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.
For press inquiries, contact:
Cherilyn Crowe
Director of Communications
[email protected]
202-544-4226 x 305
Cell: 202-670-5877
Religious liberty and same-sex marriage
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
Many conversations about religious liberty and same-sex marriage are oversimplified. Too often what is lost in these understandably impassioned battles are the striking similarities between the claims of each side.
From the May 2013 Report from the Capital
BJC, others oppose religious profiling in immigration bill
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
A lunch that launched a vital lectureship
By J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
The Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State have provided wonderful opportunities for thousands of students, professors and other campus visitors to imbibe the wisdom the speakers supplied.
From the April 2013 Report from the Capital
Free exercise standards increasingly debated
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
While it is not surprising that RFRA — like religious liberty in general — is more popular in principle than in its specific applications, research suggests that even among states that have enacted some version of RFRA, there has been scant litigation testing the statutes’ application to various types of claims.
From the April 2013 Report from the Capital
Protecting religious freedom in schools
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
While Supreme Court decisions and other constitutional principles governing religion in the public schools are firmly settled, there is always a steady stream of controversies over religion in the public schools.
From the March 2013 Report from the Capital.
Recent collaborations with Melissa Rogers and the Baptist Joint Committee
Here are a few lectures and columns Melissa Rogers presented in collaboration with the BJC. All of the lectures are available on the Baptist Joint Committee’s iTunes channel.
Former BJC General Counsel named head of White House faith-based office
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Jeff Huett 202-544-4226 / 202-680-4127 Cherilyn Crowe 202-544-4226 / 202-603-1663 WASHINGTON — The White House announced that Melissa Rogers, former general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, has been named the...
Walker to speak at Roger Williams Fellowship event, June 22
The Roger Williams Fellowship is pleased to announce its 2013 ABC/USA Biennial dinner speaker, the Rev. J. Brent Walker, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. The meal will be held on Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 5-7 PM during the 2013 ABC/USA Biennial and Mission Summit in Overland Park, KS. Tickets for the meal will be $37, payable in advance through the official registration process.
Walker to deliver Greene Lectures at Gardner-Webb, March 25
Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director J. Brent Walker will deliver three lectures on religious liberty and church-state separation March 25 on the Gardner-Webb University campus in Boiling Springs, N.C.
New contraceptive mandate proposal announced, comment period opened
By Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press, with BJC Staff Reports
The Obama administration proposed a broader opt-out Feb. 1 for religious organizations that object to mandated coverage of contraceptives in employee health care plans, an effort to alleviate religious liberty concerns behind a number of lawsuits challenging the Afford-able Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
From the February 2013 Report from the Capital.
