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Latest News

Written by Don Byrd, these updates bring together the latest news impacting the conversation around religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

Protecting religious liberty in 2025 requires all of us to work together

Protecting religious liberty in 2025 requires all of us to work together

As BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler wrote, "The response we need in this moment of crisis for many of our neighbors and our country is a recommitment to involvement in our democracy by every person."
White House announces strategy, action plan to counter Islamophobia

White House announces strategy, action plan to counter Islamophobia

"Religious freedom must be for everyone, and this initiative encourages a deeper understanding of and accommodation for religious practices."
Injunction halts New Jersey constitutional provision barring taxpayer funding for building or repairing houses of worship

Injunction halts New Jersey constitutional provision barring taxpayer funding for building or repairing houses of worship

“The ‘play in the joints’” historically afforded to states between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause “seems to be over,” writes a judge in New Jersey.
With battles in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, public school classrooms are a troubling religious liberty hotspot

With battles in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, public school classrooms are a troubling religious liberty hotspot

A public school classroom should be a place where all students feel welcome regardless of their religious perspective. Instead, it is quickly becoming a laboratory for activists seeking to promote a Christian nationalist agenda.
Voters soundly reject school voucher initiatives in multiple states

Voters soundly reject school voucher initiatives in multiple states

In this year’s November election, voters once again said “no” to school vouchers in ballot initiatives across three different states. The results send a clear message: Americans do not want taxpayer dollars to fund private schools, including religious schools, especially not at the expense of public school funding.
New book from BJC’s Amanda Tyler offers concrete solutions to generational problem of Christian nationalism

New book from BJC’s Amanda Tyler offers concrete solutions to generational problem of Christian nationalism

A new book from BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler tackles the gravest threat to religious liberty in the United States -- Christian nationalism -- and explains what can be done about it.
Oklahoma's regulations leave little choice but to purchase specific Trump-endorsed Bible for public schools

Oklahoma’s regulations leave little choice but to purchase specific Trump-endorsed Bible for public schools

The Bibles-in-classrooms directive already raises significant church-state issues, and now Oklahoma's request for bids to satisfy the requirement is so specific that it seems to leave only one option for which Bible the state can purchase: the controversial “God Bless the USA Bible” recently promoted by former President Donald Trump.
illustration of hands holding political campaign pins with the words vote and elect, and images of the donkey and elephant, in red white and blue

In new lawsuit, religious nonprofit targets Johnson Amendment in order to endorse political candidates without losing tax-exempt status

The Johnson Amendment protects nonprofits from being entangled in electoral politics, and in turn it protects taxpayers from unwittingly providing tax exemptions to an agent of a political campaign.
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