As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Mississippi is now headed to federal court over its effort to protect the religious freedom of individuals who object to same-sex marriage and restroom use based on gender identity. Two organizations — the American Civil Liberties Union and the Campaign for Southern Equality — challenged the state’s Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act May 9 and 10, respectively.” BPress
“Haslam, who is a Christian, explained that not only would the bill violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, but that it ‘trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text.’”
“Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law a bill safeguarding the religious liberty of individuals and organizations who refuse to participate in same-sex weddings or gender identity transitions. Bryant, a Republican, announced today (April 5) via Twitter that he signed House Bill 1523 — the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act.” Miss. adopts religious freedom bill
(Used with permission from Baptist Bulletin July/Aug. 2012. All rights reserved.)
Do the religious beliefs of U.S. presidents matter? Though the question is not new (Baptists, as well as Protestants and evangelicals in general, wrestled with “the Catholic issue” when John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960; Kennedy spoke to allay their fears), American voters appear to be headed toward a 2012 election with unusual religious features. As of this writing, the top-tier choices include a vaguely “Christian” candidate and an indisputably Mormon candidate. The latter appears certain to become the Republican nominee for president. This development has many taking a fresh—and anxiety-tinged—look at what they believe about separation of church and state.
For conservative Christians, the situation is especially uncomfortable. They believe deeply that President Obama’s political philosophy and policies are harming the country and that he must be defeated, yet they find Mitt Romney’s Mormonism disturbing. After all, though the Mormon religion is suffused with old-fashioned American values, it’s a religious newcomer born entirely by reinventing major components of the Christian faith—and that sort of reinventing is a profoundly “unconservative” thing to do to the religion that built Western civilization.
“The Internal Revenue Service will not revoke the tax-exempt status of religious organizations that object to same-sex marriage, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has promised at least twice in recent weeks.” bpnews
“The quarter-century controversy over the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has finally ended, after the US Department of Defense sold the government land on which the 29-foot cross stood.
Judges have disagreed over how emblematic the San Diego memorial really was of Christianity.” CT
“The controversy began early last month, when the Cochran City Council voted against the advice of its attorney to fly the flag at city hall to help promote a local Bible-reading marathon sponsored by the International Bible Reading Association.” Flag Controversy
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