Written by Don ByrdA church-state kerfuffle erupted last week as reports went viral claiming an Air Force cadet was forced to remove a Christian message from the hallway white board outside his room after religious freedom gadfly Mikey Weinstein reported complaints from other cadets to military officials. Dispute over just what happened and the extent of cadets’ religious freedom traveled quickly through conservative religious outlets and didn’t take long to reach Washington.
The Washington Post reports that in a House hearing about the Air Force budget Friday, the Secretary was confronted about the incident.
Written by Don ByrdRFRA is getting a bad rap these days. The 1993 federal legislation, which has spawned more than a dozen state-law copycats (or near copies), has served the cause of religious liberty well by protecting religious exercise incidentally but substantially burdened by the government. Its measured approach accomplishes that protection while safeguarding against allowing religion to be a trump card against government regulation. Unfortunately, misguided state amendments and hot-button cultural issues have stretched RFRA’s reach, and the rhetoric surrounding it, almost beyond recognition.
Writing in Slate, Emily Bazelon makes the strong argument that RFRA and religious liberty are worth defending, despite the recent spate of bad press both have received.
Written by Don ByrdUpdating a blog post from earlier this year, a Louisiana school district has entered into a consent decree with the ACLU to settle a lawsuit challenging egregious violations of religious liberty, including the harassment of a 6th-grade Buddhist student.
Written by Don ByrdA new book explaining the basic issues and central importance of church-state separation from the Baptist perspective is now available! The book, What a Touchy Subject! Religious Liberty and Church-State Separation, is a compilation of last year’s Shurden Lectures, delivered by the Baptist Joint Committee’s Executive Director, Brent Walker. It also includes material on the BJC, and essays on the intersection of religion and politics.
You can find the book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or as an e-book at nurturingfaith.net.
Written by Don ByrdLast week, I posted about the effort in the Mississippi legislature to adopt a Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Unfortunately, in recent months, state RFRA proposals have become increasingly controversial, partly because the language of many of the bills strays too far from the careful safeguards in the federal version, and partly due to the extreme rhetoric from both advocates and opponents.
Perhaps in response to the intense debate, the Mississippi House earlier today voted to send the measure back to be studied by committees, rather than voting on the bill itself.
