Religious Freedom News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of religious freedom issues in the United States and around the world, with reporting on policy, legal challenges, persecution, and the impact on people of faith.
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news
Mike Pence Signs Religious Freedom Bill
A bill known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act has been signed into law by the governor. Supporters of Indiana Senate Bill 101 say that the law protects the free practice of religion, and opponents say the law will allow gay and lesbian individuals to be discriminated against. For example, the law could permit business owners… -
opinion
Cruz, Lankford Move to Protect Religious Freedom of D.C. Private Schools, Organizations
On Wednesday, Senators Ted Cruz, R-Tex., and James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced resolutions of disapproval that, if passed by Congress and signed by the president, would effectively overturn two bad pieces of legislation passed by the D.C. council earlier this year. In January, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser signed two euphemistically titled bills: the “Reproductive… -
opinion
Positive Response to Indian Leader Modi’s Speech on Religious Freedom
Indian Prime Minister Modi has received praise at home and abroad for a speech he gave on February 17 that took a firm stand against religious persecution and violence and pledged equal treatment for all religions in India. His remarks were made to an audience of 1,200 Christians who had gathered to mark the canonization… -
news
Obama Helps Spark a Religious Freedom Debate in India
The issue of religious freedom has sparked heated debate in India in recent weeks, prompting the country’s prime minister to address the subject directly. At an event celebrating Indian Catholics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the crowd that “My government will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith and that everyone has the undeniable… -
opinion
BJP Can Do More to Protect Religious Freedom in India
The state of religious freedom in India is in question after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament declared that on Christmas Day he would host a Hindu conversion ceremony, a ceremony where Christians and Muslims are publicly pressured to abandon their faith. While the conversion ceremony has since been temporarily called off after the BJP… -
opinion
Don’t Buy the Lie That Freedom to Worship Is the Same as Religious Freedom
The right to live, work and worship according to one’s faith is a freedom foundational to the United States. Many of the first settlers, having faced religious persecution in England, sought a place where they could freely worship and live according to their conscience without interference from the government. The Founders were clear, and the… -
opinion
This Makes No Sense: Democratic Senator Wants to Make International Religious Freedom Agency More Partisan
With large-scale attacks against Christians by groups such as ISIS in Iraq, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and Al-Shabab in Somalia, religious intolerance has been much in the news lately. Christians, of course, are not the only religious group subjected to persecution. Whether it is Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and Falun Gong in China, Baha’is and… -
opinion
Violations of Religious Freedom Persist in Cuba
A State Department report on religious freedom released in July showed that repression of religious belief is still the norm in Cuba. The report explains that in Cuba “most religious leaders reported they exercised self-censorship in what they preached during services” because of fear of “government reprisals.” Moreover, while the State Department recognizes that established… -
opinion
This Law Makes Sure Big Government Can’t Crush Religious Freedom
The pitch of public controversy surrounding cultural issues—especially those related to women and reproduction—can give the impression that we live in an intractably divided society with incompatible differences.But the Hobby Lobby decision suggests that such a tone is overwrought. The Supreme Court’s opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Burwell correctly… -
opinion
Today the Supreme Court Protected Religious Freedom
You don’t have to agree with Hobby Lobby or share its owners’ opposition to abortion to recognize that the government should not be able to force Americans to set aside their deeply held beliefs simply because they go into business. Thankfully, the Supreme Court agreed and upheld the right of Americans to live and work… -
news
Supreme Court Upholds Religious Freedom in Hobby Lobby Case
The government can’t compel a “closely held” business such as the Hobby Lobby chain to cover abortion-inducing drugs or devices in employee health plans if doing so would violate the employer’s moral and religious beliefs, the Supreme Court ruled today. In a much-anticipated decision, the justices decided 5-4 that the Obamacare provision mandating such coverage… -
news
Kerry Asks Sudan to ‘Respect’ Condemned Mom’s Religious Freedom
A day after Christian groups rallied outside the White House seeking presidential action on behalf of a mother condemned to hang in Sudan because of her Christian faith, Secretary of State John Kerry posted a statement of “concern” about her persecution. Kerry appealed to the Sudanese government in the case of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag,…