JEFFERSON CITY -- Missourians need lending options, and a possible November ballot initiative to reform laws governing unsecured, short-term consumer loans -- often nicknamed payday loans -- could kill the industry in the state, Sen. John Lamping (R-St. Louis County) believes.
WASHINGTON (ABP) – The head of a Baptist religious liberty watchdog group said Feb. 8 that the Obama administration should return new healthcare regulations to the drawing board to address religious liberty concerns.
WASHINGTON (ABP) – Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Dec. 14 that a proposed hospital merger in Louisville, Ky., is unconstitutional and urged Gov. Steve Beshear to block it.
WASHINGTON (ABP) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Oct. 5 in a closely watched case involving a church’s right to hire or fire ministers for reasons like religious doctrine that in other settings would be job discrimination.
WASHINGTON (ABP) – The State Department released an annual report Sept. 13 detailing violations of religious freedom around the world.
Churches and organizations will honor the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon and the attempt on Washington in a variety of ways. Here are just a few of those services:
OSLO, Norway (ABP) – Police in Azerbaijan raided a Baptist church in June in the port city of Sumgait, and a judge warned the congregation’s leader that he would be fined for a second offense of meeting for worship without state permission, according to Forum
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As the U.S. Supreme Court ends its 2010-2011 term, legal scholars say one decision is likely to resonate within church-state debates for years to come.
Because of their historic commitment to religious liberty and separation of church and state, Baptists have a responsibility to educate their fellow citizens what those concepts mean, church historian Jim Spivey said.