In California we are in phase 2 of unlocking the public-health lockdown imposed in light of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). One of the costs of the stay-at-home has been a prohibition of all public gatherings. In phase two meetings are now allowed but . . . Continue reading →
religious liberty
Alito And Thomas: In Bostock The Majority Is Sailing An Arrogant Pirate Ship
There is only one word for what the Court has done today: legislation. The document that the Court releases is in the form of a judicial opinion interpreting a statute, but that is deceptive. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of . . . Continue reading →
Salinas, CA Discriminates Against A Church
…New Harvest Christian Fellowship has rented space along Main Street in Salinas for more than 25 years. Their growing congregation prompted leaders to recognize several years ago that the church needed a larger facility. … With property at a premium in Northern . . . Continue reading →
George: The Court Has Legislated And The Consequences Are Inevitable
The legislation handed down by the Court will have far-reaching consequences, including the eventual destruction of all-women’s sports. As I tell my students, and constantly remind myself, “remember, when you sign on to a proposition you are signing on to all it . . . Continue reading →
NYT Blames Churches For Spreading Coronavirus, Ignores Protests And Riots
In this morning’s New York Times three staff reporters filed a story datelined “Pendleton, Ore” (odd question—why not use the standard postal abbreviation for Oregon, which has been in use for decades?) and it begins ominously: “Weeks after President Trump demanded that . . . Continue reading →
Justices Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, And Kavanaugh On The Erosion Of Religious Liberty Under The Covid Regime
The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine, or to engage in any other game of chance. But the Governor of Nevada apparently has . . . Continue reading →
Church Services, Covid-19, Civil Liberties, And The Culture War
Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA has been at the center of a heated theological and cultural controversy over whether churches should abide by public health orders (ostensibly) intended to curb the Coronavirus and if so, how. As previously chronicled in this . . . Continue reading →
A Useful Distinction Regarding Church And State In Our Covid-19 Controversy
For better or worse John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have become the public face of resistance to California’s onerous Covid-19 regulations. They have also become entangled in the culture war over masks and aligned with the Trump administration, since the president . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Religious Liberty
The first war fought in the name of the new American Republic was the “War for Independence” (1775–83). In the Declaration of Independence (1776), the American founders declared, in the preamble, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men . . . Continue reading →
Federal Court Upholds The Right Of Religious Schools To Adhere To Their Stated Convictions Regarding Sex
Or Grace Does Not Obliterate Nature
…This action concerns the expulsion of two students from a seminary school for violating school policies against same-sex marriage and extramarital sexual activity. Plaintiffs claim violations of: (1) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681, et seq. . . . Continue reading →
This Remarkable Address By Justice Alito Is True And Well Worth 30 Minutes Of Your Time
“The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine, or to engage in any other game of chance. But the Governor of Nevada apparently has different priorities. Claiming virtually unbounded power to restrict constitutional rights during the COVID–19 pandemic, he has issued a directive that severely limits attendance at religious services. A church, synagogue, or mosque, regardless of its size, may not admit more than 50 persons, but casinos and certain other favored facilities may admit 50% of their maximum occupancy—and in the case of gigantic Las Vegas casinos, this means that thousands of patrons are allowed.” Continue reading →
Get A Lawyer (UDATED)
If your congregation does not have a lawyer, it should. Continue reading
11th Circuit: A Ban On Therapy For An Unwanted Sexual Attraction Is Unconstitutional
We understand and appreciate that the therapy is highly controversial. But the First Amendment has no carveout for controversial speech. We hold that the challenged ordinances violate the First Amendment because they are content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny. . . . Continue reading →
Lessons from the Synod of Loudun: Government Overreach in the Twilight of Toleration
Though the erosion of Protestant liberties had already begun, the sessions of the Synod of Loudun give us a window into the government over-reach that was beginning to ramp up and would eventually take away all liberties of French Protestants. Continue reading →
SCOTUS Applies Brooklyn Diocese v. Cuomo: Strikes Down Limit On Number Of Worshipers In Church
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a northern Colorado church that sued Gov. Jared Polis over capacity limits on religious gatherings, reiterating a stance the highest court took in a similar case last month. High Plains Harvest Church . . . Continue reading →
A Little Wisdom Might Help Us Love Our Neighbor
Two Albuquerque, NM megachurches are being fined by the governor for disobeying regulations on gathering for worship. Both held Christmas Eve services with crowded auditoriums. In one video there are few masks evident. KOAT has the story. One congregation claims to have . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Federal District Court Upholds Religious Liberty For Physicians Against Obamacare Rule
In these consolidated cases, a coalition of entities affiliated with the Catholic Church and the State of North Dakota challenge the implementation of Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), a statute that prohibits certain forms of discrimination . . . Continue reading →
Religious Liberty Watch: SCOTUS Affirms 6–3 “South Bay” vs. Ninth Circuit
Application (20A138) granted by the Court. The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is granted pending disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and disposition . . . Continue reading →
Trans Activist Suing Jack Phillips
The poor Colorado cake-maker, Jack Phillips, Continue reading
British Christians Object To Vaccine Passports
Dear Prime Minister, As Christian leaders across a range of denominations, we continue to pray at this time for your government “and all in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1 . . . Continue reading →