First Liberty Asks Appeals Court to Preserve
Arkansas Ten Commandments Monument
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and First Liberty recently asked a federal appeals court to reverse a lower-court ruling that erroneously concluded a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds is unconstitutional and must come down.
The bad decision is from a challenge filed by The Satanic Temple, Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Humanist Association, and the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers.
“This question has been settled by the Supreme Court—displays that are part of the history and tradition of America, like the Ten Commandments, are presumed to be Constitutional,” First Liberty attorney Roger Byron said. “The District Court’s opinion tosses aside the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kennedy as a mere suggestion.”
The Arkansas Legislature authorized the placement of the privately funded monument on the Capitol grounds in 2015. Less than 24 hours after it was erected in 2017, a man ran over it with his pickup truck, destroying it. The current monument was set in place in 2018.
While our Supreme Court victories have opened a window of opportunity, our opponents are relentless. Many of these groups are incredibly well-funded—and you can be sure their attacks will not stop anytime soon. This is a fight that will only intensify.
Each effort to advance religious liberty is being met with resistance and lawsuits.
We’re fighting dozens of cases to make sure our victories at the Supreme Court are properly followed by the lower courts. Your gift is essential in this fight—it’s the difference-maker that will help us win more cases and secure the blessings of liberty for our children and grandchildren.
Please give to First Liberty today.
Dept. of Justice Issues Updated Guidance to Strengthen
Federal Religious Liberty Protections
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recently issued updated guidance on federal protections for religious liberty, reaffirming the administration’s commitment to safeguarding the constitutional rights of religious individuals and organizations.
The document revises and expands upon the DOJ’s 2017 Religious Liberty Guidelines, ensuring that federal policy is in harmony with key U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The guidance references First Liberty’s landmark victories in our Coach Kennedy, Faithful Carrier, and Treat Children Fairly cases.
It directs all executive departments and agencies to ensure that federal programs, employment practices, contracting, rulemaking, and enforcement actions comply with the Constitution and federal laws. It emphasizes that religious exercise includes not only belief and worship but also religious conduct in daily life.
“We are tremendously grateful to President Trump for his strong efforts to protect America’s first freedom—religious freedom,” First Liberty President & CEO Kelly Shackelford said. “This updated guidance will ensure that the federal government will respect the religious liberty rights of all Americans when implementing the President’s policies.”
“Religious liberty is one of our Nation’s founding principles and a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution,” Blanche said in a statement. “It is essential that federal agencies fully respect and protect the ability of all Americans to live out their faith in daily life, including in their interactions with the federal government.”
How Arkansas Became #1 in Protecting Religious Liberty
Arkansas has claimed first place in our 2026 Religious Liberty in the States index. After ranking sixth in 2025, the Natural State surged to the top this year, overtaking Florida, which dropped to third place.
Arkansas now protects 89% of the religious liberty safeguards tracked in the 2026 index. This remarkable achievement reflects a substantial commitment to protecting religious freedom through a wide array of legal safeguards. State law helps ensure individuals can live according to their faith in everyday life, including in health care, education, religious practice, family life, and the workplace.
Arkansas’ score is 63% higher than the lowest-ranked state, New York, which protects just 26% of the safeguards measured. Even among states with the strongest religious liberty protections, Arkansas leads by a clear margin. It surpasses second-place Tennessee by four percentage points and third-place Florida by 12 percentage points.
Want to see where your state ranks? Check out the index state rankings here.
Leading The Conversation | First Liberty in the News
Trump DOJ Expands Religious Liberty Protections After Major Supreme Court Rulings – President & CEO Kelly Shackelford on Fox News
The Unlikely Incubators of Liberty – Senior Counsel Mike Berry on Townhall
Union Helps Employer Persecute Its Own Members, Then Finds Out – Senior Counsel Becky Dummermuth on The Hill
Christian PA Fired Over Transgender Referrals, Pronouns Wins $410K Settlement as Hospital Adopts New Policy – Counsel Kayla Toney on Daily Signal
Texas Ranks 19th In Religious Liberty. We Can Do Better. – Of Counsel Matt Krause on Austin American-Statesman
Renewing our Commitment to America’s First and Most Sacred Freedom
by Daniel Darling, Director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Ronald Reagan famously said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
We live in an era of extreme discontent. Our social media timelines are filled with cynicism and grievances. But as we consider what it means to be American at the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, perhaps it’s time to reverse that trend and reflect, with gratitude, the freedom we have inherited.
We should specifically be thankful for religious liberty, the first freedom.
In America, every week we attend the church of our choice, not giving a single thought to whether the government will knock on the door and haul us off to prison for worshipping in a way the government forbids. But for many people of faith around the world, this fear is a present reality.
America 250 is an opportunity for us to thank God for the good gift of American freedom, secured for us by the sacrifice of those who have gone before.
I think of the courageous men who signed the Declaration of Independence, forging this new experiment in ordered liberty. I think of the soldiers who fought at Lexington and Concord, who fought at Gettysburg, who stormed the beaches of Normandy, who gave their lives in the swamps of Vietnam, who fought terrorists in the Middle East.
The liberty we enjoy did not come cheaply. Every time we go to church and worship, every time we speak our minds about something with which we disagree, every time we gather in safety with our families—we should thank God for those whose sacrifice made it possible.
This is what patriotism is. Americans can both love God supremely and love their country well. The Founders understood that our rights come from God and that it is only by his Providence that this nation will endure.
Today, though America is strong, we should not be complacent, as if America runs merely on autopilot. Having inherited it, we must work, in our time, to preserve what the Founders created.
Unlike some, I am bullish on America, but we must acknowledge political polarization, false ideologies, and complacency can erode our foundations. What’s more, without a strong and vibrant Christian witness, freedom becomes expressive individualism.
This is why the ongoing legal effort to protect religious liberty matters. I want to ensure that my children and grandchildren can worship on Sundays and live out their faith in the marketplace as freely as I do. We must also renew our important civic institutions, teaching the next generation American history and encouraging them to get involved in the life of their communities, cities, and country.
Most importantly, America needs spiritual revival, beginning first with the people of God and spilling out into our neighborhoods and communities and across the land. John Adams, along with the rest of the Founders, understood this, saying that America was made “for a religious and moral people.”
Benjamin Franklin, in the midst of the Continental Congress that hammered out the new Constitution for his fledgling nation, said, “And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
Ensuring another 250 years is the responsibility of every American, though everyone’s callings look differently. God will raise up some to run for public office. He’ll raise up others as important voices in the public square. And we need another generation of faithful pastors and church leaders, teaching truth in a courageous and compassionate way.
Most of all, America will flourish, as it always has, because of ordinary, everyday Americans who love God, love their neighbors, and “seek the welfare” of the country they love, as Scripture reminds us in Jeremiah 29:7.
Alexis de Toqueville, the Frenchman who visited America in the mid-1800s, noticed in his book, Democracy in America that this country exhibited both a “spirit of liberty” and a “spirit of religion.” Maybe it be so, today, and for the next generation.
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Daniel Darling is an author, pastor, and thought leader. He serves as the Director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Assistant Professor of Faith and Culture at Texas Baptist College. Dan has served in a variety of senior executive nonprofit positions. He has also pastored churches in Illinois and Tennessee.
Editors’ Picks | Stories Around the Nation
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Makeup of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission – AP News
Religious Liberty Isn’t a Given in Kathy Hochul’s New York – National Review
‘Sacred Liberty’ Exhibition Explores Faith and Freedom in America – The Washington Post
Major Supreme Court Changes Proposed by Pete Buttigieg: 3 ‘Reform’ Ideas – Newsweek
Legal Fight Over Churches Endorsing Candidates Renewed as Midterms Near – USA Today
