It should go without saying that the First Amendment freedoms of conscience, religion, and speech are foundational to our constitutional order. The more these rights are eroded, the faster we will find ourselves on a path toward the type of political and social decay afflicting so much of Western Europe.
It should go without saying that the First Amendment freedoms of conscience, religion, and speech are foundational to our constitutional order. The more these rights are eroded, the faster we will find ourselves on a path toward the type of political and social decay afflicting so much of Western Europe.
It should go without saying that the First Amendment freedoms of conscience, religion, and speech are foundational to our constitutional order. The more these rights are eroded, the faster we will find ourselves on a path toward the type of political and social decay afflicting so much of Western Europe.
“The Ugandan Qadhis Courts Bill should not proceed within the Parliament, and it is imperative that both international and Ugandan actors oppose it. The proposed bill’s passage would represent a dangerous expansion of Sharia law into Sub-Saharan Africa at a time when Christian persecution is growing.”
“Colorado continues to place itself on the wrong side of the law by forcing Coloradans to speak against their conscience,” said Frampton. “As the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed this week when it ruled against another Colorado law in Chiles v. Salazar, the government shouldn’t be able to censor speech or force people to speak views they disagree with. We are asking the appeals court to protect the ability of Coloradans to openly express their beliefs on a hotly debated issue.”
Originally scheduled for 2021, the census was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, it is the first census in nearly a century to collect detailed caste data. This development is particularly significant for the country’s religious minority populations, including Christians, and could pose serious risks to their livelihoods, freedom, and even citizenship.
“I consider public preaching to be an essential part of my worship, which the police have de facto inhibited, due to their investigation. There are no Islamic or progressive blasphemy laws in this country, and yet time and time again the police have censored me as if there are. The police should drop this investigation and refrain from censoring me again in the future.”
Christians in central Syria faced a tense Easter weekend after their town was targeted by armed Muslim men, with residents watching in horror as church property, homes, shops, a café, and cars were damaged, residents said. The violence erupted in the predominantly Christian town of Suqaylabiyah in Hama province ahead of Palm Sunday, in what locals described as the latest attack against Syria’s Christian minority.
Of course, they are claiming this will not “criminalize faith,” but we’ve seen what has happened in Europe (and what has already happened in Canada) when “hate crime” legislation is passed. Christians are specifically targeted for their beliefs, especially regarding gender, marriage, and the sanctity of human life. Every thinking person knows that this change to the Criminal Code will be used in exactly the same way eventually (and probably not far in the future). It’s all part of the spiritual battle raging around us as Satan attempts to silence Christians.
“Plaintiffs have a bona fide religious conviction that they must teach and preach about all areas of life,” the complaint states. “No area of life is exempt from the reach of Scripture. And teaching is not limited to generalized principles. Proper teaching includes a precise application of scriptural principles to every area of life. This includes the spiritual duty to teach about issues of life that may arise in the public arena.”
The ongoing slaughter has gotten the attention of the Trump administration after years of being shrugged off during Joe Biden’s presidency. In October of last year, Trump’s Department of State redesignated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern. Months later, on Christmas Day, the U.S. military struck ISIS-linked targets in northern Nigeria with 16 Tomahawk missiles after the country’s government requested the assistance.
The Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act, which Utah Congressman Blake Moore introduced in the House of Representatives Friday, would prohibit the federal government from refusing religious organizations tax-exempt status or federal funding eligibility based solely on their beliefs about marriage and sexuality.
Gunmen killed at least 30 people during a Palm Sunday attack in Ungwan Rukuba, a community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria. The incident occurred during the evening, when armed men reportedly entered the community and opened fire on residents. Eyewitnesses described the attack as coordinated, with multiple casualties recorded and several homes affected.
Equality Australia actively campaigns against religious freedom because they think that a biblical worldview on human sexuality is discriminatory. They have urged the removal of religious exemptions in anti-discrimination laws, arguing that these exemptions protect the discriminators. It is their view that the discriminators are Christians who believe in marriage between a male and a female, and Christian schools who teach this biblical truth.
“We've got to get busy deciding how we want to live,” Roy warned. “ Are we going to defend our Judeo-Christian culture, while maintaining Western values and maintaining the rights to free speech, and freedom of religion, and free expression, or are we not?”
“The idea that an employer can fire an employee for simply voicing a religious belief, after being invited to do so, is chilling,” said Cliff Martin, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute. “No employee should have to hide their faith in order to keep their job.”
Other school districts across the state invoked the tired phrase, “separation of Church and State,” in order to scare school officials into enforcing a public-school campus entirely sanitized of religion. These vocal opponents of SB11 fret that respecting and tolerating the religious practices of public-school students would cause division, steal valuable instructional time, or even “squeeze in Christian religious opportunities and principles into the school day itself.”
“I am taking legal advice on a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This is not about my free speech alone, but that of every person in Finland. A positive ruling would help to prevent other innocent people from experiencing the same ordeal for simply sharing their beliefs,” added Räsänen.
Publicly advocating for a soup kitchen and publicly advocating for the protection of life in the womb are both outworkings of a biblical worldview. But there’s a major difference in how those two actions are perceived by culture. As Christians, therefore, we aren’t resented for everything we believe and do, but because we’re reviled for opposing some of the values most cherished by culture, we’re increasingly hated as a group.
During the conversation with the student, the vice principal said it was permissible for the school to allow students to leave campus during school hours to participate in anti-ICE protests, but she maintained that the student’s distribution of religious literature was not permitted. “The District’s own officials have articulated a policy of viewpoint discrimination with unusual candor,” the ACLJ’s letter states. “The school has opened a forum for student expression during non-instructional time and has selectively excluded a religious viewpoint from that forum.”
Five months after dozens of members of a house church in China were arrested by Xi Jinping’s communist regime, reports have surfaced that Beijing is ratcheting up its persecution of the group of Christians by revoking and suspending the legal licenses of the attorneys attempting to defend them.
There is no clash or war of rights. Zinski has no right to demand employment at a religious institution, and Liberty has a fundamental, constitutionally grounded right to terminate an employee who does not share its biblical views.
Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and chief counsel for First Liberty Institute which defended Olivier in his suit, celebrated the ruling. “This is not only a win for the right to share your faith in public,” Shackelford said, “but also a win for every American’s right to have their day in court when their First Amendment rights are violated.”
Clearly, she’s taking issue with Christian believers who are advocating and championing biblical truths: that God made two genders, marriage is between one man and one woman, and it’s best when children are raised in the safety and security of their biological or adoptive mother and father.
Twenty-eight Christian families in Chhattisgarh were brutally assaulted on March 10 after demanding justice from government authorities, who have denied them food rations for months.
In some places, churches cannot display a cross, ring a bell, or publicly identify themselves as Christian without risking harassment, imprisonment, or violence. Yet something remarkable happens in these environments of pressure and opposition. Repeatedly, observers notice that the church under persecution often displays extraordinary spiritual vitality, deep prayer, courageous evangelism, sacrificial community, and unshakable faith.
In the past month, a renewed push from MP Alex Greenwich, Equality Australia, and the Independent Education Union has intensified calls for an overhaul of New South Wales’ anti-discrimination laws. Their core objective is clear: the removal of longstanding religious exemptions that allow Christian schools to operate effectively as, well, Christian schools.
“The court’s decision brings me great relief and hope that free speech will be protected in Brazil,” said Borges. “The truth matters. Stating biological facts in a post should never result in prison time. All Brazilians deserve to speak freely and stand for what they believe in, even if their views differ from those in power.”
Moody Bible Institute only hires those who agree with Moody’s Doctrinal and Positional Statements. For example, an employee must agree with core Biblical doctrines such as the Trinity, the infallibility of the Bible, Jesus’ divinity, the virgin birth, the Gospel and the death and resurrection of Jesus. Those who are employed must also be part of a local church and abstain from sex outside of marriage and not condone or affirm transgenderism or homosexuality.
The baseball team has a chaplain who is affiliated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The other day the Sarasota chapter of FCA posted a message on Facebook saying that the were praying over each coach and each player by name. That seemed to outrage the Freedom From Religion Foundation – a Wisconsin based group of atheist predators. They target small towns and communities – on a mission to remove Christianity from the public marketplace.
The Trump administration today withdrew a Biden-era rule that requires potential foster parents to prove they will support a gender transition, or the LGBTQ identity, of their prospective foster children. The Federal Register published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to officially annul the 2022 rule “Designated Placement Requirements Under Titles IV-E and IV-B for LGBTQI+ Children.” In a warning letter to all 50 states, the federal government told states they cannot remove children from foster homes without “objective evidence of harm or imminent risk” if they received federal child welfare funding.
The USCIRF 2026 Annual Report lays bare a world where violations are intensifying — from state-engineered repression in authoritarian regimes to unchecked extremism in transitional or fragile states. And yet, it also offers a clear roadmap for U.S. leadership. By heeding the commission’s recommendations, including timely CPC and SWL designations, integrating religious freedom into all facets of diplomacy, and prioritizing accountability for perpetrators, the United States can help secure the release of the imprisoned, protect the vulnerable, and foster societies where this foundational freedom thrives.
David Cortman, ADF senior counsel and vice president of U.S. Litigation, stated in a press release that ADF hopes the settlement “shows teachers that they do not have to bow the knee to ideological mandates that violate their religious beliefs.”
While Beijing is eager to discuss trade relations and negotiate international economic deals, it has historically worked assiduously to avoid addressing religious freedom within its borders. Chinese officials regularly bristle at mention of the topic, insisting that their persecution of religious groups is an internal matter of national security, not one involving international human rights.
“This case has exposed how activists have sought to weaponize the law to silence people like Matthew who express mainstream Christian beliefs about sexuality, marriage and identity. There was never any credible evidence justifying the charges brought against him, only an aggressive campaign to shut down viewpoints that diverge from a prevailing ideology.”