religious liberty
Colorado, baker end legal spat over transgender woman’s cake
By Kathleen Foody — March 7, 2019
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple on religious grounds and state officials said Tuesday that they would end a separate legal fight over his refusal to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition.
A Howard Schultz platform that could energize faith voters
By Jacob Lupfer — February 18, 2019
(RNS) — Any independent who wants to peel voters from the major parties in decent numbers should focus on religious voters who are economically progressive and socially conservative.
Government allows S.C. foster care group to keep Protestants-only policy
By Yonat Shimron — January 23, 2019
(RNS) — The exemption will allow Miracle Hill, a Greenville-based Christian ministry, to continue to accept only Protestant churchgoing parents to its federally funded foster care program.
A push for compromise on LGBTQ protections may tear evangelicals apart
By Yonat Shimron — December 20, 2018
(RNS) — The National Association of Evangelicals and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities want protections for sexual orientation and gender identity as well as strong religious exemptions. But will evangelicals embrace such a compromise?
Former Chinese internment camp detainee denied US visa
By Dake Kang — October 21, 2018
BEIJING (AP) — Kazakh national Omir Bekali was asked to travel to Washington in September by the chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
Pastor talks of breakdown in Turkey, but also forgiveness
By Ben Finley — October 20, 2018
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — People the Brunsons had known testified against him, but Andrew Brunson said, 'It's not an option not to forgive; we are required to as Christians.'
Religious freedom advocate Charles Haynes: ‘It’s not a choice’
By Adelle M. Banks — October 19, 2018
WASHINGTON (RNS) — First Amendment scholar, to be honored after retiring from the Freedom Forum Institute’s Religious Freedom Center, talks about the state of religious freedom and his private faith.
As refugee admissions drop, fewer persecuted Christians admitted to US: World Relief
By Emily McFarlan Miller — October 18, 2018
(RNS) — The drop comes despite President Trump’s pledge during his first week in office that helping persecuted Christians overseas would be a priority for his administration.
China says internment camps are ‘free vocational training’
By Yanan Wang — October 16, 2018
BEIJING (AP) — The ruling Communist Party's resistance to Western pressure over the camps highlights China's growing confidence under President Xi Jinping, the country's most powerful leader in decades.
A year later, fractured Rohingya community sees little hope
By Julhas Alam — August 24, 2018
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) — One year later, despite months of discussions among Myanmar, Bangladesh, the United Nations and a string of aid agencies, there are few signs that the Rohingya can go home anytime soon.
Did the Connecticut Supreme Court just slam religious liberty?
By Mark Silk — August 16, 2018
Not exactly.
Labor Department bolsters religious exemptions from nondiscrimination laws
By Yonat Shimron — August 14, 2018
(RNS) — The directive is yet another sign of the Trump administration’s determination to accommodate people of faith, even if it means letting them refuse to hire LGBT people.
Myanmar snubs Hague court’s intervention in Rohingya crisis
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 10, 2018
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as a legitimate native ethnic minority. Most Rohingya are denied citizenship and other rights.
Christian heartland opens window into fight for China’s soul
By Yanan Wang — August 8, 2018
NANYANG, China (AP) — Under President Xi Jinping, China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, believers are seeing their freedoms shrink dramatically even as the country undergoes a religious revival.
Fighting intolerance, Ahmadi Muslims have won unlikely allies
By Aysha Khan — August 7, 2018
ALTON, United Kingdom (RNS) — Many Muslim groups say they've been shut out of religious freedom advocacy. But the persecuted Ahmadi community, which touts the motto 'Love for all, hatred for none,' has scored a different level of access.
