Religious Liberty

“In an action not seen in more than a century, the leaders of Jerusalem’s churches closed the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday in a show of united protest.

“The dispute centers on social consumption stemming from a 4/20 service where the church was cited for public consumption of marijuana and violating the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act.” ABC

“An Ohio couple on Friday (Feb. 16) lost permanent custody of their teenage daughter because they didn’t want her to undergo sex-change treatment.” BPNews

“Nearly a year ago, the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided 5–3 that a Muslim convert to Christianity—whose baptism nearly got him killed—couldn’t sue First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa for inadvertently alerting his would-be murderers with its online announcement of the baptism.

“Brownback represents the first politician and the first Catholic to fill the role, following in the footsteps of David Saperstein as the first Jewish IRF ambassador and Suzan Johnson Cook as the first female and first African American one.” CToday

“A Christian student group at the University of Iowa has filed suit against the school after losing its status as an official on-campus organization because it requires leaders to hold Biblical beliefs about sexuality.” BPNews

Members of Congress Explain Need for New HHS Conscience and Religious Freedom Division

The University of Iowa is caught up in a legal fight with a conservative Christian student group that denied a leadership position to a student who is gay. The case pits a university policy barring discrimination based on sexual orientation against the religious beliefs of a 10-member group called Business Leaders in Christ.

“The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 5 a Baltimore ordinance violated the First Amendment’s free-speech clause by mandating pro-life centers display signs saying they do not provide abortions or contraceptives or make referrals for the services. The law does not require abortion clinics to post messages communicating what services they do not provide.” BPNews

“The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) … had urged the State Department in April to re-designate the 10 CPC members of 2016 but recommended it add six governments to the list: Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Syria and Vietnam.” They have not been added. BPNews