Excerpt: “The past year has marked a shift in religious liberty debates, one that previously centered on hiring rights but became focused on health care requirements. When President Obama first took office, faith-based groups were especially concerned that organizations that discriminate in hiring based on religious beliefs would become ineligible for federal funding. In 2011,…
Category: In the News
Hands Off! Religious Liberty Furor Over Birth Control (Liberty Magazine)
The real sleeper issue here, as it is with much of the political warfare of the present day, is money. Liberty magazine has consistently warned church organizations against taking state money. We have from the very beginning of the Faith-Based Initiative of the previous administration (an initiative still alive and kicking against the First Amendment establishment prick) warned that it is inimical to church-state separation for public monies to be used to advance any particular faith view. So it would seem a little ungrateful to the public purse for a church to object when the state applies generally applicable regulations to an operation it might tend to see as its pocket money project.
Beren Academy boys hoops coach Chris Cole still hopeful TAPPS reschedules state semifinal to accommodate Sabbath | Dallas Morning News
EXCERPT: HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas agency has turned down a request by an Orthodox Jewish school in Houston to reschedule a championship game potentially involving its boys’ basketball team because the game time falls during the Sabbath. The Beren Academy advanced to the semifinals in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’…
Santorum’s Martyr Complex (SLATE)
EXCERPT: Is Rick Santorum suffering for his faith? One of his advisers suggested to the Washington Examiner‘s Byron York that he is, and that Mitt Romney is getting absolution. “Why is Mormonism off limits?” York quotes the adviser as asking. “We’re having to spend days answering questions about Rick’s faith, which he has been open about….
Iran Court Convicts Christian Pastor Convert To Death | Fox News
The final verdict has been handed down. The blood of the martyrs continues to water the seed of the church. Prayers needed for courage and a miracle. Pastor Nadarkhani is a true hero of the faith and a witness against religious intolerance of all stripes. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/22/iran-court-convicts-christian-pastor-convert-to-death/
The U.S. Supreme Court made the Right Decision When It Upheld the Ministerial Exception
In ruling the way it did, the Supreme Court protected the right of a religious organization to select its clergy without government interference and avoided placing church doctrine under government interpretation. Civil magistrates will not be in a position to where they are forced to determine which religious view, that of the clergy member or the church, is correct.
Campaigning for Candidates from the Pulpit is a Bad Idea
As it now stands, churches and charities are welcome to speak truth to power on the issues that matter – from opposing human trafficking, to lobbying for workplace accommodation for religious employees, to pursuing justice. Religious organizations just cannot support or oppose particular candidates or political parties. This is a good thing.
In Nigeria, escalating religious conflict impacts Adventist Church (ANN)
Adventist News Network– Jan. 23, 2012 Abidjan, Ivory Coast Gilbert Weeh/ANN staff The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria is seeing a drop in church attendance and some church closures amid worsening religious conflict in the country. An upsurge of attacks against Christian churches by the extremist group Boko Haram beginning late last year has led…
BILL TRACKER: Congress Votes to Reauthorize US Commission on International Religious Freedom
H.R. 2867: United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2011 is now on President Obama’s desk. There had been some concern that the USCIRF may not have been approved by the Senate. Bookmark this page to track the latest developments. The funding and function of USCIRF was the subject of…
New York City ‘Workplace Religious Freedom Act’ Clarifies Religious Accommodation Requirements for Employers
On August 30, 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the “Workplace Religious Freedom Act” (Int. 632-A) into law clarifying what requirements employers are required to meet to demonstrate that they have done all that is necessary to make a reasonable attempt to accommodate the bona fide religious needs of employees. Under pre-existing law,…