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
Inside Speaker Johnson’s Private Capitol Tour: Faith and America’s Founding
House Speaker Mike Johnson led a private tour of the U.S. Capitol recently, emphasizing the role of faith in America’s founding 250 years ago. Frank Turek, founder and president of the Christian ministry CrossExamined.org, recorded portions of Johnson’s May 20 tour and shared clips on his show “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an… -
opinion
Peter Xu: The Billy Graham of China
This is an adapted excerpt from “China’s War on Faith” by Sam Brownback with Michael Arkush, released May 12 from Republic Book Publishers. Peter Xu never lost faith in his Lord and Savior. Not even when death was near. In 1997, Peter hung from the metal bars of a sliding prison door for nearly four hours…. -
exclusive
GOP Leadership Announces Nomination of Religious Freedom Commissioner
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise have nominated a new commissioner to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Gene Mills, a religious leader and president of the Louisiana Family Forum, will serve alongside eight others to ensure religious freedoms are protected around the world. “I am… -
opinion
Balancing Religious Liberty and National Security: A Lesson From Ancient Greece
Pericles, a leader of the first democracy in Athens, gave a famous speech extolling Athenian greatness at a funeral for fallen soldiers. “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves,” Pericles boasted in Thucydides’ account of the speech. Athens served as the “school”… -
news
Riley Moore Acts to Protect Catholic Veterans’ Right to the Crucifix
Nearly 1 in 5 veterans who serve our country are Catholic, yet the Department of Veterans Affairs does not grant them the option to display the crucifix on their headstones when buried at national cemeteries—but this is about to change. With strong Catholic members on the House Appropriations Committee, this will soon be mandated by… -
opinion
First Pick in NFL Draft Puts God First
Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner, and national champion from the Indiana Hoosiers, was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night. He was projected to be the sure pick for the Las Vegas Raiders but rather than be in Pittsburgh for the big night, he decided to remain at… -
exclusive
EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Florida Insider Looks to Flip Democrat Seat in Florida House
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Miguel Granda, a longtime Republican staffer and “Christian conservative whose ideas are rooted in his Christians values,” told The Daily Signal he has filed his candidacy for Florida House District 117 on Tuesday. Granda, 34, told The Daily Signal that his experience as a legislative aide to Florida Rep. David Borrero… -
opinion
Does the First Amendment Protect Progressive Bakers From Serving Republicans?
A progressive baker asks Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave her croissant shop because her presence makes her staff feel uncomfortable. Across the nation in Oregon, Melissa Klein and her husband await a state appellate court decision whether their right to free exercise of religion includes the right to decline designing a cake celebrating… -
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… -
opinion
The Importance of Religious Liberty and the Anthropology of Republicanism
The current American political landscape overflows with sharp conflict and disdainful rhetoric. The norm for American political discourse has alarmingly mutated from spirited good-faith debate into no-holds-barred, personal, and unproductive quarrels. We have seen this unfortunate transformation transpire on the floors of Congress, forums on social media platforms, and even dinner tables at Thanksgiving. As… -
opinion
Next Church of Latter-Day Saints President is a Fierce Defender of Religious Liberty
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, previously known as the Mormon Church, lost its leader over the weekend, and his replacement is a fierce advocate for religious liberty who former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford both considered for the U.S. Supreme Court. The Legacy of Russell M. Nelson The hierarchical equivalent of a pope, Russell M. Nelson, died on Saturday…. -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Policy Group Urges Trump to Get India to Respect Religious Liberty
Advancing American Freedom is urging the Trump administration to make trade negotiations with India dependent upon the country respecting religious liberty. The Trump team is in talks with the South Asian nation and has hit the country with tariffs over its decision to continue buying Russian oil. “The United States must condition any trade deal… -
opinion
Save the Little Sisters of the Poor!
It’s enraging. More than a decade after the Barack Obama administration tried to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to buy contraception for their employees, including abortifacient drugs, states are still hounding the nuns in court. At its heart, Obamacare was a massive welfare program meant to redistribute health care costs to the middle… -
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
Trump Executive Order Creates Religious Liberty Commission
President Donald Trump on Thursday established by executive order a Religious Liberty Commission, a panel to be led by members of the clergy and government officials to advise the White House on religious liberty issues. “Americans need to be reacquainted with our nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging… -
news
Vance Addresses Religious Liberty Leaders in Washington
At a time when nongovernmental organizations are under intense scrutiny for what they are doing with federal funding, religious leaders, nonprofit executives, and religious liberty advocates gathered Wednesday to hear Vice President JD Vance articulate the Trump administration’s position on religious freedom. “Now, our administration believes we must stand for religious freedom, not just as… -
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…