Religious Liberty
Becket

Adoption defense

Religious Liberty | A wave of new laws provides vital protection for faith-based adoption and foster agencies—but LGBT advocates are putting up a fight
by Jamie Dean
Posted 5/24/18, 04:06 am

On the floor of the Kansas House chamber in May, Rep. Diana Dierks warned her fellow lawmakers of going down the path of SS agents in 1940s-era Nazi Germany.

The cause for the Republican’s alarm: a bill protecting faith-based adoption agencies that operate according to religious beliefs when finding families for needy children.

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Pulpit privilege

Churches | Repeal the Johnson Amendment?
by Marvin Olasky
Posted 5/10/18, 12:39 pm

Last year I was in a car for three hours with a person I care about deeply. He is theologically adrift. Like an idiot, I talked with him about politics, instead of about what’s really important. I’m still kicking myself about that wasted time.

Last month I gave a lecture on journalism and worldview, leaving half an hour for the questions, and the first question was, “What do you think of the Johnson Amendment?” Lyndon Johnson’s amendment, passed in 1954, gives all 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups, including churches, a simple command: Don’t endorse political candidates.

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Facebook/Summit Ministries

California bill already chilling religious expression

Religious Liberty | Summit Ministries cancels a Los Angeles–area conference over the proposed law
by Bonnie Pritchett
Posted 5/08/18, 02:22 pm

The California state legislature’s latest effort to outlaw Biblical views on sex, marriage, and gender identity appears to have claimed its first casualty. Citing concerns over possible legal repercussions from a pending bill, Colorado-based Summit Ministries has canceled a summer conference at Biola University in the Los Angeles area.

“The vagueness of the bill has opened up threats to religious communities that the author did not intend,” Biola communications director Brenda Velasco told me.

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Religious freedom in global decline

Onize Ohikere | 4/25/18, 12:00 pm

Religious freedom conditions around the world continued to decline in 2017, the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted in its annual report released Wednesday. The independent bipartisan body recommended the U.S.

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Lessons learned

First Amendment | School supports anti-gun protest, but not pro-life walkout

Bonnie Pritchett | 4/10/18, 07:33 pm

High school junior Brandon Gillespie learned Friday that administrators at his school would not accommodate a pro-life student walkout the same way they did an anti–gun violence demonstration last month.

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When religious beliefs and civic duty collide

Religious Liberty | Mennonite woman jailed for refusing to testify in death penalty review

Bonnie Pritchett | 3/06/18, 01:43 pm

A Colorado Court of Appeals on March 2 affirmed a judge’s contempt charges against Greta Lindecrantz, a 67-year-old Mennonite woman who has been behind bars since Feb. 26.

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Brownback confirmed as religious freedom ambassador

Evan Wilt | 1/24/18, 06:24 pm

UPDATE: WASHINGTON—Vice President Mike Pence broke a tied Senate vote for the second time Wednesday to the complete the confirmation of Sam Brownback as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The Senate originally scheduled Brownback’s final confirmation vote later this week but moved the vote up hours after Pence broke a tie to end debate. The ambassador position has been vacant since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. All 49 Senate Democrats voted to block Brownback’s confirmation.

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Oregon bakers lose another round in state court

Leigh Jones | 12/28/17, 04:35 pm

The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Thursday against Aaron and Melissa Klein, Christian bakery owners charged in 2013 with discrimination for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. The court sided with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), which fined the Kleins $135,000.

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Court rules for fire chief in religious liberty case

Kiley Crossland | 12/21/17, 09:53 am

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that city of Atlanta rules used to fire former Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran were unconstitutional. The ruling said policies restricting non-work speech allowed city officials to unconstitutionally discriminate against views with which they disagreed. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed suspended Cochran without pay in 2014 because of a 162-page book Cochran wrote for men at his church, advocating for a historically Biblical view of marriage and sexuality.

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Federal judge blocks contraceptive mandate exemption

Leigh Jones | 12/15/17, 04:44 pm

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a Trump administration rule giving more employers an exemption to Obamacare’s contraception and abortifacient mandate. The rule, issued in October, allowed more employers to claim a religious objection to paying for the drugs. California, Washington, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Virginia all sued to block the rule from taking effect. U.S.

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