Religious News
The Daily Signal reports on faith and religion in America, covering Christian, Jewish, and other faith communities, with analysis and commentary on cultural trends, religious liberty, and moral issues that influence public life.
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news
Leftist Group Smears Religious Freedom Summit; Democratic Co-Chair Responds
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Katrina Lantos Swett—founder of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and a co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, which took place in Washington, D.C., earlier this week—responded to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s attack on the summit in a statement to The Daily Signal on Friday. The SPLC,… -
news
Mike Johnson, Warning of Global Threats to Religious Freedom, Urges Biden to Protect Uyghurs
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urged the Biden administration Wednesday to take stronger action against the Chinese Communist Party as the ruling government’s treatment of a minority group, the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs, continues to invite allegations of genocide, human rights violations, and religious hostility. Johnson addressed a crowd gathered at the annual International Religious Freedom… -
news
Christian, Jewish Leaders Condemn Ongoing Political and Spiritual ‘Persecution’ of Paivi Rasanen
An interfaith coalition has offered prayers of solidarity to two evangelical Christians facing their third trial for declaring that homosexuality violates the Bible, a position prosecutors call “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Despite two unanimous acquittals, Finland’s state prosecutor has taken an elderly member of Parliament and a Lutheran bishop before the Supreme Court… -
opinion
Antisemitism on College Campuses Has Shot Up 1,753% Since Oct. 7. Higher Education Spawned This Culture of Hate.
The nation’s college campuses have created a climate of hate. A report released Monday by the Combat Antisemitism Movement in partnership with the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University in Israel found that antisemitism has exploded in U.S. higher education. The numbers are shocking, but not surprising. The report… -
opinion
19 Years Ago, the Los Angeles Times Published a Column on Antisemitism on American Campuses
Antisemitism on American college campuses is not new. College presidents and professors didn’t begin tolerating or teaching antisemitism last Oct. 8. Students marching on behalf of the annihilation of the Jewish state, student activists tearing down posters of kidnapped Jewish children, locking Jewish students in a library at Cooper Union, and “70% of Jewish college… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Religious Freedom Advocates Demand Answers on State Department’s Exclusion of Nigeria, India From Persecution List
FIRST IN DAILY SIGNAL: A group of international religious freedom experts are calling for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to testify before a congressional hearing about the State Department’s decision to exclude Nigeria and India from a list of nations with severe violations of religious freedom. In a letter sent Wednesday, first obtained by The… -
opinion
Rise in Antisemitism Divides Liberals
Jews are feeling increasingly afraid and unwelcome. Last week, girls on the basketball team of a Jewish private school in suburban Hartsdale, New York, were jabbed and hit with antisemitic slurs by players from Yonkers’ Roosevelt High School. “I support Hamas, you f—ing Jew,” a Roosevelt player snarled. The game had to be called off… -
news
Despite 5,000 Killings in 2023, Biden’s State Dept. Leaves Nigeria Off Religious Freedom Watch List for 3rd Year
For the third consecutive year, the Biden administration’s Department of State has left Nigeria off of its list of “Countries of Particular Concern,” a list that catalogs the countries around the world that have perpetrated or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” The move comes despite the fact that Nigeria leads the world in… -
news
SEC Sides With Christian Groups Over Apple on Access to Apps
The Securities and Exchange Commission this week rejected Apple’s request to block a Christian group from making a proposal at a shareholder meeting on what apps the technology company allows users to access. The American Family Association said it planned to introduce a shareholder resolution at Apple’s upcoming annual shareholder meeting. The SEC’s decision begins the… -
news
The Harvard Crimson ‘Whitewashes Antisemitism by Using Israel as a Fig Leaf,’ Jewish Leaders Warn
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Orthodox Jewish leaders condemned The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper of Harvard University, for “whitewashing” antisemitism in a series of op-eds published at the tail end of 2023. Although Harvard’s efforts to respond to antisemitism on campus after Hamas’ terrorist attacks Oct. 7 in Israel drew early scrutiny, the university took… -
opinion
Yes, Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism
Imagine a group of people who work to destroy Italy because, they claim, Italy’s origins are illegitimate. Imagine further that these people maintain that of all the countries in the world, only Italy doesn’t deserve to exist. Then imagine that these people vigorously deny that they are anti-Italian. Would you believe them? Now substitute “Israel”… -
news
How Jews Are Planning for Personal Defense During the Rise of Antisemitism
After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, many Jews around the world are choosing to arm themselves for self-defense, according to a panel of Jewish professionals. “Jews tend not to own guns, and that’s very unfortunate, because if you look at our history, we could’ve used one or two throughout that time,” Karol Markowicz,… -
opinion
Campus Echo Chambers Lay Groundwork for Antisemitism
During a hearing this week on the rise in antisemitism on college campuses, Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said a lack of ideological diversity contributed to the hateful educational environment endured by Jewish students since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas. He’s right. A recent poll found that 73% of Jewish college students and about 44%… -
opinion
First Amendment Right to Religious Freedom Applies to Everyone but Jews
The First Amendment no longer applies to the openly Jewish. As antisemitic rallies, chants, and violence skyrocket in the United States and the Biden administration shifts focus to Islamophobia, many Jews have been forced to take their safety into their own hands. In America, rallies and other activities in support of the Hamas terrorist organization… -
news
‘Have You Apologized?’ Congressman Grills DOJ Official About Targeting of Catholic Father Mark Houck
Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy grilled the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice on Tuesday over the DOJ’s targeting of pro-life activists like Catholic father Mark Houck. Kristen Clarke, who oversees investigations into violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, came before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution… -
opinion
Transgender Activist Threatened to Target Christian Girls in Bathrooms and Rape Them to Death
“Transgender” people pose no threat to girls in girls’ restrooms, they say. Gender ideology is not a threat to Christianity, they say. The rhetoric of “trans genocide” does not inspire hatred or violence, they say. One grand jury indictment debunks that entire narrative, however, and news about it appears to have gone under the radar…. -
news
‘Are You Going to Fire These People or Not?’ Hawley Demands Answers on FBI Catholic Memo
FBI Director Chris Wray admitted to Sen. Josh Hawley that he has not fired anyone at the FBI’s Richmond office over the memo urging the FBI to investigate “radical traditional Catholics.” “You haven’t fired anybody,” Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said to Wray in a Senate hearing Tuesday. He pressed Wray on the FBI Richmond office’s… -
opinion
Nicaraguan Regime Continues to Imprison Catholic Bishop
Nicaragua has been in a state of turmoil since 2018. The leadership and actions of President Daniel Ortega’s regime have created an eruption of violence, civil unrest, and mass protests against the government. Defenders of human rights across the globe have strongly condemned the repressive actions of the regime. Amid this human rights crisis, the… -
opinion
Why Are Federally Funded University Centers Pushing Antisemitism?
The federal Department of Education spends $75 million annually on foreign language and culture educational programs in the United States, but much of that funds academic centers that side with America’s antagonists and enemies. Just look at funding to study the Middle East. Beginning Oct. 20, university Middle Eastern studies centers have co-organized a weekly… -
opinion
After 30 Years of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Law—and Our Liberty—Are Under Attack
Thirty years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, to protect what he called “the most precious of all American liberties.” Presidents of both parties have declared religious freedom to be one of our most fundamental freedoms, a “critical foundation of our nation’s liberty,” and “a fundamental…