EDITOR’S NOTE: Timothy Faber serves as legislative consultant for the Missouri Baptist Convention. This is the second in a series of articles covering the actions and results of the First Regular session of the 103rd General Assembly of the State of Missouri. When I was growing up, we were never concerned with school shootings. Bullying was minimal. Mental health issues were practically unheard of and suicide—at least among school age kids—was unheard of. But we live in a different … [Read more...]
Missouri bill protecting religious freedom on college campuses heading to Governor’s desk
EDITOR'S NOTE: Timothy Faber serves as legislative consultant for the Missouri Baptist Convention. This is the first in a series of articles covering the actions and results of the First Regular session of the 103rd General Assembly of the State of Missouri. In our cultural engagement, we give a lot of attention to the sanctity of life, gambling and drugs. Certainly the life issue is the most important, but if we’re not careful, we can easily overlook a lot of other issues that are also … [Read more...]
HLGU asks U.S. Department of Education for protection from unconstitutional mandate
EDITOR'S NOTE: Read a related First-Person article by HLGU President Robert J. Matz by clicking here. HANNIBAL, Mo. (HLGU) – Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU), affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) since 1857, has formally requested a religious accommodation from the U.S. Department of Education from a Biden-era regulation, 34 CFR §668.14. Without timely action by the Department, the university intends to file a lawsuit seeking relief to safeguard its religious … [Read more...]
SCOTUS considers nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school
WASHINGTON (BP) – Whether taxpayers should be forced to fund religious charter schools came before the U.S. Supreme Court today (April 30) in the first case of its kind. The court is considering whether to overturn a June 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that a St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School (SISCVS) of Oklahoma City would be unconstitutional, and would violate state and federal law. The school would be the first publicly funded religious charter school in the … [Read more...]
Legislative actions aim to protect unborn lives
EDITOR'S NOTE: Timothy Faber serves as legislative consultant for the Missouri Baptist Convention. Last November Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment “officially” known as The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative” but more commonly known as Amendment 3. It passed by 95,637 votes out of nearly 3 million votes cast, or 51.6% to 48.4%. Immediately after it went into effect Planned Parenthood sued to start invalidating the plethora of state statutes that had resulted in … [Read more...]
Texas House nullifies NDAs in sexual abuse cases; similar bills advance in Missouri
AUSTIN, Texas (BP) – The Texas House passed a bipartisan bill banning nondisclosure clauses in sexual abuse settlement agreements April 8, championed on the House floor by Rep. Jeff Leach, a Southern Baptist who is among the bill’s five authors. Known as Trey’s Law, the bill outlaws the use of NDAs in settlement agreements regarding sexual abuse, regardless of the age of the abused. The use of NDAs to silence sexual abuse survivors makes such agreements controversial, Jeff … [Read more...]
Five religious liberty cases loom large as SCOTUS decisions draw closer
NASHVILLE (BP) – Five cases addressing religious liberty ranging from parental rights to age verification on pornographic sites will be decided when the Supreme Court announces its decisions in the coming months. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has released explainers for all cases and their potential implications for the future. The entity also joined several amicus briefs, including one alongside both Baptist state conventions in Texas. “The number of … [Read more...]
Supreme Court hears case on South Carolina’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON (BP) – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday (April 2) in a case that will decide the fate of South Carolina’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood by barring abortion clinics in the state from participating in Medicaid programs. The case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, will decide whether the Medicaid Act’s “any-qualified-provider provision,” which gives beneficiaries the right to choose their provider, includes providers that perform abortions. … [Read more...]
Supreme Court appears ready to side with Catholic Charities in religious liberty case
WASHINGTON (BP) – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday (March 31) in a case that will determine whether a Catholic benevolent ministry qualifies for a tax exemption granted to churches. At issue in the case, Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, is the commission’s ruling that the Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) and its four sub-entities, which provide various social services to a diversity of needy communities, do not operate for … [Read more...]
Missouri House Bill purports to restrict gambling, but does the opposite
EDITOR: Timothy Faber serves as Missouri Baptist Convention legislative consultant. The old saying “if you can’t beat them, join them” seems to be the preferred choice for some of our state legislators. There are many good men and women serving in our state legislature, to be sure, but there are some who like to pretend they are fixing a problem when in reality they are spilling a lot of ink and leaving a bigger stain on our state. They dangle a promise of new revenue while trying to … [Read more...]
ERLC urges Congress to defund Planned Parenthood
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) Ethics & Religious Liberty has issued a formal request for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and is asking others to join. A letter from the ERLC to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee (available on the ERLC website here) says, “The American people should not be forced to subsidize an organization that profits from the deaths of innocent lives. … Many Americans do not want their tax money supporting an organization … [Read more...]
Christian counselors, Missouri Attorney General defend free religious speech, oppose censorship in Kansas City, Jackson County
‘Conversion therapy’ bans in KC, Jackson County a 'dangerous overreach,' AG Bailey says KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A new federal lawsuit takes aim at local ordinances in Kansas City and Jackson County that censor the free religious speech of licensed professional counselors who counsel minors struggling with gender identity or same-sex attraction. Two licensed professional counselors, Wyatt Bury and Pamela Eisenreich, have filed a federal lawsuit against Kansas City, Mo., and the Jackson County … [Read more...]
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