Stories tagged with: religious liberty

• New school year spurs religious liberty battles

  by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, September 27, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  CHICAGO (BP) -- The 2019 school year has brought religious liberty challenges for college and high school students in the U.S., including action in Illinois, Tennessee and North Carolina.

  In Illinois, four Wheaton College students have sued the city of Chicago for the right to distribute religious flyers and preach in a public park after the city set new rules against such action. Read More

• Religious liberty gaining momentum in court?

  by Steve West/WORLD , posted Wednesday, September 25, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  iStock photo

  PHOENIX, Ariz. (BP) -- The Arizona Supreme Court last week rebuked states and municipalities that overzealously enforce anti-discrimination laws.

  The state's highest court said the city of Phoenix cannot apply a nondiscrimination ordinance to the designers of custom wedding invitations. In a 5-3 decision, the court found Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush and Nib Studio, have the right to decline to create custom invitations for same-sex weddings. Justice Andrew Gould, writing for the majority, put forward a sweeping defense of free speech and religious liberty. See related Baptist Press story. Read More

• Students urged to bring Bibles to school Oct. 3

  by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, September 24, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  Photo from Facebook

  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP) -- After 17-year-old Perry participated in Bring Your Bible to School Day in the seventh grade, he started a Bible study for classmates and grew closer to God during his mother's cancer diagnosis in his junior year.

  "I think that if you take one step, one action at a time, and just take your Bible to school," Perry said in advance of the 2019 observance Oct. 3, "then whether right there or way later on in your life, you realize that that was exactly what [you] needed in that moment." Read More

• Explainer: Trump urges end to religious persecution

  by Josh Wester, posted Tuesday, September 24, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  iStock

  NEW YORK (BP) -- On Monday (Sept. 23), at the "Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom" event at the United Nations headquarters in New York, President Trump delivered an address urging world leaders and members of the international community to join the fight to end religious persecution and protect religious freedom across the globe.

  According to Pew Research Center, both government restrictions on religious freedom and social hostilities toward religion have been on the rise around the world since 2007. Standing before U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and a room full of foreign leaders, Trump offered an impassioned plea for governments across the world to make a concerted effort to end religious persecution. Read More

• Trump to form group for workplace religious freedom

  by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, September 23, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  iStock photo

  NEW YORK (BP) -- A new coalition of U.S. businesses to protect religious freedom in the workplace is among U.S. President Donald Trump's latest initiatives, Trump said Monday (Sept. 23) at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

  "This initiative will encourage the private sector to protect people of all faiths in the workplace," Trump said in hosting the 11:30 a.m. Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom. "Too often, people in positions of power preach diversity while silencing, shunning or censoring the faithful. Read More

• Phoenix artists win at state high court

  by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, September 17, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  ADF Photo

  PHOENIX (BP) -- The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday (Sept. 16) the city of Phoenix's use of an anti-discrimination ordinance violates the freedom of speech and religion of two artists who refuse to create custom invitations for same-sex weddings.

  The court's 4-3 decision for Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski -- the owners of Brush & Nib Studio -- found the city's interpretation of its law infringed Arizona's constitutional protection of free speech and a state law ensuring free exercise of religion. While Duka and Koski say they serve all customers regardless of their sexual orientation, their belief as Christians that marriage is only between a man and a woman prevents them from using their artistic abilities for same-sex ceremonies. Read More

• Florist asks high court to hear case again

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, September 12, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from YouTube

  OLYMPIA, Wash. (BP) -- Florist Barronelle Stutzman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case again for liberty to refuse floral requests that violate her Christian convictions.

  When the high court first heard Stutzman's case in 2018, it threw out a state court ruling against her. U.S. justices ordered the lower court to reconsider Stutzman's case in light of new legal precedent from the Supreme Court itself. Complying with the order, the state in June upheld its ruling against Stutzman, maintaining she discriminated against a homosexual couple by refusing to design floral arrangements for their wedding. Read More

• Congress graded on global religious freedom

  by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, September 10, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- One-third of Congress again received "above average" scores on global religious liberty, according to an analysis of the latest session.

  The International Religious Freedom Congressional Scorecard showed the 115th Congress (2017-2018) had the same percentage of members who scored "above average" as did the 114th Congress (2015-2016). The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative (21Wilberforce) issued the scorecard in July and is now in the process of distributing it to members of Congress. Read More

• ERLC: Law does not include gay, transgender rights

  by Tom Strode, posted Friday, August 30, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Non-discrimination protections in federal workplace law do not cover "sexual orientation" or "gender identity," the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and other faith-based organizations have told the U.S. Supreme Court.

  The ERLC signed onto friend-of-the-court briefs filed Aug. 23 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that urge the high court to rule that the classification "sex" in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not include "sexual orientation" or "gender identity." Read More

• Feds find Vt. hospital violated conscience rights

  by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, August 29, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Photo from UVMhealth.org

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- A Vermont medical center has violated federal law by forcing a nurse to participate in an abortion and has 30 days to declare its intention to correct its policies, the Trump administration announced Wednesday (Aug. 28).

  The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) disclosed it had issued a notice of violation to the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) in Burlington. The action followed an investigation into an unnamed nurse's complaint she was forced to assist with an elective abortion despite her longstanding conscientious objection. The investigation also found the medical center had scheduled other workers to he Read More