religious liberty Archives

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: Senators, Please Continue to Confirm Judges

One of Focus on the Family’s top public policy priorities for the Trump Administration has been appointing top-notch judges who interpret the Constitution and our laws as written and originally understood.

That’s because our federal courts have been filled with judicial activists who rewrite the laws and Constitution to reflect their own personal preferences. It’s been because of these activist judges that we have legalized abortion, legalized same-sex marriage – and some lower courts are even reinventing the definition of “sex” in discrimination laws to include biological men who identify as women, and vive versa.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, policy, religious liberty October 13, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Birth Control Mandate Rollback Ends “Government Harassment of Religious-Minded Employers”

My statement on the news that the Trump Administration’s Oct. 6 decision to roll back the birth control mandate. – J.D.

“We are pleased to see that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a significant rule change to the Obamacare-based mandate that employers, even those with religious or moral objections, must provide for possible abortion-causing contraceptives in company health plans. This extreme rule forced many employers to make an impossible choice between their deeply held conscience-based objections to abortion, and the prospect of paying crippling fines for non-compliance.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty October 9, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Meet an Elementary School Girl Who Shared Jesus with Her Classmates

On Wednesday I shared with you two things that you could do to deepen your family’s faith: watching the movie “MULLY,” and participating in “Bring Your Bible to School Day.”

Today I want to share with you a video of a Pennsylvania family for whom #BringYourBible became a part of living out their faith every day – even in the midst of life’s trials. It’s a beautiful video that will leave you with a smile on your face – and even a tear in your eye.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: parenting, religious liberty September 29, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Help Your Children Build a Strong Faith

Yesterday I shared with you why it’s more important than ever for public school students to participate in this year’s “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” the Focus on the Family-sponsored and student-led free speech event.

#BringYourBible has grown exponentially since we originally launched it in 2014: The first year, 8,000 students participated. The second year, 155,000. Last year, over 355,000. This year, we’re hoping 500,000 students will bring their Bible to school and will share and read Scripture with their friends during appropriate times, like before and after school, during recess or lunch, etc.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, events, faith, parenting, religious liberty September 21, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

First Grade Student Told Not to Talk About God

It’s been four years since Focus on the Family launched the student-led “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” which has a combined participation of half-a-million students.

You’d think with all the news coverage the event has received, and with all the students who have led events at their schools, that parents, teachers and administrators around the nation would be better attuned to students’ First Amendment rights.

Sadly, that’s still not the case.

For example, just last month it was reported that an Indiana first-grade teacher instructed students to not talk about God or Jesus.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, kids, news, religious liberty September 20, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Exclusive: Sadie Robertson’s Important Message to Students

We’re fast approaching the fourth annual Bring Your Bible to School Day, when tens of thousands of public school students across the nation will celebrate on Oct. 5.

I’ll share more about it in the coming weeks, but in case you’re not familiar with Bring Your Bible, let me give you a quick explanation: it’s a student-led event sponsored by Focus on the Family where children and teens from all 50 states will share God’s hope and celebrate religious freedom by bringing their Bibles to school and talking about it with their friends.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, kids, pop culture, religious liberty September 8, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Watch My CBN Interview on the Coach Joe Kennedy Religious Liberty Case

I want to share with you an interview I did with CBN on the topic of Joe Kennedy, the football coach who lost his job because of his custom of praying on the 50-yard line after every game. As you can tell from the interview – and my Fox News op-ed last week – I feel strongly about this story. (Click on the image to watch the interview.)

I hope you’ll click over to watch the interview – and come back and let me know what you think about Coach Joe Kennedy in the comments section below.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty August 30, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

We Need More Men Like Coach Joe Kennedy

Have you heard the latest ruling from the 9th Circuit? Three judges ruled against Joe Kennedy, a Washington State high school football coach and former Marine, for praying at the 50-yard line after each game.

The details around this story make the ruling all the more frustrating. It’s a case that might be headed to the Supreme Court.

I’m following this story because of the religious liberty issues – but there’s another, more personal reason why I’m so interested in this case.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty August 25, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Good News: The U.S. Will Have a Religious Freedom Ambassador Again

Over the past few years, I’ve written again and again about the plight of the persecuted Church around the world. Our brothers and sisters in the faith are facing increasing violence and oppression internationally, especially in the Middle East, where many have been killed at the hands of ISIS. Beyond Christians, the genocide perpetuated by ISIS has also ravaged the Yezidi and Shia Muslim communities.

This is why the State Department’s position of United States Ambassador-at-Large International Religious Freedom position is so important.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty August 1, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

According to the Media, I Attended a Hate Group Conference Last Week

A few Focus colleagues and I spent some time in California last week at a conference put on by our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, the religious liberty legal defense nonprofit organization that, just last month, won the most important religious liberty case at the Supreme Court in recent history.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when a couple of days later some news outlets were reporting that ADF is a “hate group.”

Here are the headlines of the articles I’m referring to:

ABC News: Jeff Sessions addresses ‘anti-LGBT hate group,’ but DOJ won’t release his remarks
NBC News: Jeff Sessions Tells ‘Hate Group’ DOJ Will Issue Religious Freedom Guidance

The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in the Trinity Lutheran case marked ADF’s seventh win in seven years at the nation’s highest court.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, homosexuality, news, religious liberty July 20, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura