Carmen answers, “Where is my ecclesiastical backstop?” (VIDEO)
Carmen Fowler LaBerge answers a question many people in mainline denominations are asking in light of same-sex marriage: “Where is my ecclesiastical backstop? Do I have one?”
Carmen Fowler LaBerge answers a question many people in mainline denominations are asking in light of same-sex marriage: “Where is my ecclesiastical backstop? Do I have one?”
By Brian Walsh, The Washington Times. Millions of religious Americans—many in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and many opposed to it—have been anxiously watching to see whether the federal courts would open the door for government to penalize them for living their lives according to their religious beliefs about marriage. They rightly believed that—regardless of…
By Eric Metaxas, Breakpoint. It’s almost become a part of the weekly news cycle: American citizens publicly tarred and feathered for professing their sincerely held religious beliefs. Just this month, we watched a family-owned pizzeria close its doors after its owners received hate mail and death threats from around the country. Their offense? Giving the…
By Rick Plasterer, Juicy Ecumenism Traditional Christians do not need to despair about religious liberty or liberty of conscience in the future, but for religious freedom to prevail in the future will require a firm grasp of the legal doctrines available from court decisions, the perseverance of superior lawyers, and when possible, legislative action. This…
By Regina Dennis, WacoTrib.com (Texas) Baylor University has tapped a retired congressman with a record of combating religious persecution across the globe to advance the university’s goals of protecting the freedom of religious practice. Frank Wolf, a Republican who represented Virginia’s 10th District in the U.S. House for 34 years, has been chosen as the…
By Kate Patrick Unwilling to wait for Congress to pass the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, Obama signed an executive order Monday prohibiting organizations with federal contracts from discriminating against employees who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or transgender. For religious freedom advocates, that could pose a major problem. Obama’s order does not provide an exemption for religious…
By Tom Strode WASHINGTON (BP) — The Southern Baptist Convention’s lead advocate for religious liberty has urged President Obama to name quickly an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, and he has offered a nominee for the position. In a letter Tuesday (July 15), Russell D. Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC),…
By David Olson, The Press Enterprise Four years after Corona’s Crossroads Christian Schools fired 11 employees for their religious beliefs, legal experts disagree as to whether the dismissals violated the law. In May 2013, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found “reasonable cause to believe” that the conservative evangelical Christian school violated the Civil Rights…
By Doug Bandow, The American Spectator The 21st century is supposed to be a time of liberal enlightenment. But the reality looks very different. Instead of a world of mutual understanding and tolerance, people around the globe face spreading violence and human rights abuses. Religious persecution continues to rise. The latest report from the United…
By Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra Secretary of State John Kerry’s December trip to Vietnam was meant to improve relations and urge greater protection of human rights in a country that climbed three spots on a list of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians. Kerry attended Mass in Ho Chi Minh City, a move faith-based adviser Shaun…