A state panel agreed Monday to spend nearly $2 million to settle two federal lawsuits brought against the University of Iowa in 2017 after a religious group denied a gay student a leadership role. The Iowa State Appeal Board, made up of . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch
Religious Liberty And Free Speech Suffers Another Defeat As LGBTQ Lobby Continues To Demand Affirmation Of Gay Marriage
A federal court in New York dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Christian wedding photographer who refused to photograph same-sex weddings. The woman, Emilee Carpenter, filed the federal lawsuit in April, arguing that New York’s nondiscrimination laws forced her to choose between . . . Continue reading →
UK Christians Respond To Proposal To Ban “Conversion Therapy”
These Laws Already Exist In Some US States
We are Christian ministers and pastoral workers from a broad range of churches, who have in common that we hold to orthodox, historic Christian teaching on sexual ethics. We are writing in response to the consultation on ‘Banning “Conversion Therapy”’ presented by . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: SCOTUS To Consider Whether Religious Schools May Do Religious Things
Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Carson v. Makin, a case that concerns whether Maine may constitutionally exclude religious schools from participating in the state’s private-school tuition-assistance program. To those who have been paying attention to recent Supreme Court decisions . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Federal Courts Continue Turning Back Federal Mandate Regime
A federal judge Tuesday blocked a national COVID-19 vaccine mandate that would have required private government contractors to get their shots, dealing yet another blow to the Biden administration’s jab push. The mandate, set to take hold Jan. 4, was the latest . . . Continue reading →
Ninth Circuit Postpones Vaccine Mandate For Prison Workers
A federal appeals court temporarily blocked a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for California prison workers on Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request for a stay of a lower court order from September pending an appeal, delaying the January . . . Continue reading →
First Amendment Liberties Wounded: Baronelle Stutzman Forced Out Of Business
“We’re all in trouble – whether we’re religious or not—when we don’t have the freedom to live consistent with our faith and our beliefs, when I don’t have the freedom to run my business according to my beliefs, live my life according to my beliefs” Continue reading →
A Canary In The Cultural Coal Mine
Rasanen and Pohjola are being charged with “hate speech” for respectively writing and publishing a 24-page 2004 booklet that explains basic Christian theology about sex and marriage, which reserves sex exclusively for within marriage, which can only consist of one man and . . . Continue reading →
Federal District Court Judge Suggests That Military Personnel Denied Religious Exemption From The Covid Vaccine May Have A Case Under RFRA
Whether characterized as a facial challenge or as a class of precisely similar as-applied challenges, requiring only a single judicial determination, the plaintiffs’ contention is—based on current data—quite plausible that each branch’s procedure for requesting a religious exemption is a ruse that . . . Continue reading →
Religious Liberty Watch: OSHA Suspends Vaccine Mandate In Wake Of Fifth Circuit Ruling
There is very little news coverage of this decision but it is on the OSHA website. Continue reading
Religious Liberty Watch: The Fifth Circuit Grants Stay Of OSHA Vaccine Mandate
…The Occupational Safety and Health Act, which created OSHA, was enacted by Congress to assure Americans “safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.” See 29 U.S.C. § 651 (statement of findings and declaration of purpose and policy). It . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Tent-Making Pastor Threatened With Loss Of Realtor’s License
Warning. You don’t have to say anything reasonable people would see as “hate speech” to be sanctioned for “hate speech.” Missoula, Montana realtor Brandon Huber is a part-time realtor as well as the lead pastor of the Clinton Community Church in the . . . Continue reading →
Wilentz: Taking Down Jefferson Is A Symbolic Take Down Of The Declaration
Removal of the David D’Angers statue of Thomas Jefferson from City Hall would be a direct attack on a symbol of the democratic values New Yorkers hold dear. The statue specifically honors Jefferson for his greatest contribution to America, indeed, to humankind: . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Kansas City Church Wins Settlement Over Religious Discrimination
A Kansas City-area Baptist megachurch has reached a $150,000 settlement with the county over coronavirus restrictions, with the church claiming that the county treated them more harshly than secular institutions when it came to COVID protocols. Abundant Life Baptist Church, which has . . . Continue reading →
Twenty-Four Attorneys General File Amicus Brief In Support Of A Coach’s Right To Pray After The Football Game
The Bremerton School District prohibited Coach Kennedy from “engag[ing] in demonstrative religious activity, readily observable to (if not intended to be observed by) students and the attending public.” App. 37, 81. The District suspended Coach Kennedy for violating this directive when he . . . Continue reading →
Christian Employers Alliance Sues Biden Administration Over Sex Transition Surgery Requirement
The Christian Employers Alliance filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Monday over two mandates that force religious nonprofit and for-profit employers to fund “gender transition surgeries, procedures, counseling, and treatments.” On Tuesday, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a motion asking a . . . Continue reading →
A Little More In The Public Interest
Obviously we all have an interest in Covid, the vaccine, and treatments. It is beyond difficult for most of us to sort through the welter of information, to determine what is genuine and what is propaganda. Continue reading
In The Public Interest
We the physicians of the world, united and loyal to the Hippocratic Oath, recognizing the profession of medicine as we know it is at a crossroad, are compelled to declare the following; WHEREAS, it is our utmost responsibility and duty to uphold . . . Continue reading →
Advocates Of Religious Liberty Should Care About Federal Vaccine Mandates
Although much of the rhetoric surrounding the new federal vaccine mandates focuses on individual rights—“how dare they force me to inject something into my body?”—the government can generally regulate its own employees, or those it funds with Medicaid/Medicare dollars, so the strongest . . . Continue reading →
What If Students Were Praying In Jesus’ Name?
A local paper reports that that the Thomas More Society, which specializes in religious liberty litigation, has sued the State of California over its inclusion of an Aztec prayer in the curriculum as an activity. Continue reading