The genesis of property tax exemption for churches goes back to the book of Exodus. During the time of the Old Testament, the Egyptians exempted their religious entities and priests from taxation by the pharaoh, according to attorney Frank Sommerville, a legal specialist who represents religious nonprofits.

“There was also the exemption under Jewish law from the time of Moses on that priests and the tabernacle was not taxed by any entity out there. And that continued all the way through the kings that were several hundred years later,” Sommerville said. 

Several religious liberty cases are making their way through the legal system, many arising from decisions the U.S. Supreme Court has made. While some, like the case of Fox sportscaster Craig James, have made national headlines, others have remained strictly local affairs. But they all have important consequences for First Amendment freedoms in the United States.

A judge’s decision in a case about investigative videos by the pro-life Center for Medical Progress (CMP) has raised questions of ethics because of his political background and family connections.

CMP has so far released five videos showing employees of abortion provider Planned Parenthood negotiating prices for aborted babies’ body parts. The center is getting strong pushback not only from Planned Parenthood, but also from tissue suppliers and from abortion-provider membership groups.

In 1971, a U.S. Supreme Court case dealt with the question of whether a family’s religious liberty includes the education of its children. The answer was yes, and the ruling has been used ever since as a basis of parents’ rights to opt out of traditional public or private schools.

The parents of more than 1.5 million kids in the United States teach them at home, meaning homeschoolers make up more than 3 percent of the school population today. Another 5 million attend private school—10 percent.

With school starting up next month in many places, some students are headed into learning environments that are hostile to religious ideas and expression. Christian parents should rethink how they engage their children’s public schools, says Eric Buehrer, a former public school teacher and the president of Gateways to Better Education. His organization helps families navigate public schools while keeping their faith and values intact. I talked with Buehrer about practical ideas for Christian families in public schools.

Less than a month ago, the U.S. Supreme Court discovered a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry. The court ordered county clerks in all 50 states to issue gay couples the same kind of marriage license they’d provide to opposite-sex couples.

Now the question turns to conscientious objection. What rights do churches have to say no to same-sex wedding ceremonies? Or bakers to refuse to make wedding cakes? Or photographers to decline to create a wedding album?