Michael Peabody interviews Jason Hines, attorney and Andrews University seminary student, about the topic of same-sex marriage and why religious groups need to be careful to protect liberty of conscience in their advocacy on this issue.
Category: Current Events
Washington House of Representatives Attempts to Facilitate Union Take-Over of Religious Child Care Centers
By Michael D. Peabody – So what’s the biggest threat to religious liberty? According to J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the answer is found in the strings attached to government funding of religious activity. Earlier this month, during a speech for the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, Walker said, “What the government funds, it always regulates. Government-sponsored religion is always bad for religion. How can we raise a prophetic fist with one hand and take government money with the other?”
The truth of Walker’s statement was underscored just last week when the Washington State House of Representatives passed HB 1329, now working its way through the state Senate, that cleared the way for unionization of private and most non-profit child care centers if they take government subsidies for as little as one child, and even declares the centers’ employees “government employees” for the purposes of unionization.
RLTV PODCAST: Monte Sahlin on How to Help Haiti
Monte Sahlin is the director of Research and Development of the Ohio Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and is an expert international humanitarian aid. In this podcast he discusses the Haiti Earthquake and the response of a church group from Idaho that tried to help but got in trouble. He discussed Haiti and other current issues…
Oregon House Votes to Repeal Ban on Teachers Wearing Religious Dress
By an overwhelming majority, the Oregon House of Representatives has voted 51-8 to repeal a Klan-era ban on teachers wearing religious dress in the classroom. The law, originally an anti-Catholic measure, was implemented with the support of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. It bans Muslim public school teachers from wearing headscarves, Sikh men…
The European Attack on Religious Liberty
While they have been easy to miss, the news has been peppered recently with stories of serious threats to religious liberty not in the developing world, war-torn regions in the Middle East, or third-world countries struck by natural disasters, but in Europe, our own geopolitical backyard.
RLTV PODCAST: Martin Surridge on the Decline of Islamic Terrorism
Martin Surridge and Michael Peabody discuss Surridge’s recent article, “Is the Era of Large-Scale Islamic Terrorism Coming to an End?” in which he theorizes that Islamic terrorism in the West is on the decline.
Some Thoughts on the Implications of the Same-Sex Marriage Trial for Religious Minorities
Putting the emotional issues aside, this is the cold reality: If the U.S. Supreme Court takes this case and decides to uphold Proposition 8, this outcome could strip away fundamental principles that also protect religious minorities.
RLTV PODCAST: Attorney Karen Scott on the Current Problem of Human Trafficking in the United States
Michael Peabody interviews Karen Scott about the problem of modern day slavery and human trafficking in the United States. Bumper Music: “What’s the Matter with the World” by C Sharp. Music obtained through MusicAlley.com.
Is the Era of Large-Scale Islamic Terrorism Coming to an End?
While the world cautiously watches the war in Afghanistan and the nuclear aspirations of Iran, a surprising geopolitical trend may be emerging which could have quite profound consequences for international security and the safety of millions throughout southwest Asia and indeed the rest of the world. Despite the global carnage that Islamic terrorist groups continue…
RLTV PODCAST: Scott Ritsema on the Gun Sight Controversy
Michael Peabody interviews Scott Ritsema about the recent controversy involving a gun sight manufacturer that inscribed Bible references on tactical equipment used by military forces around the world. Scott Ritsema is the author of The Way the Truth and the Sword and maintains a blog at http://civicsnews.blogspot.com. BUMPER MUSIC: “Guns or Butter” performed by the…