Category: Religious Freedom

A jury awarded a Catholic Michigan woman $12.7 million in a religious discrimination lawsuit after her former employer — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) — refused to give her a religious exemption from the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and fired her. The woman, Lisa Domski, submitted a religious exemption request to the company because the three COVID-19 vaccines approved at the time had been developed or tested using fetal cell lines that originated from abortions, according to court documents.

“(RNS) — Global leaders, diplomats and climate advocates are gathering to hammer out climate finance agreements at the latest U.N. climate summit being held today (Nov. 11) through Nov. 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. But the host country for the annual summit has come under international scrutiny for human rights and religious freedom violations, leading some activists to question why there has not been more pushback from the global climate advocates, including faith organizations.

Days before COP29, the climate summit, began, the Azerbaijani government held a summit of religious leaders working on climate issues, calling itself “well-known for its traditions of tolerance, multicultural values and inter-civilizational and inter-religious cooperation,” even as outside observers have repeatedly raised concerns about religious freedom in the former Soviet country.”

“BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — A new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday by a federal judge who said the law is “unconstitutional on its face.”
U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge said the law had an “overtly religious” purpose, and rejected state officials’ claims that the government can mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments because they hold historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. His opinion noted that no other foundational documents — including the Constitution or the Bill of Rights — must be posted.”

We have a tower to build and a lot of work to do as we try to stem the decline of the nation we love and rebuild her moral foundations in order to re-secure a future of freedom for our children and grandchildren. We must calculate the cost. We are engaged in a spiritual war for the souls of men and women; indeed, the very survival of the nation we love may hang in the balance. However, we must always remember that the struggle is, at root, a spiritual one. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood; but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Eph. 6:12,13

Adam-Smith Connor has confirmed that he will appeal against his conviction finding him guilty of silent prayer outside an abortion facility in Bournemouth.
Explaining his appeal, Mr Smith-Connor said: “Surely a silent thought cannot be a crime… The government simply cannot be allowed to determine the content of thoughts and prayers.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled last Friday that the state of Washington could not enforce a nondiscrimination law against the Yakima Union Gospel Mission while its lawsuit against the state moved forward. The Mission was challenging a recent redefinition of the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) which forbids discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. That nondiscrimination law is in conflict with the Mission’s deeply held Christian beliefs about marriage, sexuality and relationships.

“An attorney dedicated to upholding religious freedom said he’s “greatly disturbed” by the “growing hostility” toward the exercise of religion in the public square, particularly in Michigan.
… “Religious freedom is vital to human dignity, to all other civil rights in America and to a healthy civil society,” Brown said. “What we’re seeing, and particularly in the states that rank towards the bottom of this index, is a spirit of the age in our country that is tearing down the very foundations of the human freedoms that we enjoy.””

“Religious freedom’s string of courtroom victories has reached the unlikeliest of places. On October 28, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a discriminatory California law barring religious schools from participating in a special-education program violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The case, Loffman v. California Department of Education, was brought by Orthodox Jewish families who sought to admit their disabled children to private Jewish schools under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act but found themselves thwarted by California on the grounds that the schools were “sectarian.” In a sharply worded opinion, the court rejected California’s argument and instead sided with the families, affirming their constitutional right to access public benefits without sacrificing their faith commitments.”

Nearly 60,000 people in the UK have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging him to reconsider naming silent prayer as a criminal offense. The letter, circulated by Alliance Defending Freedom UK, references the Public Spaces Protection Orders that have been responsible for the arrests of pro-lifers including Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and Father Sean Gough, who were both charged with a crime after silently praying outside an abortion facility, but later acquitted. It also references the case of Adam Smith-Connor, who was charged with a similar crime but was not acquitted; instead, he was found guilty and ordered to pay a large fine.