EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes additional reporting from The Pathway. WASHINGTON (BP) – The barring of two Christians from jury duty in a trial involving a lesbian is evidence that Christians with a biblical worldview are increasingly seen as bigots, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said after Missouri asked the High Court to review the ruling. Such treatment of Christians is what he warned of in his dissent in the Obergefell v. Hodges legalization of same-sex marriage in … [Read more...]
Christian couple beaten by mob during questioning at police station in India
KARNATAKA, India (BP) – A mob of 300 people beat and threatened to kill a Christian couple at a police station in Karnataka State, India, after the wife was falsely accused of forced conversion, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said Jan. 23. Beaten were Uppaladinni village residents Vijayalakshmi Chavhan and her husband Ashok. Police feigned an inability to stop the attack, sources told CSW. “This is part of a growing trend of social hostility towards religious minorities across … [Read more...]
200-plus Christians massacred in Christmas attacks across Nigeria
PLATEAU, Nigeria (BP) – Terrorists killed more than 200 Christians in a series of Christmastime attacks on villages in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and the northeast, humanitarian and advocacy groups reported. The death toll continues to rise from attacks conducted by bandits – a term encompassing organized terror groups and other criminal groups – Dec. 23-28 in as many as 80 villages in Plateau State, Christian aid group Release International reported Dec. 30. Bodies continue to be discovered, … [Read more...]
Religious exemptions from Title VII rules vary in courts
SEATTLE (BP) – Christian companies have seen conflicting legal decisions about religious exemptions from Title VII LGBTQ rules after the U.S. Supreme Court said in 2020 that the statute prohibits bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Most recently, a Washington state district court said Nov. 28 that World Vision erred in rescinding an employment offer to an applicant after learning she was a lesbian in a same-sex marriage. Months earlier on June 20, a Fifth Circuit appeals … [Read more...]
New Jersey drops religious oath for public office after legal challenge
TRENTON, N.J. (BP) – New Jersey has dropped its requirement that political candidates swear an oath recognizing and honoring God when seeking ballot placement, evading a lawsuit filed by a self-proclaimed nontheist. New Jersey’s change, implemented October 24 in a memo to county clerks statewide, followed a lawsuit filed Oct. 3 by James Tosone challenging the oath required of him as recently as Nov. 12, 2021. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1961 ruling in Torcaso v. Watkins striking … [Read more...]
42 states, D.C. sue Meta on accusations of harming children, teens
SAN FRANCISCO (BP) — Meta’s social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram intentionally target children and teens with features that harm mental health, attorneys general in 42 states and Washington D.C. said in lawsuits Oct. 24. A group of 33 states including Missouri, California, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois filed a federal lawsuit jointly in the Northern District of California, while nine states and Washington D.C. filed individually, according to press releases and … [Read more...]
Bombed Gaza hospital formerly led by Southern Baptists
GAZA CITY, Gaza (BP) – The Gaza City hospital that suffered a deadly blast Oct. 17 in the Israeli-Hamas war is formerly Southern Baptist, a Baptist representative confirmed to Baptist Press. It is unclear how many Palestinian and other civilians were killed in the blast, with Israel and Hamas blaming one another for the attack. Southern Baptists operated Al Ahli Arab Hospital from 1954 until 1981 – when it was known as Baptist Hospital – before turning the facility over to Anglicans, … [Read more...]
Iowa parents win temporary relief from transgender school policy
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (BP) — Iowa parents have temporarily blocked a public school policy requiring their children to use the preferred pronouns of their transgender classmates and share bathrooms with them or face expulsion. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Parents Defending Education (PDE) a preliminary injunction Sept. 29 blocking enforcement of the Linn-Mar Community School District’s Administrative Regulations Regarding Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role … [Read more...]
Thirteen imprisoned Eritrean Christians released after global prayer campaign
ASMARA, Eritrea (BP) – Eritrea released 13 wrongfully imprisoned Christians after a global prayer campaign led by Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), the ministry to persecuted Christians said Aug. 9. VOM mass-emailed a call to prayer on July 22 for the release of wrongfully imprisoned pastors Haile Nayzgi and Kiflu Gebremeskel. With 10,000 prayer commitments a few days later, VOM confirmed the release of 13 Christians held for 10 years. Cause and effect can’t be confirmed, but VOM spokesman … [Read more...]
Senior adults suffer greatest increase as U.S. suicides near 50,000
ATLANTA (BP) — Senior adults suffered the largest increase in suicides as nearly 50,000 Americans killed themselves in 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest report. The 8 percent rise in suicides among adults 65 and older was the highest driver in suicide deaths, the CDC said, with 10,433 deaths in that age group alone. That’s compared to 9,652 adults over 65 who killed themselves the previous year. Suicide declined 8.4 percent among the … [Read more...]
First U.S. law banning public drag shows ruled unconstitutional
NASHVILLE (BP) – A federal district judge has ruled unconstitutional a Tennessee law prohibiting gender-bending drag performances in front of minors, which had been the only such law in the nation. Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) violates constitutionally protected freedom of speech, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker ruled late June 2 in the Western District Court of Tennessee. “The AEA’s regulation of ‘adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors under § 39-17-901’ … [Read more...]
Sudan civil conflict destroying churches, displacing Christians
KHARTOUM, Sudan (BP) — At least four churches have been destroyed and a congregation directly assaulted in Sudan, signaling the earliest reports of religious suffering in the fight for governmental control that erupted April 15. While it’s not clear whether the damages are the result of targeted religious persecution in the country that has failed to find democracy through decades of civil war, religious liberty advocates have expressed concern. Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs … [Read more...]
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