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
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
opinion
Podcast: Religious Freedom in Hard Places
Religious freedom is a legacy of the American founding, but unfortunately, on the world stage, religious freedom is often the exception rather than the rule. Today, our colleague Rachel del Guidice sits down with Sam Brownback, the former governor of Kansas who is now ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. They discuss some of his efforts… -
opinion
We Hear You: Remembering American History, Learning From the Russians, and Understanding Religious Freedom
Editor's note: Our audience responded to Jarrett Stepman's commentary on Americans' weakening grasp on their history. Some of that feedback leads off this week's collection of comments. Write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Excellent wake-up moment, Jarrett Stepman (“Americans Have Almost Entirely Forgotten Their History”). Now how do we correct this disparity? I agree… -
news
Colorado Baker Talks About New Religious Freedom Struggle With State
Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, is confronting yet another struggle with the state of Colorado. This time, the state is investigating the Christian baker for declining to bake a gender transition cake that is pink on the inside and blue on the outside. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which lost in a 7-2… -
opinion
How Religious Freedom Erodes, One Step at a Time
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the formation of a new Task Force on Religious Liberty at the Department of Justice. The action came on the heels of a ministerial summit on religious freedom, which explored how religious freedom is under attack around the globe. At the summit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and… -
opinion
Major US Initiative Could Spark New Era of Expanding Religious Freedom
Last week may have marked an inflection point for international religious freedom. Historically, governments that strongly protect religious freedom have been a rarity. It is no small thing, then, that essentially all countries are now willing at least to pay lip service to the idea, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that religious… -
news
What Jeff Sessions’ New Task Force Will Do to Defend Religious Freedom
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a task force on religious liberty Monday to build on President Donald Trump’s earlier executive action to provide protections for what some call Americans’ “first freedom” under the First Amendment. “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom,” Sessions said in… -
opinion
Podcast: The Importance of Religious Freedom Around the World
Aaron Rhodes, president of the Forum for Religious Freedom Europe and author of “The Debasement of Human Rights: How Politics Sabotage the Ideal of Freedom,” joins us to talk about religious freedom around the world. Plus: San Francisco is considering effectively banning tech companies from providing free lunches. -
news
7 Big Moments From Pence Address on Religious Freedom
Vice President Mike Pence called out Turkey for imprisoning a Christian pastor and criticized Nicaragua for its attacks on the Catholic Church in a speech Thursday, where he also announced the Trump administration’s agenda to protect religious freedom. “A stunning 83 percent of the world’s population live in nations where religious freedom is either threatened… -
news
These 6 Cases Show How Brett Kavanaugh Might Rule on Religious Freedom
While serving on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., Judge Brett Kavanaugh heard cases touching on religious liberty that could indicate how he could rule on such issues that go before the high court if he’s confirmed. Kavanaugh also advocated on behalf of religious freedom while in private law practice. “Overall, he… -
news
Amendment to Protect Religious Freedom of Adoption Providers Attached to Appropriations Bill in House
An amendment to protect the religious freedom of adoption providers was passed by the House Appropriations Committee to be part of the fiscal year 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill in a vote Wednesday. “What occurred today is a milestone,” Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said in a statement provided to The… -
opinion
In Baker Decision, Justice Kennedy Stresses the Importance of Religious Freedom
This is a lightly edited transcript of an interview on The Daily Signal podcast, where we talked with The Heritage Foundation’s Emilie Kao about why she thinks the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Jack Phillips will “lead other courts to protect people who have the same view of marriage that Jack Phillips has,”… -
news
Under Trump, HHS Acts to Protect Religious Freedom
The Trump administration took a step toward protecting religious freedom Thursday by establishing a new division of the nation’s largest social services agency that marks a dramatic shift from the Obama administration. “We face today a time of rising religious persecution … a new orthodoxy, and it is intolerant of dissent,” @GOPLeader says. During a… -
opinion
We Hear You: Term Limits, the Russia Probe, the NFL, Religious Freedom, and Other Obsessions of 2017
Editor's note: For our roundup of letters at year's end, we thought we'd highlight some letters from The Daily Signal's audience that we meant to publish earlier. Enjoy, and don't forget to write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Americans elected Republicans to stand behind President Trump and work out any plan that needs… -
opinion
What the Founders Understood About Religious Freedom That We Must Recover
Friday, Dec. 15, marks the anniversary of the day our young nation ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791. Given the national discussion in recent days over whether the government may compel speech from an ordinary baker, now is an especially good time to consider the very first words of our charter document: “Congress shall… -
opinion
Promise Kept: Trump Administration Protects Americans’ Religious Freedom
The Justice Department fulfilled President Donald Trump’s promise to provide clear guidance on the administration’s commitment to restore robust protection of religious freedom across all federal agencies and executive departments Friday. This fix was sorely needed in the wake of actions by President Barack Obama’s administration that harmed Americans’ religious liberty. The May 4 executive…