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
New Jersey Supreme Court Rules Church Restoration Grants Violate the State Constitution
In an important ruling exploring the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Trinity Lutheran church funding decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court invalidated historic preservation grants to churches.
Louisiana School Boards Seek Changes in Religious Expression Policy in Response to Lawsuits
Lawsuits claiming school districts in both Bossier and Webster Parish, Louisiana, engaged in widespread church-state violations may be moving toward compromise as both boards consider new religious expression guidelines.
Lawsuit Challenges Michigan Constitution’s Ban on Financial Aid to Religion
Like many state constitutions, Michigan’s bars government funding to aid religious schools. A new lawsuit claims the provision is unconstitutional.
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.
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