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
Walker comments on recent HHS rule regarding contraception
Note: this story was UPDATED on February 10. Click here to read the update. Feb. 8, 2012 The Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule that requires most health insurance plans to cover contraceptive services starting August 1. While churches are...
The significance of Supreme Court review
Written by K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
So far this term, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review lower court decisions in two high-profile religious liberty disputes, one involving cross displays erected along Utah’s highways and another concerning a New York church’s long-term use of a public school building for its weekly Sunday worship services. In the former case, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a 19 page dissent — atypical at the petition stage — expressing his disagreement with the Court’s decision not to grant review.
Is Administration’s Contraception Coverage Policy Constitutional?
Written by Don Byrd
Lawsuits have been filed challenging the Obama Administration’s decision to include certain types of religious organization in the general requirement that health insurance plans must cover contraception. The policy, announced last week, does exempt houses of worship and religious organizations that employ primarily those of the same faith
What ‘secular’ really means
Written by J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
“Secular” is not a bad word as many religious people and some politicians believe. In fact, it is a good word and, properly understood, is useful to describe our political culture and church-state configuration.
BJC lauds High Court decision protecting religious entities’ right to hire ministerial personnel
In unanimous decision, justices rule ‘ministerial exception’ grounded in First Amendment FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jeff Huett 202-544-4226Cherilyn Crowe 202-544-4226 January 11, 2012 WASHINGTON – In a unanimous decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a...
Campaign for politics in the pulpit is flawed
As citizens we are called to work toward a just society. It should be no surprise, then, that people of faith have been engaged in virtually every social reform movement throughout American history. Religious individuals and houses of worship have the right and...
Defining the ‘ministerial exception’
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel From the October 2011 edition of Report from the Capital On October 5, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what may be the most significant religious liberty case to reach the High Court in 20 years. If the intense...
In George Washington’s words
Written by J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
Dick Ice’s contributions to the life and work of the BJC are incalculable. He understands and appreciates Baptist principles and the American concept of the separation of church and state like few others. He is also a student of history who can call up the words of our Founders on the spur of the moment and make scholarly presentations on James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and others.
BJC supports protections for religious entities’ right to hire ministerial personnel
Ministerial exception is crucial implication of religious liberty FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jeff Huett | Phone: 202-544-4226 | Cell: 202-680-4127 October 5, 2011 WASHINGTON – A legal doctrine that bars most lawsuits between ministerial personnel and their...
Defining the ‘ministerial exception’
Written by K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
On October 5, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what may be the most significant religious liberty case to reach the High Court in 20 years. If the intense questioning by the justices was any indication, it may also be one of the most difficult.
