coptic Christians,…
Fired Atlanta fire chief sues city
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By Bob Allen Former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran has filed a federal lawsuit against the city claiming he was fired because of his religious beliefs. Cochran, a member and deacon at Southern Baptist-affiliated Elizabeth Baptist Church, was fired Jan….
Legislator aims to make Bible state book of Tennessee
By Bob Allen A former Southern Baptist pastor turned state lawmaker has introduced legislation to designate the Bible “the official state book” of Tennessee. Rep. Jerry Sexton, a Republican from Bean Station in the Morristown metropolitan area in East Tennessee,…