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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Public schools are not religion-free zones

Public schools are not religion-free zones

By J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
The start of a new school year provides an opportunity to review the many ways religion can properly be exercised, studied and otherwise included on public school campuses in ways that naturally arise in our very religious — and religiously diverse — country, while keeping school officials out of the business of promoting a particular religion or even religion in general.

From the September 2013 Report from the Capital

U.S. Supreme Court to hear legislative prayer case

From BJC staff reports
The practice of opening government meetings with Christian prayer will be examined by the U.S. Supreme Court in its upcoming term. The case of Town of Greece v. Galloway will bring legislative prayer before the Court for the first time in 30 years.

From the June 2013 Report from the Capital

The framework of American religious liberty

By J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
Endowed by Our Creator: The Birth of Religious Freedom in America by Michael I. Meyerson is a new and wonderful book that responsibly engages the contentious debate about how the framers understood religion and religious liberty in the formation of our national government.

From the June 2013 Report from the Capital

Religious liberty and same-sex marriage

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