Blog From The Capital: Religion & Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Religion & Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Religion & Law

Blog From The Capital

Blog from the Capital is the weblog of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a Baptist church-state separation advocacy group in D.C. for the last 70 years.

Post Frequency: 8.8/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2009 at 16:22:09

Defense Department Responds with Motion to Dismiss

Posted on July 09, 2008
Responding to the complaint of Army Spec. Jeremy Hall (see post below!) that a "pattern" of religious discrimination exists throughout the military, the Defense Department has filed a memo in support of the defendant's motion to dismiss. (via Religion Clause)...

Separation of Mosque and State in Iraq

Posted on July 08, 2008
In an interesting report over the weekend, the LATimes tells of planned changes for the upcoming fall elections in Iraq. Worried that highly influential religious figures would be exploited by campaigns, a new rule will not allow photos of anyone...

Resident Against Resident, Student Against Student

Posted on July 08, 2008
AP updates the story of a Mount Vernon, Ohio science teacher who defiantly introduced his own religious beliefs in class, refused to stop displaying a Bible in his room, and marked a student's arm with a cross to "demonstrate" an...

RLUIPA in the News

Posted on July 07, 2008
In Maryland, the Walkersville Zoning Board is being sued for its decision to "reject the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's proposal to build a worship and recreation center on 224 acres of agriculturally zoned land." The landowner claims the decision violates RLUIPA...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Grassley Updates Ministry Investigation, Answers Common Questions

Posted on July 07, 2008
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has released a memo updating his progress in investigating the finances of 6 television ministries for potential misuse of tax-exempt status. It looks like 2 of the respondents have been highly cooperative, 2 moderately so, and...

God and Country

Posted on July 04, 2008
Mercer University professor David Gushee offers thoughts on the church and July 4. Visiting family last weekend, I experienced a classic ?God and country? service at a large SBC church. There was a day when I would have been outraged...

Initiative, Enforcement and the Faith-Based Funding Program

Posted on July 03, 2008
It's nice to see a complex and important church-state issue like the government's faith-based funding program get as much attention as it has lately. First, President Bush recently spent a few days claiming his administration's initiative to be a rousing...

Faith-Based Hiring Thoughts

Posted on July 03, 2008
Conservatives have found their avenue of backlash against Senator Obama's proposal to extend and amend the government's faith-based initiative: his reasonable insistence that federal money not be used to discriminate in hiring. Steven Waldman chronicles the outrage...

Baptist Joint Committee Responds to Obama's Faith-Based Proposal

Posted on July 02, 2008
From the BJC press release: While recognizing that many challenges will arise in the implementation of his proposal, BJC General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman said many of the senator?s comments are reassuring. ?The speech reflects a keen appreciation for the...

IRS Investigating Florida Televangelist

Posted on July 02, 2008
Bill Keller says the IRS is investigating him for comments about Mitt Romney and Mormonism during the primary, and about Barack Obama's Christianity more recently. He says his comments were religious in nature and not political....

The Larger Question

Posted on July 02, 2008
Rev. Barry Lynn dares to ask: "Do we really need a faith-based initiative?" More on this later......

Obama to Give Speech on Faith

Posted on July 01, 2008
Today's NYTimes reports that presidential candidate Barack Obama will give a major address on faith today in Zanesville, Ohio. Stay tuned. If he makes substantive remarks about church and state, or the role of faith in politics and public policy,...

ADF's "Pulpit Initiative": Who Gains? Who Loses?

Posted on July 01, 2008
Rob Boston of Americans United has a strong post criticizing the ADF's "pulpit initiative" plan asking ministers to violate their tax-exempt restrictions on endorsing candidates in their official capacities as church leaders. His concluding point bears repeating - this scheme...

Coverage of, and BJC Reaction to, Obama's Speech on Faith-Based Funding

Posted on July 01, 2008
Associated Baptist Press' Rob Marus reports: "On Bush's Faith-Based Programs, Obama Says Save the Best, Ditch the Rest." In the Democrat?s speech, the clearest difference from Bush?s policy was whether religious groups could discriminate on the basis of faith in...

Texas Court Invalidates Judgment Against Church Over Ceremony

Posted on June 30, 2008
By a 6-3 vote, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the judicial system may not get involved in claims arising from "accepted and expected" church activities like the "laying of hands" in an exorcism ceremony. The Houston Chronicle has...

President Continues Faith-Based Funding Praise: "Souls Have Been Touched"

Posted on June 30, 2008
In his weekly radio address, President Bush continued his renewed interest in promoting the White House's Faith-Based Initiative funding program. At the end of the address, he indicated the religious aims behind sending taxpayer funds to faith-based organizations...

Government Funding of Faith-Based Organizations Tops $2 Billion in 2007

Posted on June 27, 2008
The Chronicle of Philanthropy rounds up the President's speech on the faith-based funding program yesterday, and recently released statistics from the White House. The White House released data showing that religious charities won $2.2-billion ? or 10...

Deception and the Florida Amendments

Posted on June 27, 2008
A Palm Beach Post editorial starts this way: In November, Floridians could vote on school vouchers without knowing that they're voting on school vouchers. To avoid that kind of deceptive ballot manipulation, the Leon County Circuit Court should rule favorably...

Faith-Based Initiative: Cronyism or Huge Success?

Posted on June 26, 2008
An LATimes blog offers its take on the accusation that a Justice Department official was using politics and ideology to guide a large faith-based grant. I posted about this investigation - revealed by ABC News - earlier in the week....

Religious Liberty Council Luncheon Coverage

Posted on June 26, 2008
In the Baptist Standard, ABP's Rob Marus reports on last week's Baptist Joint Committee luncheon for its Religious Liberty Council during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship meeting in Memphis, TN. The guest speaker was Aidsand Wright-Riggins, executive director of the American...

ACLU Questions Navy Prayer, Threatens Suit

Posted on June 25, 2008
The NYTimes reports that the ACLU, on behalf of nine midshipmen, has asked the Naval Academy to discontinue its practice of offering a prayer with the mandatory noon meal. A Navy spokesman responded by denying that request, setting up a...

Book Reviews, Examining Kennedy, and The Limits of Religious Liberty

Posted on June 25, 2008
The newest issue of Report From the Capital - the monthly publication of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty - is now online. BJC Director Brent Walker examines the "church-state legacy" of John F. Kennedy in light of Ted...

Summum Brief Gains Coverage

Posted on June 25, 2008
A Deseret News (UT) story says that the friend-of-the-court brief signed by the BJC, AU and other religious liberty groups offers a "new twist" in the case. It's nice to see a reporter reading the documents and recognizing the change...

Justice Department Official Under Investigation for Politically-Motivated Faith-Based Grant

Posted on June 24, 2008
ABC News is reporting the Justice Department is investigating one of its own officials for repeatedly awarding funds - including a sizable faith-based grant - improperly, and over the objections of staff. They allege that his priorities in giving out...

Religion in America Study Shows Growing Tolerance for Diversity

Posted on June 23, 2008
The NYTimes reports on a new Pew Research study. Although a majority of Americans say religion is very important to them, nearly three-quarters of them say they believe that many faiths besides their own can lead to salvation, according to...

A "First Amendment Oxymoron"

Posted on June 23, 2008
Charles Haynes takes a look at the trends toward charter school, like the controversial Middle Eastern-focused school in Minnesota, and the Hebrew school in Florida. Strange as it may sound, this is a hot new trend in education: creating faith-based....

Baptist Joint Committee Joins AU, Others in Friend-of-the-Court Brief in Summum Case

Posted on June 23, 2008
In its next term, the Supreme Court is set to hear the appeal arising from the Summum faith's request to place a monument of its Seven Aphorisms next to the Ten Commandments in Pleasant Grove, Utah's Pioneer Park. The issue...

Ohio Teacher Dismissed For Preaching Beliefs...and Other Weird Things

Posted on June 22, 2008
Via Religion Clause, a controversial Ohio middle school teacher has been fired after reportedly promoting his religious beliefs - to put it mildly - in class: [John Freshwater] taught creationism in his science class and used a device to burn...

Saperstein on ADF's "Pulpit Initiative"

Posted on June 20, 2008
Today's issue of The Forward looks into the Alliance Defense Fund's scheme to create a test case by encouraging pastors to violate their tax-exempt status and endorse candidates from the pulpit ahead of the November election. Included is an interesting...

More Coverage of "Pulpit Initiative"

Posted on June 20, 2008
ABC News has picked up the story of Minnesota pastor Gus Booth, who is openly defying the IRS regulations against campaigning from the pulpit. I expect this issue to continue to grow through the campaign season. Will be interesting to...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Memo to Rick re Capital Punishment, the Constitution, and the Courts
In response to Rick's post this afternoon, let me say this: We mus...

New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...

The Mexico Trucker Blog
I've written before about the perceived problems with relaxed rest...

Capital Punishment ... and the Courts
Rick often says that although he opposes capital punishment, he wa...