Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty

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SOLID, RELIABLE, CONFIDENT â€” these are three words that describe the Baptist Joint Committee as we carry out our work every day on Capitol Hill.

From the halls of Congress, to the agencies and in the courts, the BJC works to defend and extend God-given religious liberty for all people.

With its guarantees of our most fundamental freedoms, the First Amendment must be defended if we are to preserve religious liberty for everyone. Our challenge is great, but we are determined to meet it.

For more than 70 years, the BJC has sounded the alarm and fought the battles from our office on Capitol Hill. We are the only religious organization in the country that works solely on religious liberty issues.

As always, we need your financial support to continue to wage the fight for religious liberty.

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Groups ask administration to protect religious freedom, fight anti-Muslim hate

Concerns raised in meeting with Justice Department officials after alarming surge in anti-Muslim protests, hate crimes nationwide

Brent and group outside DOJ In the midst of a national increase in violence and intimidation toward American Muslims, a coalition of faith groups and advocacy organizations met Monday, Aug. 30, with U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez and senior advisors to the Attorney General and Deputy General to ask that specific measures be taken as soon as possible to protect millions of American Muslims and the right to religious freedom of all Americans.

The groups included the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Interfaith Alliance , the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Muslim Advocates .

The groups requested that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney General’s office take specific actions as soon as possible to protect and preserve religious freedoms and the rights of all Americans, including millions of Muslims, to live and practice their faith freely, without fear of violence or intimidation.

Click here to read more, including statements from the participating organizations.

Visit the BJC's Flickr page to see more photos from the press conference after the meeting.

Baptist Joint Committee supports prisoner’s free exercise of religion

US Supreme Court BJC joins brief in Supreme Court case

August 11, 2010

WASHINGTON – Prisoners have a right to the free exercise of religion and may seek damages against the state under federal law when their rights are violated, according to a brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court and joined by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

The friend-of-the-court brief (pdf) filed in Sossamon v. Texas involves the claim of a prisoner, Harvey Leroy Sossamon, who was denied participation in worship services and access to a room with symbols and furnishings that have a special significance to his Christian religion. Sossamon challenged the prison’s restrictions under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000. That federal law was designed to protect the religious freedom of prisoners and other persons in government custody, as well as protect religious freedom in the context of zoning and landmark laws. The Baptist Joint Committee championed RLUIPA, leading a coalition that worked for its passage.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Click here to download a pdf of the brief filed in Sossamon v. Texas.

Baptist Joint Committee announces winners of 2010 Religious Liberty Essay Contest

High school students write about landmark JFK speech concerning religion and politics on its 50th anniversary

WASHINGTON – The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has announced the winners of the 2010 Religious Liberty Essay Scholarship Contest, sponsored by the Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee.

High school juniors and seniors from 17 states entered. In their essays, students reacted to John F. Kennedy’s landmark 1960 speech about the relationship between his religion and his politics and the separation of church and state. September 12 marks the 50th anniversary of the speech.

Click here to read about the winners.

BJC files ‘amicus’ brief opposing N.C. board’s prayer policy

Baptist Joint Committee urges district court to uphold ruling in Forsyth County, N.C.

July 8, 2010

istock_courtroom_web WASHINGTON – A policy inviting religious leaders to use meetings of the Forsyth County (N.C.) Board of Commissioners as a platform to promote their faith is unconstitutional, threatens religious liberty and degrades religion by entangling it with government, says a Baptist church-state organization in a friend-of-the-court brief (pdf) filed Tuesday.

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty filed an amicus brief in the appeal of a case brought by two residents of Forsyth County, N.C., who filed suit in March 2007 against the county. The residents challenged the county’s practice of allowing sectarian government-sponsored prayers at county board of commissioners meetings under the First and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sections of the North Carolina Constitution. They claimed the Board’s prayers advance Christianity and have the effect of affiliating the Board with it.

Click here to read the rest of the BJC statement.

Click here to download a pdf version of the brief.

Highlights from 7th Circuit University Funding Decision

In a 2-1 decision I mentioned earlier, a panel of the 7th Circuit ruled unconstitutional the University of Wisconsin's policy of withholding funds from student groups for activities that constitute "worship, proselytizing or religious instruction." The majority opinion written by Jud...

7th Circuit: University Must Fund Religious Worship, Proselytizing

In a decision that is sure to be controversial, a divided panel of the 7th Circuit yesterday invalidated a University of Wisconsin policy that prohibited student fees from funding religious worship, proselytizing and other acts that might constitute "the practice of religion." Prev...

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