Current: A weekly collection of current news and issues in the church, the country, and the world.

A few weeks ago a federal judge ruled that a pastor’s housing allowance is unconstitutional, which begs the question for many people: what is a pastor’s housing allowance and why do pastors get it?

Also a few weeks ago, our president made a new deal with Iran that failed to secure the release of American citizen Pastor Saeed.  Despite Iran’s outward show of goodwill in other ways, Iran is executing many of its own citizens, and holds at least one other American prisoner.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Hobby Lobby’s case regarding the requirement in the new health care bill for businesses to offer contraceptives – even contraceptives that can cause abortions – regardless of the owner’s religious beliefs.  Rick Garnett writes: Like millions of religious believers and groups, these challengers reject the idea that religious faith and religious freedom are simply about what we believe and how we pray, and not also about how we live, act and work. At the heart of these two cases is the straightforward argument that federal law does not require us to “check our faith at the door” when we pursue vocations in business and commerce.  Meanwhile Trevin Wax affirms that freedom of conscience is a beautiful thing – as it relates to this case and many others.