Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty

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SOLID, RELIABLE, CONFIDENT — 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.

Won't you make an investment in religious liberty for your children and grandchildren?

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BJC: Oregon should allow teachers to wear religious clothing

Group letter calls for repeal of Oregon law that forbids public school teachers from wearing religious dress in the classroom
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February 4, 2010

The Baptist Joint Committee and a diverse group of interfaith, civil rights and bar association organizations have sent a letter to Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt and Senate President Peter Courtney urging the immediate repeal of an Oregon law that forbids public school teachers from wearing religious dress in the classroom.

According to the letter, Oregon currently is one of only three states that forbid public school teachers from wearing religious dress.

Click here to read the rest of the Baptist Joint Committe's statement.

BJC joins letter requesting the promised changes in Faith-based Office

Baptist Joint Committee asks President Obama to adopt recommendations of faith-based taskforce

February 4, 2010

WASHINGTON — Today, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and 24 other religious and civil liberties groups sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that he take action to prevent government money from funding religion and religious discrimination. The letter calls on the president to keep his pledge and reform the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The letter comes almost one year after President Obama created a Faith-based Advisory Council to make recommendations for “changes in policies, programs, and practices” of the Faith-Based Initiative which began under President George W. Bush. Since that time, task forces have also been created, including one specifically charged with making recommendations on reforming the office.

Click here to read the BJC's entire statement.

Baptist church-state group helps draft statement of current law

Document will not end debates about religious expression in American public life, but will make them more productive

While there is much debate about how law should address issues at the intersection of religion and government, there is much less debate among experts about the current state of such law. brookings-holly-wide-tighte

In an effort to improve public dialogue, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has joined with a diverse group of religious liberty experts to draft a document that provides a summary of how the law currently answers some questions regarding religious expression and practice in public life.

"Religious Expression in American Public Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law," is sponsored by the Wake Forest University Divinity School's Center for Religion and Public Affairs. BJC Executive Director J. Brent Walker and General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman served as members of the committee that drafted the 32-page document.

Read the full BJC statement here.

Click here to download a pdf version of the document.

Scholarship contest asks students to revisit JFK speech on separation of church and state

The Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee announces the 5th annual Religious Liberty Essay Scholarship Contest, which is open to all high school students in the graduating classes of 2010 and 2011. This year’s contest will commemorate the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s landmark speech about the relationship between his religion and his politics and the separation of church and state.

The scholarship contest offers a grand prize of $1,000 and airfare and lodging for two to Washington, D.C. Second prize is $500, and third prize is $100.

Complete information on the contest can be found online at www.BJConline.org/contest

National Prayer Breakfast a "Religious Festival"

Boston Globe columnist James Carroll revisits last week's National Prayer Breakfast and warns of its implications: However “ecumenical’’ its trappings, and whatever the small number of non-Christian participants make of it, the tradition amounts to a religious f...

Landmark Designations Create Unusual Church-State Conflict

When churches close their doors, who controls the building? A growing number of local governments, concerned with architectural beauty and community tradition, are applying landmark status to church structures. Religion News Service explores the controversy this is creating in the Catholic church...

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