Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg
What happens when the state becomes God?
Dr. Erwin Lutzer, pastor emeritus of the Moody Church in Chicago, answers this exact question in today’s episode of Illinois Family Spotlight.
“It is the role of the pastor to speak about the controlling realities of the culture.”
If you are interested in reading more about this topic, consider purchasing Dr. Lutzer’s book, The Church in Babylon.
Listen to this episode anywhere you find podcasts or click the link!… Continue Reading
Written by Jeff Evans
What happened at Cities Church last Sunday should matter to all of us. It isn’t possible to outline all of the ways in this [article], and there are many others providing helpful perspectives. But if you haven’t read and shared the public statement issued by the leadership at Cities Church, I encourage you to do so. You can read their statement here.
Let me add a few related thoughts to consider as well.… Continue Reading
Written by Jayla Ward
Great news! The U.S. Supreme Court ruled once again in favor of parents’ rights.
The Justices recently reversed a terrible decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed the State of New York to force Amish parents to vaccinate their children. When the families asked for religious exemptions, they were denied and faced catastrophic penalties from the state, directly violating their religious freedom and parental rights.
The Supreme Court instructed the appeals court to reconsider this case in light of its decision in Mahmoud v.… Continue Reading
Written by Dana Pico
Judging from my Twitter — I refuse to call it — feed, the talking points memo has gone out: the left must attack Riley Gaines Barker, the former University of Kentucky swimmer who is now a vocal advocate for protecting women’s sports from men males who think they’re somehow women. It’s no surprise to me that the very lovely Amanda Marcotte had to join in; hat tip to Carol Marks of The Victory Girls for pointing out this article.
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Written by Emma Sumlin
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the 2025 Religious Liberty in the States (RLS) index!
Each year, First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy (CRCD) publishes a nationwide index of domestic religious freedom. It ranks religious liberty protections for each of the 50 states. RLS focuses on select legal safeguards of religious exercise in state laws and constitutions.
[Earlier this month], the CRCD team unveiled the results at a special First Liberty event in Florida alongside Gov.… Continue Reading
Written by Robert Knight
Before 1954, pastors, priests and rabbis could openly endorse political parties or candidates.
Then came the Johnson Amendment, named for Lyndon Baines Johnson, then an U.S. Senator from Texas who tweaked the IRS code. Suddenly, tax-exempt nonprofits were barred from “participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” The “opposition to” phrase was added in 1986.
A ruthless political strategist before and during his presidency, Johnson engineered this coup after two Texas nonprofit groups had supported his Senate primary opponent.… Continue Reading
Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, Donald Trump, Drag Queen Story Hour, George Barna, James Dobson, Johnson Amendment, Kamala Harris, Lyndon Baines Johnson, McCulloch v. Maryland, Planned Parenthood, Rev. Franklin Graham, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, tax-exempt Churches, William Wilberforce
Political, Religious Liberty | David E. Smith | 
July 15, 2025 5:00 AM | 
Comments Off on Pastors Should Be More Involved in Politics, Not Less
Written by Jorge Gomez
Corporate America appears to be moving away from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, which could be good news for religious employees in the workplace.
Forbes recently reported that use of the acronym DEI in Fortune 100 company reports showed “the steepest decline between 2024 and 2025, decreasing by 98%, while each individual term also declined significantly: Mentions of “diversity” dropped 62%, “equity” decreased 48% and “inclusion” declined 43%.”
Words explicitly referring to diversity, including DEI, “declined 72% overall between 2024 and 2025,” according to a recent study from Gravity Research, a firm that studies how companies manage their reputations and respond to social pressures.… Continue Reading
Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg
In this special episode of Illinois Family Spotlight podcast, Dave Smith sits down with IFI’s Senior Counsel, James Odom, to discuss the legal implications of the Homeschool Registration Act (HB 2827).
Their conversation focuses on Illinois State Rep. Terra Costa Howard’s claim that HB 2827 is intended to protect children through forcing homeschooling families register with their local regional office of education.
Smith notes that homeschooling families are thriving socially, academically, and spiritually far above their peers in the public school system.… Continue Reading
Tags: Covenant Home Curriculum, Dave Smith, education, HB2827, Homeschool, Homeschool Act, James Odom, Terra Costa Howard
Education, Illinois Politics, Political, Religious Liberty | Alyssa Sonnenburg | April 26, 2025 5:00 AM | Comments Off on SPOTLIGHT: HB 2827 From the Perspective of a Lawyer
Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg
In this episode of the Illinois Family Spotlight podcast, Monte Larrick is joined by Attorney Will Estrada who highlights the dangers associated with HB 2827, the ominous “The Homeschool Act.”
Will Estrada works as Senior Council to HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) and is himself a homeschool graduate along with his wife.
“One of the arguments that we’ve seen from the sponsors of HB2827 is that homeschooling is unregulated, and that is not true…
There are educational neglect laws on the books in Illinois, so there really is no problem that HB2827 is needed to fix.”
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Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg
The Homeschool Act, also known as HB 2827, poses a grave danger to all homeschooling families across Illinois.
If passed, this bill would stifle the freedoms of homeschooling families through heavy regulations. If these regulations are not followed, families would face hefty fines and possible jail time.
Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE) is an organization that is passionately leading the charge against this dangerous legislation, and Kirk Smith, executive director of ICHE, sits down to discuss the consequences of the bill and how to oppose it.… Continue Reading
