Posts tagged religious freedom
New Bill Would Punish Nigeria For Religious Freedom Violations

A new congressional bill would require the U.S. to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), indicating egregious, systemic and ongoing religious freedom violations in the country that is the deadliest for Christians. The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 echoes a longstanding call by many religious freedom organizations.

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Trump Administration Intensifies Religious Liberty Agenda With A Christian Focus

(ANALYSIS) The young Donald Trump administration is unusually focused on the issue of religious liberty — operating through two newly formed organizations that emphasize concerns raised by those conservative Catholics and Protestants who are a crucial element in the president’s political “base.”

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Algeria’s Tense Dance Between Heritage And Religious Freedom

(ANALYSIS) As Algeria tries to assert itself on the international stage as a civilizational bridge, the country’s Christian community continues to face renewed challenges. In late July, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune traveled to Italy to meet with both Pope Leo XIV and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The latter meeting produced a joint initiative to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for several historic sites in Algeria linked to early Christianity.

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China Tightens Digital Grip On Clergy With Sweeping New Rules

China has introduced sweeping new regulations that strictly control how clergy from the country’s five state-recognized religions can operate online. The 18-article “Code of Conduct for Religious Clergy on the Internet” bans livestreaming, social media preaching, AI-generated religious content and all online outreach to minors.

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Concrete Over Ashes: Modi’s Manipur Visit Ignores Demands For Justice

(ANALYSIS) Justice cannot be replaced by roads and hostels. The violence in Manipur was not a clash between two aggrieved groups, but the targeting of the Kuki-Zo minority by extremist groups from the majority Meitei community, allegedly backed by the state government. Ignoring the killings and rape sends a message to future perpetrators that violence with political support can be excused or even rewarded.

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Are Christians Disappearing Across The Middle East?

(ANALYSIS) It is entirely accurate to say that Christianity continues to thrive as an international religion, spanning vast regions across the world. But it is also necessary to acknowledge that the global Christian community is not without its travails. And it is increasingly necessary to take a careful look at the “world’s largest religious group,” revealing not only thriving communities across several continents, but also increasing numbers of endangered religious believers who continue to face real threats to their survival.

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How Religious Freedom Caselaw is Shaping the Legal Landscape for Ministries

Following the expanded Free Exercise protections under these decisions, ADF continues to litigate cases on behalf of Christian ministries, arguing for the continued expansion of these protections in different contexts.

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Jimmy Lai Submits Appeal Over Life-Threatening Detention Conditions

(ANALYSIS) The international legal team for Jimmy Lai, and his son Sebastien Lai, has submitted a new Urgent Appeal to the United Nations experts in relation to the serious and immediate risk to Jimmy Lai’s life posed by his ongoing detention.

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Trump Vows To Defend Religious Liberty Ahead Of Nation’s 250th Birthday

In remarks at the Museum of the Bible during a meeting of his Religious Liberty Commission, President Donald Trump touted his administration’s religious liberty victories, vowed to protect prayer in public schools and announced the donation of his personal Bible to the museum.

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Judge Strikes Law That Banned Religious Schools From College Credits Program

A Minnesota law that banned certain Christian colleges from a program that enrolls high-schoolers in tuition-free college credit courses is unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled.

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Billy Graham Association Launches UK Religious Liberty Defense Fund

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse are helping Christians persecuted for their faith in the United Kingdom through a legal defense fund of more than $1.2 million.

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Day Commemorating Victims Of Religious Violence Highlights Rising Global Trend

(ANALYSIS) August 22nd marks the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, a day established by the U.N. General Assembly to condemn acts of violence targeting individuals on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief.

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Ugandan Muslim Beaten By Relatives For Converting To Christianity

A Muslim convert who said he saw a vision of Christ while napping at a Ugandan mosque is recovering after his relatives beat him and destroyed his home. While Uganda is not included in Open Doors’ World Watch List of the 50 countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians, Uganda ranks 72nd in the world for Christian persecution.

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Special Report: Why Egypt Has Rekindled Its War On Atheism

Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports has launched “Youth Against Atheism,” a government program partnering with Al-Azhar, the country’s top Sunni Muslim institution and the Coptic Church to combat what officials call “electronic atheism” spreading through social media platforms. The initiative targets five areas and marks an escalation in state efforts to address the phenomenon.

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Appeals Court Rules World Vision Shielded From Bias LawSuit

A customer service representative can be central to carrying out a religious organization’s mission in the same way a pastor is, a federal appeals court ruled, shielding the employer from federal nondiscrimination statutes.

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Special Report: Syria’s Christian Community Faces Extinction

A June terrori attack, the deadliest in recent memory, sent shockwaves through Syria's dwindling Christian population, communities that have endured in this ancient land for almost two millennia. Now, many fear they are witnessing the final chapter of one of Christianity's oldest continuous presences anywhere in the world.

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When Shepherds Are Hunted: The Killing of Priests in Kenya’s Kerio Valley

The murders this past May in Kenya of two Catholic priests reflecst a global context in which clergy, who have always lived among the poor and on the peripheries, are now being hunted. In many areas around the world where the state has receded, faith often becomes the last visible institution — and the first to be attacked. From the Americas to Africa, religious workers have become marked men and women.

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First Amendment Fight: Football And Faith Could Return To The Supreme Court

The case of a high school football coach praying on the field has been in the spotlight since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling. But another football controversy first emerged in 2015, when two Christian schools made it to the state championships. The games were run by the state’s athletic association. Officials barred them from conducting a prayer over the loudspeaker before kickoff.

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Liberty Seeks Dismissal of Trans Termination Lawsuit Citing Religious Freedom

Liberty Counsel has filed the opening brief to seek dismissal of a wrongful termination case brought by a former Liberty University employee who hid his steps to transition and identify as a female during the hiring process.

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So What If Preachers Endorse Political Candidates?

(ANALYSIS) Unless a federal court challenge succeeds, American clergy are now free to endorse political candidates in sermons during worship. The Internal Revenue Service has just erased the pulpit prohibition that for 71 years was among conditions to obtain federal tax exemption on income and donor gifts.  The impact is tough to predict.

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