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
UN Report on Religious Freedom Deems Abortion and Gender Identity as Human Rights
Billions of people around the world exercised their religious freedom during Holy Week, but a new United Nations report threatens to undermine both this freedom and women’s rights. The report of Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. expert responsible for protecting religious freedom, advances a “progressive” agenda of abortion and new “rights” based on membership in sexual identity groups. It seems…Emilie Kao -
- Opinion
Trump Administration Takes 3 Steps to Boost Religious Freedom
“There’s a lot of hostility to religious beliefs,” says Joe Grogan, director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. “These views are protected by the First Amendment and people who are offended by public expressions of faith need to get over it,” he adds. In this exclusive interview at the White House, Grogan…Robert B. Bluey -
- Opinion
What Teaching in China Taught Me About Religious Freedom
The meaning of religious freedom came home to me, fittingly enough, by the dawn’s early light, slanting through a dormitory window in China many years ago. I was one of 10 young people spending a summer teaching English as a second language classes at an agricultural college 3,000 miles west of Beijing, in what’s known…Chris Potts -
- Opinion
Why America Must Recommit to Religious Freedom
We celebrate Thursday, Jan. 16, as Religious Freedom Day, the anniversary of the passage in 1786 of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Unfortunately, the percentage of Americans who have heard of the law, or the day that commemorates it, is shockingly small. Yet Thomas Jefferson, who authored the statute in the Virginia Legislature, listed…Stephanie Neville -
- Opinion
Not All Findings of Religious Freedom Index Are Encouraging
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a leading nonprofit law firm defending religious freedom, is taking an innovative approach to evaluate the current state of religious freedom in America. Most assessments in this area focus on government actions such as laws, regulations, or court decisions that affect religious freedom. Becket’s first-ever Religious Freedom Index instead…Thomas Jipping -
- Opinion
Celebrating Our Religious Freedom at Thanksgiving
I was in my room at the famed Metropol Hotel in Moscow, Russia, next door to Red Square. It was April 2005 and I was preparing for a training workshop in advanced communication skills the following morning for personnel at the U.S. Embassy. Built in 1905, this five-star, czarist-style lodging house historically had borne testimony…Yvonne Davis -
- News
63% Support Religious Freedom at Work, Survey Finds
Most Americans support a broad definition of religious freedom and accommodation of minority religious beliefs in the workplace, despite a growing sense of polarization in the public square, according to a new study. The Religious Freedom Index reports that 63% of those surveyed said they support someone else’s freedom to practice religion at work or…Aaron Credeur -
- Opinion
Liberals Continue Fight Against Religious Freedom for Adoption Agencies
It’s hard enough to get the truth out on a level playing field—but in today’s news, it’s downright impossible. The left has disinformation down to a science, especially when it comes to LGBT issues. That’s dangerous in any situation—but on the president’s new adoption rule, it could mean the difference between a child finding a…Tony Perkins -
- Opinion
Trump’s Focus on Religious Freedom at the UN Should Lead the Way
The United Nations will host its annual gathering in New York this week. But amid all the hubbub, President Donald Trump is setting aside time to speak on a pressing issue: religious freedom and persecution around the world. The president will keynote an event Monday called the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom. This is…Emilie Kao -
- News
VA Lifts Ban on Bibles in Move to Support Religious Freedom
As a kid, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie recalls, he visited a VA hospital at Christmastime. “One of my fondest memories growing up, we used to sing Christmas carols at the VA hospital in Fayetteville, North Carolina,” Wilkie told The Daily Signal, sitting in a 10th-floor office at VA headquarters on Vermont Avenue Northwest, overlooking…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
How the Trump Administration Advances Global Religious Freedom
For Americans, religious liberty is in our DNA. The pursuit of that freedom is what brought the Pilgrims to our shores nearly 400 years ago. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, believed so strongly in religious liberty that he authored Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom, and when it became law, he called for…Mark Green -
- Opinion
How America Is Boosting Religious Freedom Across the Globe
When people wonder if events like the State Department’s ministerial work, the evidence is sitting right in front of them. This time last year, Pastor Andrew Brunson was locked away under house arrest in Turkey—his fate completely uncertain. In fact, one of the most enduring memories of last July’s gathering was his daughter, Jacqueline, making…Tony Perkins -
- Opinion
Religious Freedom: What’s at Stake If We Lose It
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution begins, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … ” Fast forward almost 250 years and religious freedom is one of the most pressing issues in American culture today. Let’s take a look at some of the concerns…Genevieve Wood -
- Opinion
After San Antonio Blocks Chick-Fil-A, Texas Conservatives Reignite Fight for Religious Freedom
Chick-fil-A may cater, but not to the demands San Antonio liberals care about. Now, three weeks into the City Council’s decision to ban the restaurant from the local airport, Texas conservatives know: This case for their religious liberty bill was made to order. “Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they…Tony Perkins -
- Opinion
Ilhan Omar’s Impoverished View of Religious Freedom
The House of Representatives voted on Thursday on a resolution condemning bigotry and hate. The resolution was spurred by the recent remarks of freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, which questioned the loyalty of Jews to the United States. Both her anti-Semitic statements and broader views of religious freedom deserve examination. The Center for American Progress…Emilie Kao -
- News
James Lankford: Defending Religious Freedom Means Living Your Faith
Not living one’s faith can become a threat to religious liberty, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said while speaking on a panel Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “One of the greatest challenges we have to religious liberty in this modern day is people that actually claim a faith and don’t live a faith,” Lankford…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Coach Kennedy’s Religious Freedom Case. Here’s Why There’s Still Hope.
The Supreme Court decided last week to not review the case of Joe Kennedy, a Washington state football coach who was fired for praying with his players. But the game isn’t over yet. We have reason to believe the Supreme Court might revisit the case and rule in Kennedy’s favor. Kennedy made headlines after he…Michael Berry -
- Opinion
2 Democrats Are Trying to Trample a Faith-Based Foster Care Provider’s Religious Freedom
We celebrated Jan. 16 as National Religious Freedom Day, an annual reminder of why religious freedom is so important to our country. This fundamental right means that everyone is free to pursue the truth without the threat of government coercion, and everyone is free to live by his or her conscience. This freedom precedes any law…Monica Burke -
- News
Marking Anniversary of Religious Freedom Law, Acting AG Whitaker Laments Loss of Support From Left
In 1993, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, signed broad consensus legislation to protect religious liberty, with support from religious conservative groups and the American Civil Liberties Union alike, which helped it sail through Congress. Twenty-five years later, however, religious freedom has become a highly contentious issue, and many Democrats and liberal groups have sought to…Fred Lucas -
- News
Envoy Says Trump Willing to ‘Stand Up and Push’ for Global Religious Freedom
President Donald Trump is committed to pushing for greater tolerance of different faiths by governments around the world and dismantling an “iron curtain of religious persecution,” his envoy for religious freedom said in an interview with The Daily SIgnal. “Most people in the world move by what their faith tells them,” Sam Brownback, the former…Rachel del Guidice