By Bob Allen OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (ABP)—Less than a month after police in the former Soviet state of Georgia intervened to rescue peaceful gay-rights protestors from a religious mob, Baptist young adults from the United States stood alongside Georgian Baptists…
Catholics, Baptists join in HHS protest
By Bob Allen The Obama administration unwittingly created an unlikely coalition opposed to a rule requiring employers to provide free insurance coverage of contraceptives for women, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral concerns said at a July 2…
Why the DOMA decision is a win for religious liberty
No doubt you’ve heard by now that the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on Wednesday on the basis that it is “a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth…
An enduring promise
By Holly Hollman and Hoda Elshishtawy Americans face many challenges that threaten to undermine their obligation to protect religious pluralism and the rights of fellow citizens. Earlier this month in Tennessee, for example, a program on public discourse designed to…
More religious freedoms in Cuba?
By Jeff Brumley While the U.S. government reports that religious rights remain greatly restricted in Cuba, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship official said his own experience is that freedoms are improving on the Communist island. Ray Johnson, coordinator of CBF Florida,…
AU head says IRS scrutiny warranted
By Bob Allen An advocate for church/state separation says evangelist Franklin Graham has no right to complain about an IRS audit because of rules against partisan politics by nonprofit organizations that are exempt from paying taxes. Graham wrote a letter…
Military asked to clarify proselytizing ban
By Bob Allen Two Southern Baptist Convention leaders issued a statement May 6 asking the military to clarify what it means by making “proselytizing” a punishable offense. Kevin Ezell, head of the SBC North American Mission Board, which oversees chaplains,…
Judge green-lights lawsuit settlement
By Bob Allen A federal judge ruled May 2 that a Baptist child-care agency at the center of a long-running legal dispute between Kentucky lawmakers and citizens represented by the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and state…
Gaddy takes NC lawmakers to task
By Bob Allen A Baptist minister and interfaith leader took state lawmakers in North Carolina to task for demonizing one religion while trying to establish another, despite the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom for all. “It is becoming increasingly…