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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Walker wins McCall Religious Liberty Award, inducted into Baylor Alumni Hall of Fame
From BJC Staff Reports
At a ceremony January 25 in Waco, Texas, Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director J. Brent Walker was inducted into the Baylor University Alumni Association Hall of Fame for his work defending religious freedom.
From the February 2013 Report from the Capital
Standing for principles in all situations
By J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
Defending religious liberty by standing up for the separation of church and state sometimes results in unpopular outcomes. Theological and constitutional principles ensuring religious liberty must apply and be followed in the hard cases as well as the easy cases.
From the February 2013 Report from the Capital
Jefferson’s Religious Freedom Statute: Setting the groundwork for the separation of church and state
BJC Executive Director J. Brent Walker explains how the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom formed the intellectual foundation and political foreshadowing for the First Amendment principles of religious liberty throughout the United States.
This article first appeared in The Huffington Post and was reprinted in the February 2013 Report from the Capital.
Administrative rulemaking is essential component
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
After harsh criticism, dozens of lawsuits and heated debate challenging its rules on mandated contraceptive care coverage, the Obama administration announced Feb. 1 “the next step” in providing no-cost preventive care for women, while respecting the religious concerns of their employers. It is clear that the highly-anticipated proposed regulations won’t yet bring the controversy to an end.
From the February 2013 Report from the Capital
BJC asks Members of Congress to oppose federal grants to houses of worship
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has asked Members of the U.S. House to oppose a bill that would violate religious liberty by authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide direct grants to houses of worship.
Update: Developments in the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
By Nan Futrell, BJC Staff CounselAlso available in the January 2013 Report from the Capital Overshadowed by the more high-profile religious liberty headlines of the past year, the work of the federal faith-based initiative has proceeded quietly under President Barack...
BJC joins others to urge tracking of hate crimes against Sikhs, Arabs, Hindus
By Jeff Huett, BJC Director of Communications
The Baptist Joint Committee has joined a broad coalition of organizations in urging the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to collect separate data on hate crimes directed against Sikhs, Arabs and Hindus as part of the FBI’s hate crime data collection programs.
From the January 2013 Report from the Capital
A ‘no religious test’ scorecard
By J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
Allow me one more restrospective on the interplay of religion and politics in the 2012 elections. It appears that we did a fair job of talking about religion in the public square in a responsible way.
From the January 2013 Report from the Capital
God has never been truant
BJC Executive Director J. Brent Walker reacts to claims that God has been taken out of schools in light of the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn.
From the January 2013 Report from the Capital
Update: Developments in the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
By Nan Futrell Liles, BJC Staff Counsel
Overshadowed by the more high-profile religious liberty headlines of the past year, the work of the federal faith-based initiative has proceeded quietly under President Barack Obama’s leadership.
From the January 2013 Report from the Capital
