Recent News & Columns
Here are recent columns and news items from the Baptist Joint Committee. Visit our blog and read our monthly magazine, Report from the Capital, to stay current on all religious liberty news. You can also read our press releases online.
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BJC’s Tyler: Expanded travel ban still ‘rooted in anti-Muslim bias’
President Trump has announced an expansion of his administration’s “travel ban.” As BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler explains in response to this latest announcement, the policy is ultimately rooted in anti-Muslim bias.
As Trump expands the travel ban, remember this policy’s roots: Unconstitutional anti-Muslim bias
The specifics of the travel ban have changed over the past three years, but this fact remains: this policy, no matter how much it undergoes chameleon-like aesthetic adjustments, is ultimately rooted in anti-Muslim bias.
Hearing addresses religious persecution, BJC-supported resolution for repeal of blasphemy laws around the world
A pair of House subcommittees held a joint hearing focusing on the plight of religious minorities and nontheists around the world at the hands of their governments, aided in part by blasphemy and heresy laws. BJC supports resolutions calling for the repeal of those laws worldwide.
Espinoza: Highlights from Supreme Court argument in school funding case
During the oral argument, the Court wrestled with whether treating religion differently when it comes to government funding is unlawful discrimination. BJC’s brief noted that declining to fund religious education with taxpayer funds is a long-standing means of ensuring religious liberty.
Supreme Court agrees to revisit contraceptive mandate after courts halted Trump administration rule
Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments involving religious objections to the contraceptive coverage mandate in the Affordable Care Act.
Trump administration announces guidance on prayer in school, new regulations on faith-based partnerships
The rhetoric surrounding the new guidance, which sounded a false alarm about the status of prayer in public school, echoing the claims of Christian nationalism, was far more troubling than the guidance itself.
Appeals court hears oral argument on religious school funding dispute in Maine
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument earlier this month in yet another funding case that explores the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran.
U.S. Supreme Court to decide ministerial exception cases involving religious school teachers
The U.S. Supreme Court accepted a pair of cases involving job discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act brought by teachers at religious schools. The Court ruled on the ministerial exception in 2012.
Update: In Campaign Speech at Florida church, President Trump vows to take action on prayer in school
A campaign rally for President Trump at an Apostolic church in Miami is drawing scrutiny, including calls for the IRS to investigate due to the church’s tax-exempt status.
Top church-state stories of 2019
Don Byrd takes a look at the top nine religious liberty stories of 2019 — from Christian nationalism to Supreme Court decisions.
