Lifeway Research recently released a report on Southern Baptists’ views on political theology. The survey, which was sponsored by the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, looked at the views of Southern Baptist laity and key leaders and aimed to understand: the importance Southern Baptists place on various national issues, their views on religious freedom, and their perspectives on the role of Christianity in government and public life. It also explored attitudes toward specific constitutional rights and the extent to which respondents believe Chr ..read more

A question has been nagging at me lately: How do I behave like a Christian in an election year?  The world has grown exponentially negative. Anxiety lurks about. Peace is hard to find. In my experience as a pastor, I have never seen mental health at such a low point.  And all of this applies to our political climate in America, which tends to come to the forefront in a major election year.  Though we care deeply about the issues that are at stake, perhaps we should be not only be concerned about the results of the election but also about the effect our politicized and polarized ..read more

Last week, the ERLC joined public comments with other faith-based organizations in response to two Department of State proposed rules that would undermine the vital work being done by faith-based international aid providers. These rules would place new restrictions on foreign aid contractors and foreign aid grant recipients, requiring them to adhere to hiring standards that do not allow them to consider sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in the hiring process in order to remain eligible for foreign aid funding. In doing so, the Department is forcing these aid providers to cho ..read more

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on access to an abortion pill in two combined cases—FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories, LLC v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. These cases are significant legal battles challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone (i.e., the “abortion pill”), a drug commonly used in chemical abortion procedures. In these cases, pro-life doctors have contested the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and its efforts to increase access to this abortion pill. Though initially challenging the orig ..read more

Nearly six months after the beginning of fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Congress has finally fully funded the federal government through Sept. 30. Following four continuing resolutions (CRs), Congress passed two minibus packages that included all twelve federal appropriations bills that fund the various parts of the government.  The first minibus, passed on March 8, included:  the Agriculture-FDA;  Commerce-Justice- Science; Energy-Water;  Interior-Environment;  Military Construction-Veterans Affairs;  and Transportation-Housing-Urban Development bills.  The se ..read more

On Super Tuesday, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump officially secured the number of delegates needed to clinch their parties’ presidential nomination. This ensures that they will be facing one another ​in a rematch, the first to feature two U.S. presidents since 1956. Despite reaching this milestone, the candidates still face a long and complex process as they head toward the general election. The period between Super Tuesday and Election Day is particularly crucial, encompassing the: remaining primaries and caucuses, party conventions, the development of political party ..read more

Healthy engagement in the public square can feel like a fond memory of past decades, but we believe that Christians can still engage the public square today in ways that bring hope where it is desperately needed. In 2019, the ERLC, the Fetzer Institute, and LifeWay Research conducted a study on civility in the public square, interviewing a number of evangelical leaders. The study found that “the single most common adjective … interviewees used” to describe the current political discourse was “toxic.” As as a result, we often avoid political discourse. But if Christians avoid the political enga ..read more

In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling in favor of parents who had utilized in vitro fertilization (IVF) and had their embryos dropped and destroyed at the fertility clinic. The court stated that frozen embryos created and stored in IVF clinics can be considered children under state law. IVF is a medical procedure that involves “the harvesting of ovum from a woman and sperm from a man, both of which are prepared before fertilization of the egg(s) takes place in a lab.” This results in the creation of a human embryo, which is then implanted into the uterus to try to achieve ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more