Keeping Church & State Separate
The Baptist Joint Committee is the only faith-based agency devoted solely to religious liberty and the institutional separation of church and state. Since 1936, the BJC has continuously provided reliable leadership on church-state issues as it leads coalitions of groups striving to protect both the free exercise of religion and to defend against its establishment by government. Read more.
Why Religious Liberty?
Baptists value religious freedom and separation of church and state because we suffered the hard lessons of history. The Baptist commitment to religious liberty is centered on our freedom to worship without efforts by the government to advance or restrain religion. God has made us all free – free to say yes, free to say no, and free to make up our own minds about our spiritual destiny. The BJC believes that a threat to anyone’s religious liberty is a threat to everyone‘s liberty. Read more
Why church-state separation?
The separation of church and state is a shorthand metaphor for expressing a deeper truth: religious liberty is best protected when church and state are institutionally separated and neither tries to perform or interfere with the mission and work of the other. It does not require a “segregation” of religion from public life, but it serves both religion clauses in the First Amendment, insisting upon no establishment of religion and ensuring the free exercise of religion. Read more
Citing Supreme Court’s Playground Ruling, Education Dept. Eases Religious Funding Rules
The Education Dept. is advancing a broad reading of a recent SCOTUS decision to justify regulatory changes to allow more faith-based funding.
Education Secretary Devos Takes Aim at Laws Barring Taxpayer Money from Aiding Religion
Secretary Devos’ interest in expanding school voucher programs nationwide is well known. She should not undermine key state laws, or impugn them as bigoted, to further her goal.
Louisiana’s Webster Parish School District Settles Church-State Lawsuit
A settlement agreement permanently bars public school officials in Louisiana’s Webster Parish from promoting prayer or religious services in schools. That is a good rule benefiting both the church and the state.
Dr. King and religious liberty
King understood that defending religious liberty was critical to protecting civil rights, and that an independent and inclusive church could change the world through social action.
New threats to religious liberty require new efforts to build a stronger vision
Only through understanding what divides us can we find common ground in our religious liberty tradition like Americans did before us.
Shurden Lectures 2018: Follow your conscience and raise your voice
During his presentations, Dr. Charles C. Haynes shared his strong conviction that the future of the American experiment in freedom requires getting religion and religious liberty right in the public square.
