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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opinion
Religious Freedom Around the World: Rhetoric vs. Reality
For many countries, rhetoric surrounding religious freedom does not match reality. For example, look no further than Nigeria. There, the country ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1993, agreeing that everyone has the right to both the expression and exercise of religion. Those same rights are guaranteed in the Nigerian Constitution…. -
opinion
News of Religious Freedom’s Demise Might Be Exaggerated After All
It’s no secret that religion in America has seen better days. The percentage of Americans who say religion is “very important” in their lives is at its lowest point in decades. The percentage who express confidence in the church or organized religion is half what it was in the 1980s. And more than three-quarters say… -
opinion
Steep New Tariffs on Algeria Give the US Leverage to Press on Religious Freedom
Last week, the United States implemented a new set of reciprocal tariffs on imports from dozens of countries around the world. As part of this broader trade realignment, Algeria will face a 30% tariff on its exports to the U.S., one of the highest rates assigned. While these tariffs are intended to address global trade… -
news
Supreme Court Rules on Parents’ Religious Freedom in LGBTQ School Book Opt-Out Case
The Supreme Court upheld the religious freedom of Maryland parents who challenged a school district policy that prevented them from opting their children out of lessons involving LGBTQ+ books. The court ruled, 6-3, that the Maryland parents were entitled to a preliminary injunction. The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, involved Maryland parents of various faith backgrounds—Protestant, Catholic, Jewish,… -
opinion
Education Freedom Meets Religious Freedom
Two important developments in education occurred over the last week. One was a sign of the problem we have. The other was a sign of the solution. The sign of the problem, to which hopefully the U.S. Supreme Court will provide the correct answer, falls under the headline of sex education. The court has just… -
news
Supreme Court Clash Over Parents’ Religious Freedom and Schools’ Gender Curriculum
The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on an important case involving the intersection of the rights to exercise religion and to direct the upbringing of children. The court’s decision, expected by the end of June, may advance or curtail an expanding recognition of the fundamental right to exercise religion. In October 2022, the Montgomery County,… -
news
Georgia’s GOP Scores Victories on Religious Freedom and Defunding Trans Procedures
On Wednesday, Georgia’s State Capitol was the stage for a “heated debate” over legislation aimed at sparing taxpayers from funding gender transition procedures for inmates—including “sex change surgeries, hormone replacement therapies, and cosmetic procedures designed to alter sexual characteristics.” While the measure garnered strong support from Republicans, Democrats voiced their displeasure with the bill and… -
opinion
The Trump Administration Is Already Actively Defending Religious Freedom
The Trump administration, not yet two months old, is making clear it wants a better reading of the First Amendment’s protection for religious freedom. And it’s taking concrete steps to make that happen. In October 2022, the school board in Montgomery County, Maryland, approved certain “LGBTQ-inclusive” books for use in in the public school curriculum… -
opinion
Washington State Is Attacking Religious Freedom. And It Won’t Stop There.
Everyone agrees that those in certain positions, from teachers to doctors, should report instances of child abuse and neglect. Democrat lawmakers in Washington state, however, are advancing legislation that would require clergy members to report, even in circumstances that would violate the Sacrament of Confession, a central tenet of the Catholic faith. Washington legislators have… -
opinion
Trump and Rubio Should Come Out Swinging on International Religious Freedom
In the first week of February, Washington, D.C., will play host to the International Religious Freedom Summit, the largest annual nonprofit-led gathering of religious freedom advocates globally. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio should take the opportunity to quickly reorient religious freedom policy so that it is once again an American foreign… -
opinion
Attacks on Religious Freedom Continue Despite Washington’s Rhetoric
Thomas Jefferson’s resume is hard to beat. At 23, he was serving in the Virginia Colonial Legislature and, within a decade, he was in the Virginia governor’s mansion. He followed that up as ambassador to France, secretary of state, vice president, and a two-term president. From a lifetime of profound accomplishments, he chose three to… -
opinion
EXPOSED: Far-Left Group Tried to Blackmail Biden-Harris Official Into Ditching Religious Freedom Summit
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Southern Poverty Law Center, a left-leaning nonprofit, pressured a well-known figure in the Biden-Harris administration not to attend a bipartisan summit to promote religious freedom around the world, documents uncovered by The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project show. According to the documents, first published by The Daily Signal, multiple SPLC staff… -
opinion
‘UN-AMERICAN’: SPLC Uses ‘Terrorist Tactics’ to Silence Dissent, Religious Freedom Lawyer Says
This is the third in a three-part series on the movement for religious freedom in the U.S. legal system today. Check out the first part about how Christians who refuse to take a COVID-19 vaccine face “medical death row” here and the second part about the “rise of global censorship” here. NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Mike Farris, general… -
opinion
Religious Freedom, Part 2: Lawyer Sounds Alarm About ‘Rise of Global Censorship’
This is the second in a three-part series on the movement for religious freedom in the U.S. legal system today. Check out the first part about how Christians who refuse to take a COVID-19 vaccine face “medical death row” here. NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Ryan Bangert, senior vice president at the religious freedom law firm Alliance Defending Freedom,… -
opinion
Religious Freedom, Part 1: Americans Fight to Get Off ‘Medical Death Row’ Over Vaccination Status
This is the first in a three-part series on the movement for religious freedom in the U.S. legal system today. Stay tuned for the next two installments. NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, represents Americans in religious freedom cases who have been turned away from hospitals because they refuse to take a… -
opinion
Christian Employees Can Challenge Mandated DEI Trainings on Religious Freedom Grounds, Lawyer Says
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Christian employees can raise religious freedom complaints against mandated diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings if those DEI trainings force an ideology on them or make them less able to live out their faith, a prominent religious liberty lawyer tells “The Daily Signal Podcast.” “There’s a lot of push for diversity initiatives and things like… -
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
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… -
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…