When religious liberty advocates raised concern how the new rights to sexual expression reduce the First Amendment right of freedom of religion to “freedom of worship,” many civil rights advocates argued we were overreacting. But now that the First Amendment guarantees of speech and press are under the withering reductive forces of Planned Parenthood and…
By Morgan Lee and Jeremy Weber, Christianity Today. State bans on same-sex marriage are no longer legal in America, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today. So the question becomes: How will gay rights and religious rights be balanced? Below is what the justices said in today’s majority opinion and four dissents, as well as a summary of…
By Christiana Holcomb, The Gospel Coalition. More than 35 states now issue same-sex marriage licenses. An increasing number of scholars and judges insist that the First Amendment only protects the freedom to believe—not the freedom to live out those beliefs. At least one state now compels employers to provide insurance coverage for elective abortions. Many cities…
By David Fischler, The Reformed Pastor blog The state of California, in its infinite wisdom, has become the latest secular jurisdiction to decide the First Amendment doesn’t apply within its bounds. This time, the issue is abortion, and the churches of that state have found out that while they don’t have to provide insurance coverage…
From Common Ground Christian Network We the Common Ground Christian Network affirm the dignity and value of every human being and we oppose President Obama’s July 21, 2014 executive order which seeks to limit the free exercise of religion by organizations doing business with the federal government. The order compels all federal contractors, including religious…
By Joe Palazzolo At a recent meeting of the Osceola County, Fla., board of commissioners, many attendees bowed their heads in silence as they listened to an invocation delivered by an atheist. “Habit, I guess,” says David Williamson of Central Florida Freethought Community, who, in lieu of calling on the almighty, invoked the spirit of…
By John Inazu The Supreme Court decided an important First Amendment case this past week. But it wasn’t Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. On Thursday (June 26), a unanimous Court struck down a Massachusetts law that restricted peaceful expression on public streets and sidewalks outside of abortion clinics. And those who care about religious liberty should…
A Jewish Rabbi, a Baptist, a Unitarian Universalist and a Lutheran walked into a courthouse … It could be the opening line of a joke, but it’s not. It is a description of some of the parties involved in the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) lawsuit filed against the State of North Carolina seeking the…
By Tony Perkins The First Amendment guarantees more than the freedom to speak. It also protects the freedom not to speak—a right the U.S. Supreme Court just denied Elaine Huguenin. For the photographer and her husband, this latest development was a crushing one, especially as Christian business owners continue to find themselves on the losing side of…
By Ken Klukowski Christians in the U.S. military are being told they must forfeit their First Amendment rights. Bible verses are being erased from cadets’ personal dorm-room white boards, and military lawyers claim that legal protections for religion only pertain to matters such as clothing and growing beards but do not extend to any religious…