LATimes: The Cross is Christian
Written by Don ByrdThe LATimes editorial board today weighed in on the latest Mt. Soledad cross development (previous post here) by calling on the Supreme Court to order its removal. Here’s a snippet…
BJC’s Walker Discusses Education Effort
Written by Don ByrdIn an interview with Associated Baptist Press, BJC Executive Director Brent Walker discusses the past year for the organization and in religious liberty. Rev. Walker emphasizes a side of the Baptist Joint Committee’s advocacy we don’t read often read about in religious liberty news stories: its role as an educator.
Judge Orders Mt. Soledad Cross Removal
Written by Don Byrd
PolitiFact: Religious Liberty Attack on Nondiscriminatinon Act is False
Written by Don ByrdThe Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) does not discriminate against Christians. That is the conclusion of a Politifact report after investigating claims that the bill – which would prohibit secular businesses with 15 or more employees from making personnel decisions based on sexual orientation – “discriminates against Christian daycare, Christian parents, [and] Christian business owners.”
Those false claims are being made by the “Traditional Values Coalition” in a fundraising email suggesting that Senator Mark Pryor’s (D-AR) support of the bill in November somehow contradicts his statements that his Christianity guides him as a legislator.
Defense Authorization Bill Heads to Senate with Religious Liberty Changes
Written by Don ByrdThe U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the Defense Authorization bill, including language added in the Senate addressing the issue of religious expression by military chaplains. Typically, chaplains are asked to perform their official duties using inclusive language that, as best as possible, ministers to a wide range of religious adherents among diverse military personnel. Some have argued this emphasis improperly restricts a chaplain’s freedom to express his or her own religious beliefs.
In response to that controversy, changes in the defense spending bill attempt to limit the military’s ability to make personnel decisions based on expressions of faith. The relevant text is below.
