By Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press
As the Senate opened formal debate on a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform, the Baptist Joint Committee and a group of religious organizations called on senators to include a ban on religious profiling in the final package.
From the May 2013 Report from the Capital
Written by Don ByrdIn a statement released today, signed by the Baptist Joint Committee’s Brent Walker, religious liberty advocates urge Congress to ban religious profiling by law enforcement in immigration legislation currently being debated in the U.S. Senate. Here is an excerpt
In three open letters to state lawmakers, more than 200 individual chaplains, along with dozens of faith groups and civil rights organizations, are speaking out against a wave of proposed state legislation seeking to install chaplains in public schools across the country.
Now that the first votes have been cast in the presidential primaries, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman look at some of the troubling statements and activities on the campaign trail concerning the role of religion and religious freedom – from both Democrats and Republicans. While candidates are – and should be – free to talk about the ways their faith inspires them, there are some red lines when it comes to politicking in houses of worship with tax-exempt resources or using political power as a way to impose religion on others.
Thirty years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law. It was a monumental event in religious liberty law at the time, and it remains part of an even more complex legal landscape of religious exemptions today. Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman look at the standard set by RFRA and discuss how the law has been used in cases dealing with issues ranging from sacramental drug use to application of health insurance regulations. They discuss the non-controversial applications of RFRA, too, and the search for win-win solutions to complicated situations that arise in a religiously pluralistic society.
What happens when you talk about Christian nationalism with the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a historian who wrote a book on white evangelical racism, and the lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism? Find out as we bring you portions of a panel conversation recorded in September during the Texas Tribune Festival. The Rev. Dr. Bart Barber, Dr. Anthea Butler, and Amanda Tyler talk about Christian nationalism’s connection to the January 6 attack, Baptist history, American history, Christian citizenship, and much more. You might hear surprising areas of agreement in this honest, in-depth, and animated conversation.
BJC and the BJC Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation are urgently needed to counter the white supremacy menacing religious liberty for all in the United States, said the Rev. Dr. Adam Bond, a scholar and Baptist minister.