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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

Worse Than the Lie

Posted on March 17, 2008
I agree with Dan, who writes - at Faith in Public Life - that in the case of the false e-gossip claiming that "Obama is a Muslim", the bigotry is worse than the lie itself. Either way, as he notes,...

Weekend Roundup

Posted on March 17, 2008
GetReligion believes too many press accounts are burying the church electioneering lede in the Obama-Jeremiah Wright controversy. The Texas Education Agency has sought the state Attorney General's opinion on, essentially, whether recently passed laws *require* Bible classes in public schools,...

A 2-Part Question

Posted on March 14, 2008
1) Could you not spend the entire rest of your reading lifetime with new books about the Founding Fathers and religion? 2) Even if you did, would you have any more convincing answers to the pressing church-state questions of today?...

Should We Focus Less on What's Constitutional?

Posted on March 14, 2008
Steven Waldman's new post at TPMCafe is titled "What Did the Founders Believe About Church and State?" By the end, I thought a more apt title might be, "Should We Care What the Founders Believed...?" Check it out....

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Grassley Sends Follow-Up Letters to Ministries

Posted on March 13, 2008
Melissa Rogers relays the latest in Senator Grassley's (R-IA) efforts (now joined by Senator Baucus (D-MT) to monitor the finances of a handful of television ministries. The Des Moines Register reports that a new round of letters have been sent...

White House Faith-Based Director Says Time to Raise Church-State Concerns has Elapsed

Posted on March 13, 2008
Director of the White House Faith-Based Initiatives Office, Jay Hein, says he's heard just about enough from us rabble-rousers complaining that the government has failed to adequately safeguard....let's see, what was it again?...oh right, the First Amendment! Who knew that...

Future of Faith-Based Programs Analyzed

Posted on March 12, 2008
Christianity Today looks at the remaining presidential candidates for their positions on charitable choice, and other efforts to send public money to religious institutions. The next President will face several challenges in continuing the faith-based office's work, however...

Conversation about Waldman's "Founding Faith"

Posted on March 12, 2008
Earlier this week, I posted a blurb from Jon Meachem's review of Founding Faith, Steven Waldman's book. Impressively, lots of writers and reporters are talking about this new release. The Washington Post held a chat with the author, and reviewed...

Pew Forum Releases Updated Political Activity Guide For Tax Exempt Organizations

Posted on March 12, 2008
Via Religion Clause, the Pew Forum has updated their guide for tax exempt groups - including churches and religious organizations. During every election cycle, many religious congregations find themselves wondering what role, if any, they can play in the political...

LATimes Op-Ed: Loyalty Oaths are Un-American

Posted on March 11, 2008
In response to the compelling case of Marianne Kearney-Brown, whose Quaker beliefs led her to question the loyalty oath required of California state employees, law professor Geoffrey Stone slams the very idea of such a requirement in a LATimes op-ed....

Controversial Practice Resumes in Annapolis

Posted on March 11, 2008
After Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler became the superintendent at the US Naval Academy in June, he made some changes. One of them was brought on by the surprise of seeing the flag "dipped", as in a salute, toward the altar...

Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America

Posted on March 10, 2008
That's the title of a new book by Steven Waldman. Newsweek offers a review by Jon Meachem, who has written on similar historical topics. Here's a snippet. "Founding Faith" is an excellent book about an important subject: the inescapable?but manageable?intersection...

Loyalty Oath Firing Update

Posted on March 10, 2008
Late last month, I posted an entry about a California woman who was fired from a state University teaching position for altering her loyalty oath, refusing to swear on religious grounds, and for insisting - because of her Quaker beliefs...

The "Sneak-Attack" on Church-State Separation in Florida

Posted on March 09, 2008
Last week, a St. Petersburg Times editorial took on new efforts to awaken school vouchers in Florida through the state's Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which is charged with making recommendations for statutory change every 20 years in pursuit of...

More Church Letterhead Endorsements

Posted on March 07, 2008
Americans United has filed a complaint with the IRS over Houston pastor Steve Riggle's endorsement of a congressional candidate. ?Clergy may endorse candidates as private citizens,? said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. ?That?s not what...

MRFF Adds Allegations of Retaliation to Lawsuit Against Military

Posted on March 06, 2008
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has refiled its lawsuit against the military on behalf of Jeremy Hall after his promotion was blocked. The suit was filed in September but dropped last month so the new allegations could be included. Among...

Judge: State Funding of Baptist University Out of Bounds

Posted on March 06, 2008
A circuit court judge in Kentucky has ruled unconstitutional the state's budgeting of millions of taxpayer dollars to fund a pharmacy school at a Southern Baptist University. Franklin Circuit Court Special Judge Roger Crittenden ruled that state funding for the...

In Illinois, Practical Concerns Win Over Political Ones

Posted on March 05, 2008
Last year, the Illinois legislature passed a controversial mandatory moment of silence law. They were so serious about it, they overrode Governor Blagojevich's veto of the bill. A couple of things happened after that: For one, a lawsuit was filed,...

Settlement: Texas School District Agrees to Abandon Controversial Bible Curriculum

Posted on March 05, 2008
A suit filed against Odessa, TX by the ACLU and People For the American Way will be settled. The school district, according to the NYTimes, has agreed to change its curriculum away from the "National Council on Bible Curriculum in...

UCC Hires Highly Respected Attorney To Represent Denomination Through IRS Inquiry

Posted on March 04, 2008
Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman will represent the United Church of Christ in handling the recently announced investigation by the IRS following a speech given by Barack Obama at denomination's national meeting. Waxman frames the issue in broad terms: "I...

Harris County Considers Legal Fees in Bible Monument Case

Posted on March 04, 2008
The Houston Chronicle reports on a Harris County debate over whether to continue to fight a decision ordering the removal of a Bible monument placed at the courthouse. At stake is $400,000 in attorney fees owed to the plaintiff, Kay...

ACLU Sues Tangipahoa Yet Again, Challenges School Board Prayer Model

Posted on March 03, 2008
Few institutions have been responsible for more posts here than the School Board of Tangipahoa, Louisiana. Most recently, the 5th Circuit surprised nearly everyone by dismissing a lawsuit challenging their practice of opening meetings with sectarian prayer on the grounds...

America's Changing Religious Landscape

Posted on March 03, 2008
The religious blogosphere is a buzz with a recent Pew research poll showing that Americans' religious affiliations are evolving. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation...

Baptist Theology and Religious Liberty

Posted on March 03, 2008
Writing in Liberty Magazine, Edwin Cook has an article entitled "True to 'Soul Liberty'" that tackles the concept of soul freedom in explaining the founding of the JM Dawson of Church-State Studies at Baylor University. Religious liberty 8 follows as...

The Salvation Army and the "Ministerial Exception"

Posted on February 29, 2008
To keep courts from interfering in the business of the church, religious institutions are protected from many elements of federal employment law through a "ministerial exception" covering their handling of employees that perform religious functions. Writing for a unanimous panel...

When Religious Beliefs Conflict with Oaths of Office [UPDATED]

Posted on February 29, 2008
What if you work for the state but believe your religious convictions may not conform to the oath of office required of you? Courtroom oaths typically include options for those who "affirm" rather than "swear," but what about the other...

Reaction to United Church of Christ's IRS Investigation

Posted on February 28, 2008
Background post is here. Melissa Rogers has some helpful analysis of the issues surrounding the IRS's investigation into Barack Obama's speech to the UCC national convention in June. Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite writes at the Washington Post's On Faith site:...

Critics Question White House's Faith-Based Report

Posted on February 28, 2008
Earlier this week, I pointed to the lengthy report from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives outlining the 7-year accomplishments of the program. As the Roundtable reports, since its release, critics have found it either "incomplete or...

IRS Investigates United Church of Christ over Obama's Speech

Posted on February 27, 2008
The United Church of Christ has revealed that a speech given at the denomination's national meeting in June by Senator Barack Obama, a UCC church member, has prompted an IRS investigation into its tax-exempt status. The Rev. John H. Thomas,...

Dobrich Case Settled

Posted on February 27, 2008
Howard Friedman at Religion Clause relays the news that a settlement (pdf) has been reached in the case of Dobrich v. Indian River School District. In that case, you'll recall, a Jewish family was terrorized and essentially run out of...

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