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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Christian high school asks appeals court to take up their loudspeaker prayer case in light of Kennedy, and other federal cases of note
Take a look at three cases working through our federal court system that are worth keeping an eye on from a religious liberty perspective.
More courts are being asked to consider whether abortion restrictions violate religious freedom
The U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, holding there is no right to an abortion under the U.S. Constitution, has led abortion-rights activists in multiple states to make religious freedom arguments for abortion.
Impact of Kennedy v. Bremerton already apparent as courts are forced to reconsider Establishment Clause cases
Will government-sponsored prayer meetings become the norm after Kennedy? Or will courts determine that there is no long-standing historical practice of government-initiated tent revivals?
Baptist scholars urge more education on Baptist history to combat allure of Christian nationalism
True Baptist heritage, scholars explain, rejects everything the ideology of Christian nationalism stands for.
Appeals Court rejects Apache’s religious freedom argument, likely leaving fate of Oak Flat in Congress’ hands
The court’s ruling is not the last word on this matter. Congress can fix this problem.
BJC’s Tyler, others, discuss ‘structural aspects of bigotry’ – including religious intolerance – in new report
In the essay entitled “Religious Intolerance,” Tyler and co-author Dr. John Corrigan, Professor of History and Religion at Florida State University, explained that “religious bigotry, like all structural bigotry, is exercised in order to hold power.”
Supreme Court upends long-standing religious liberty protection for students, sides with football coach
The dissent highlighted the many facts that the majority ignored or misstated in characterizing Kennedy’s prayers as private and quiet. No student on the field or parent in the stands should have to weigh their participation against the isolating and offending threat of it turning into a religious spectacle.
BJC’s Tyler to CBS News: Christian nationalism continues to fuel former President Trump’s Big Lie
BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler spoke to CBS News about the ways Christian nationalism “absolutely was on display” during President Trump’s remarks at an event last week and the insurrection itself.
In blow to religious freedom, SCOTUS rules for the first time that a state’s tuition assistance program must fund religious education
In its Carson v. Makin ruling, the Supreme Court sidestepped concerns raised by Maine officials and religious liberty advocates – including BJC – that supporting religious education with taxpayer dollars undermines historic principles of church-state separation that states should have the leeway to protect.
State Department issues 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, president makes appointment to USCIRF
The U.S. Department of State released its annual Report on International Religious Freedom, as required by federal law