Written by Don ByrdWriting for the Washington Post, Susan Hayward, a senior program officer in the Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation at the U.S. Institute of Peace, offers strategic advice to the new Office of Faith-Based Initiatives at the U.S. State Department. The Office is tasked with enhancing diplomatic relations through partnerships and dialogue with religious communities around the world. She emphasizes the importance of an overtly inclusive process that goes beyond mere talk.
Written by Don ByrdA judicial magistrate in Newport, Tennessee has decided a couple’s proposed name for their child is just too religious for her taste. So she picked a name she liked instead. Jaleesa Martin was in front of Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew because she and her newborn’s father couldn’t agree on the child’s last name. But when Ballew saw the child’s first name was “Messiah,” she ordered it changed to Martin.
Written by Don ByrdIn today’s NYTimes, religion reporter Samuel Freedman profiles a unique partnership in Portland, Oregon between a suburban evangelical church and a public school in a low-income neighborhood. I love this story because it demonstrates what appears to be the successful navigation of tricky church-state concerns. When a church congregation wants to provide service in the community as part of its religious mission, and sees great need within public institutions like school systems, how should they be Christian servants without crossing important church-state safeguards?
Written by Don ByrdLast week, the 7th Circuit reversed the dismissal of an employment discrimination case in which a Nigeria-born employee of Heartland Sweeteners was denied time off to participate in burial rites for his father as required by his religious beliefs. The court ruled the employer has responsibilities to understand the breadth of religious exercise, even when as here the employee, Sikiru Adeyeye, did not explicitly refer to religion or faith in requesting accommodation.
Written by Don ByrdAt an event earlier today, Melissa Rogers – former Baptist Joint Committee General Counsel and current Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships – joined with Secretary of State John Kerry and Dr. Shaun Casey to announce the opening of the State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives. The purpose of the Office was described succinctly by Casey, will direct it.
Written by Don ByrdThat’s the legal bill the Pittsylvania County, Virginia Board of Supervisors will likely owe the state’s ACLU for the cost of bringing the Board to court for opening meetings with sectarian prayer. A magistrate judge made the recommendation for attorney’s fees earlier this week. As the editorial board of the Lynchburg News and Advance notes today, the costly effort of the County’s Board was unnecessary.
