Religious Liberty News
Stories on legal battles, faith in public life, and policies that affect religious freedom. The Daily Signal reports on challenges and victories surrounding First Amendment protections.
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news
Religious Liberty Commission Hears Testimony on Faith Conflicts in Health Care, Social Services
The Religious Liberty Commission held a hearing at the Museum of the Bible on March 16 to examine religious liberty issues in health care and social services. Across multiple panels, witnesses described professional and legal consequences they said followed decisions to practice their faith. Testimony came from parents, physicians, counselors, and faith leaders who addressed topics including gender… -
news
Museum of Bible Hosts First Meeting of New Religious Liberty Commission
The newly created Religious Liberty Commission held its first meeting on Monday at the Museum of the Bible in Washington. On the agenda for discussion by the commission was the history of religious liberty in the U.S. and the Supreme Court’s role in interpreting the rights to religious expression and exercise. “[I]t’s so vitally important… -
news
Religious Liberty Succeeds Because It Taps Into America’s ‘Live and Let Live’ Instincts
There is still hope religious liberty will prevail in America even though many wish to tear it down, including some in government, according to the president of the religious freedom law firm the Becket Fund. Many religious liberty cases succeed because they tap into the “live and let live instinct” of Americans, Mark Rienzi told… -
opinion
Judge’s Ordering Airline’s Lawyers to Take Religious Liberty Sensitivity Training Sends Left Into Tailspin
One of the Left’s favorite things to advocate for is diversity and inclusion training. It’s celebrated and even revered, and it’s demanded on social media, in workplaces, at corporations, and within educational institutions. But it seems the Left isn’t so happy when the tables are turned. Take the Monday ruling of a federal judge in… -
opinion
Christian Bakers Challenge $135K Fine for Quoting Bible Verse
Did Oregon officials violate their duty to remain neutral on matters of religion when they ordered Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 for declining to create a custom same-sex wedding cake, a move that crushed the small, family-owned business? That’s the question that the Oregon Court of Appeals will answer after having… -
opinion
Misguided Fairness for All Act Would Undermine Religious Liberty
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The radical bill drew widespread opposition from conservatives, and with good reason, as it would enshrine radical gender ideology in federal law and decimate the religious… -
news
3 Big Wins for Religious Liberty Indicate Tide Is Turning
Air Force Col. Leland Bohannon, a combat veteran, was close to retirement when he entered an unexpected fight—one to preserve his two-decade military career. “There always will be a pending opportunity for you to stand for what God has said in his word as the differences between where society is going and where God has… -
opinion
In California, the Right to Gender ‘Transition’ Is Threatening Religious Liberty
In the age of transgenderism, the right to medically transition is threatening some of the most basic freedoms we’ve known, such as religious freedom. Consider a recent case out of California, where a state appeals court ruled that a transgender man can move forward with a lawsuit suing a Catholic hospital for discrimination. In April… -
opinion
Arizona’s Supreme Court Notches a Win for Free Speech, Religious Liberty
The Arizona Supreme Court handed a win to two Christian artists Monday in the latest dispute over religious liberty and nondiscrimination laws. The court ruled 4-3 that the city of Phoenix cannot use a local nondiscrimination ordinance to coerce the owners of an art studio into creating custom wedding invitations that express messages that violate… -
opinion
Trump Should Use UN Meeting to Champion Religious Liberty
Heads of state will flock shortly to Turtle Bay for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. They have no better opportunity to highlight perhaps the most important human rights issue of our times— religious freedom. President Donald Trump ought to take concerns over this most basic of human liberties center stage at… -
opinion
House Democrats Put Current Religious Liberty Protections Under Microscope
If you thought House Democrats would slow down after six months of LGBT-open borders-infanticide socialism, think again. Based on Tuesday’s hearing, the new majority is just warming up. Apparently, it’s not enough to try to strip away people’s privacy, speech, liberty, and dignity. Now, the left is coming for the biggest prize of all: our… -
news
Supreme Court Dodges Decision in Christian Bakers’ Refusal to Make Cake for Same-Sex Wedding
The Supreme Court lifted an order Monday that punished a Christian couple in Oregon who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, telling a lower court to reconsider the dispute in light of the high court's decision last year involving another Christian baker in Colorado. The decision keeps a contentious social dispute over… -
opinion
How the US Is Promoting Religious Liberty Around the World
Around the world, religious liberty remains under threat. In China, a million Uighurs Muslims are now in internment camps—and it’s not the only nation where there’s no true freedom of religion. Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, joins us to discuss. Read the interview, posted below, or listen to the podcast:… -
opinion
Washington State May Have Triggered the Next Major Religious Liberty Case
One year ago last week, in a major religious liberty case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Christian cake artist Jack Phillips. Yet just one year later, a floral artist in Washington state now finds herself in similar circumstances to Jack. Her case could prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the matter. In… -
news
Christian Cake Baker’s Attorney: 3rd Lawsuit Is ‘Rehash’ of ‘Old Claims’
A Colorado baker is being sued for a third time for refusing to design custom cakes that he says run contrary to his religious beliefs. Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado—first sued in 2012 for declining to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding because of his traditional Christian beliefs—is… -
news
Trump Announces New Protections for Religious Liberty, Conscience on National Day of Prayer
President Donald Trump spoke out on religious freedom Thursday, as he vowed to protect conscience rights and to combat anti-Semitism. “Just today, we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, students, and faith-based charities,” Trump said at a White House Rose Garden event with faith leaders from across the country on… -
news
‘A Win for Freedom’: Colorado Drops Second Case Against Christian Baker
Colorado baker Jack Phillips is 2-0 now after state officials dropped their second attempt to coerce him into baking products that violate his beliefs. Phillips, in turn, dropped a federal lawsuit. “I have and will always serve everyone who comes into my shop; I simply can’t celebrate events or express messages that conflict with my… -
news
At Prayer Breakfast, Trump Touts ‘Historic Action to Protect Religious Liberty’
President Donald Trump spoke up for life and religious freedom Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, two days after making similar appeals during his State of the Union address. “To ensure that people of faith can always contribute to society, my administration has taken historic action to protect religious liberty,” Trump said during his remarks… -
opinion
A Christian Baker’s New Legal Fight With Colorado Is a Matter of Fairness
Most of us understand the importance of fairness early in life. Whether it’s an umpire’s call in Little League or a teacher’s grading in elementary school, we all intuitively know that fairness is a big deal. But fairness perhaps is no more important than when our rights are in the hands of courts or other… -
news
Judge Says Christian Baker Jack Phillips’ Lawsuit Against Civil Rights Officials Can Proceed
A federal judge in Denver rejected Colorado’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that state civil rights officials are waging a campaign of harassment against Jack Phillips, the Christian baker at issue in the landmark Masterpiece Cakeshop case. Three weeks after Phillips prevailed at the Supreme Court, a state anti-discrimination panel issued a new probable cause…