PHOENIX (BP) – Protection of human life and preparation of parents have been among the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's priorities during the last year, Russell Moore told messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention June 14. In his annual report to the convention, Moore, the ERLC's president, said the entity's efforts during the past year have included: Defending life primarily by seeking federal defunding of Planned Parenthood, the scandal-ridden, leading abortion … [Read more...]
Resolutions: Heart of Southern Baptists in brief
I first attended the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in 1982, early in the days of the Conservative Resurgence. The next few years saw some of our best-attended and most contentious meetings. In those days, news media from everywhere descended on our meeting sites, trying to figure out who we are and what we’re doing. They mostly failed; we are notoriously hard to understand. Then and now, the aspect of convention business most comprehensible to non-Baptist observers is the … [Read more...]
Supreme Court to hear Christian baker’s case
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on June 26 to hear a major religious liberty case that will determine whether Christians within the wedding industry–for example, bakers, florists, and photographers–may refuse to serve same-sex couples because of their religious beliefs. In 2012, Jack Philips – a Christian baker in Denver, Colo. – was convicted by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission of “discrimination” for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. The commission ordered … [Read more...]
Religious liberty wins at Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – In a 7-2 vote, the United States Supreme Court ruled, June 26, in favor of a Missouri church seeking to use public funds from the state of Missouri for renovating a playground on their church campus. The ruling is being called a “resounding victory” for religious liberty by many, including two Missouri Baptist attorneys—Michael and Jonathan Whitehead of Kansas City—who were on the legal team representing the church. At first sight, the problem that gave rise to this legal … [Read more...]
Neosho’s cross remains despite complaints from Atheist groups
NEOSHO – The city of Neosho has rebuffed a Wisconsin-based atheist group, which recently protested the existence of a cross in the city’s Big Spring Park. The cross was established at the park in the 1930s. The city released a statement, May 26, answering a letter sent by the atheistic Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and expressing their intent to keep the cross in place. The statement read: “It is the position of the city council that the correspondence forwarded by this … [Read more...]
Historic Baptists, liberty and the Trinity case
KANSAS CITY – What would John Leland say about scrap tires? Missourians, including churches that own vehicles, pay a fee to keep used tires out of streams and landfills. The fee underwrites a rebate for rubber playground surfaces. It’s open to all nonprofit groups, to keep kids safer and the environment cleaner. Trinity Lutheran Church, in Columbia, applied for a rebate. It was rejected, but not because the money ran out. It was rejected because it is a church. Missouri’s Constitution … [Read more...]
On the eve of a major religious liberty ruling: The nation’s eyes on Trinity Lutheran case
EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Whitehead has practiced law in Missouri for more than 40 years. He practices with his son, Jonathan, in suburban Kansas City, and he serves as MBC general counsel and represents numerous individuals and ministry organizations. Both Mike and Jonathan are on the legal team defending Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, in a religious liberty case that was heard at the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. A ruling on the case is expected by the end of the month, before the … [Read more...]
MONA threatens religious freedom in Missouri
MONA is an acronym for the cruelly misleading Missouri Nondiscrimination Act. MONA represents a menacing domestic threat to religious freedom. If it passes it could serve as a mechanism for LGBT people to claim discrimination in a variety of ways, triggering lawsuits against religious organizations and people of faith who want to run their businesses according to the dictates of their faith. Think about a baker who refuses to bake a wedding cake for same-sex couples, a photographer who … [Read more...]
Religious liberty bill prevails in Mo. Assembly, Gov. Greitens expected to sign to into law
JEFFERSON CITY -- People of faith in Missouri won a tremendous victory late last night (May 8) in the cause for religious liberty – and few people knew it was even happening due to a low-key strategy leading to passage of a bill everyone thought was solely about tort reform. The measure known as Senate Bill 43 (SB 43) restored the religious exemption to the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA) after its removal by the Missouri Supreme Court in a 2013 ruling. The Missouri House of … [Read more...]
Governor stands for freedom ahead of Trinity Lutheran case
JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens went public with a defense of religious liberty less than one week before the Supreme Court heard a high profile religious liberty case coming out of Missouri. But his actions raised concern among some Supreme Court Justices as to whether the case was still worth addressing. Greitens posted a video, April 13, on his Facebook page and website, announcing that the state of Missouri would no longer discriminate against religious … [Read more...]
Supreme Court hears high profile Mo. church-state case
WASHINGTON – Two Missouri Baptist attorneys were on the legal team presenting arguments last week at what many have called the most important religious liberty case to come before the United States Supreme Court in decades. Michael Whitehead, legal counsel for the Missouri Baptist Convention, and his son, Jonathan Whitehead, joined David Cortman, senior counsel and vice president of U.S. litigation with Alliance Defending Freedom, at the Supreme Court, April 19, where they argued that … [Read more...]
Legislature considers bill protecting student groups
JEFFERSON CITY – A bill sits in committee that would protect leadership requirements of student groups on Missouri’s public college campuses. Introduced by Rep. Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove), House Bill 642 says in part that “no public institution of higher learning shall take any action or enforce any policy that denies a religious student association any benefit available to any other student association or that discriminates against a religious student association with respect to such … [Read more...]
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