(RNS) — Russell Moore, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top ethicist, said he saw no problem with churches applying for government loans as part of the coronavirus relief legislation enacted last month.

That legislation provides $350 billion for the Small Business Administration to extend loans to small businesses — and in a government reversal, churches and other houses of worship — facing financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus shutdown.

The loans can be used to pay staff salaries — including for pastors —  and utility bills and are forgivable, meaning that houses of worship won’t have to pay all the money back if they keep their staff.

Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention, said he saw no First Amendment or church-state entanglement associated with the loans.

In part, he said, that’s because banks would be issuing the loans, not the government.

“I would have a definite issue if you had government aid or government funding of any church,” Moore said. “What’s happening here is a guaranteeing and a backing up of a loan that the government has an interest in because they want to keep the flow of lending going and they want to keep the economy afloat.”

The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination with some 47,000 churches.

Still, Moore said in a…

Michigan’s Governor is pulling back regulations on pro-life protestors as long as they are practicing social distancing. Her policy clarification comes after several Michigan residents filed a lawsuit against her and the Detroit Police Department, Faithwire reports.

The dispute began when pro-life activists were protesting and offering information to people outside the Scotsdale Women’s Center and Family Planning in Detroit. Eight officers showed up and told the group’s leader, Andrew Belanger, that they would have to leave because of the Governor’s stay-at-home order.

In a video posted to pro-life advocacy group LiveAction’s website, an officer is heard telling the group, “We’re here for a violation of the stay-at-home order by the governor.”

 He continued, “This isn’t essential to be out right now…Right now, it’s a $500 fine. If you keep this up after that, we’ll take you to jail.

The group protested that the abortion clinic is not an essential service. One of the officers countered that it is a “medical facility.”

After the incident, Belanger, along with Justin Phillips and Cal Zestrow, filed a lawsuit against Governor Whitmer and the City of Detroit. They asked the courts to “protect and vindicate fundamental constitutional rights,” arguing that the fines violated their First…

Presently, many of us are choosing to socially distance in order to play our part in flattening the curve in the fight against the coronavirus.

Among the many things canceled or postponed due to the pandemic, are concerts. As a result, many music artists are responding by holding online concerts or creating virtual renditions of songs.

While she wasn’t the first artist to create a social distancing friendly song, Faithwire reports that Lauren Daigle joined the fray on Sunday, releasing the “social distancing version” of her hit song “Still Rolling Stones.”

The two-time Grammy Award winner released the song with a video made up of clips from each member of her band recording their parts of the song in their respective homes.

“I had so much fun with all my bandmates putting this together for you,” Daigle wrote in an announcement post on Instagram. “From all of us, we hope you enjoy the social distancing version of ‘Still Rolling Stones,’” she added.

The video has been viewed more than 170,000 times.

Other artists who have held or plan to hold virtual concerts include but are not limited to, country star Garth Brooks, who shared a 26 minute virtual concert on his Facebook page; Christian and pop singer Tori Kelly, who participated in the Human to Human organization’s Facebook live show on April 11; Christian rock band Switchfoot, who are releasing daily…

The Department of Justice on Tuesday sided with a Mississippi church in its legal battle against the city of Greenville, which is preventing the congregation from holding drive-in services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Temple Baptist Church in Greenville, Miss., was holding a drive-in service in its parking lot April 8 when eight police officers arrived at the church and began handing out $500 fines to attendees. 

The drive-in service involved fewer than 20 cars that parked far enough apart to practice social distancing. Attendees kept their windows rolled up and listened to Pastor Arthur Scott’s sermon on a lower-power FM frequency. 

The day before the service, Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons issued an executive order banning such assemblies.

Temple Baptist had conducted other drive-in services prior to Simmons’ order.

The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest “in support of” the church Tuesday.

“The facts alleged in the complaint strongly suggest that the city’s actions target religious conduct,” the DOJ’s brief says. “If proven, these facts establish a free exercise violation unless the city demonstrates that its actions are neutral and apply generally to nonreligious and religious institutions or satisfies the demanding strict scrutiny standard.”

The DOJ “has a substantial interest in the preservation of its citizens’ fundamental right to the free…

Two journalists are facing trespassing charges pressed by Liberty University after they pursued stories regarding the school’s decision to remain partially open amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ABC News reports.

Reportedly, ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis and New York Times photographer Julia Rendleman, visited Liberty University’s campus “without permission” back in March to unearth details about why the school decided to remain open, at least in part, and what life on campus looked like amid the global pandemic.

MacGillis’ article, titled, “What’s it Like on One of the Only University Campuses Still Open in the U.S.?” was published on March 26.

And on March 29, the New York Times published an article titled, “Liberty University Brings Back its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too,” featuring Rendleman’s photos.

After both stories were published, LU security forces reportedly collected witness accounts and decided to pursue criminal action against the reporter and photographer.

Elizabeth Williamson, who authored the March 29 NYT piece, is not facing trespassing charges as “eyewitnesses could not be found,” ABC News reports.

Arrest warrants for Class 1 Misdemeanors were signed by Virginia Magistrate Kang Lee against the two journalists, though the journalists have yet to be prosecuted. If convicted, the journalists could face up to a year in jail.

Jerry Falwell, Jr., president…

A COVID-19 vaccine could be ready for medical professionals this fall and for the general population next spring, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health said Wednesday in laying out a timetable more optimistic than many other experts have proposed.

Kizzmekia Corbett, the lead scientist at the National Institutes of Health working on the coronavirus vaccine, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 it’s “looking like we’re on track for” a vaccine that could be available for emergency use this fall. 

NIH’s lead scientist for coronavirus vaccine research Kizzmekia Corbett lays out the government’s race to create a vaccine, saying they could be on track to have a vaccine from sequence to the general population within 8 months. https://t.co/FtacDLY6rn pic.twitter.com/hlE34Wz64I

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 15, 2020

Most other experts in the field have used a 12-18-month timetable. Still, others have said a 12-18 month goal is “risky” for reasons of safety. 

Corbett, though, said her team has benefited from previous research on vaccines. 

Asked why her team is moving faster than others, Corbett said, “It is based on several of our previous projects where we were investigating vaccines for MERS and SARS – coronaviruses which are very closely related to the virus that causes COVID-19. … We’ve researched coronavirus vaccine development for the last…

President Donald Trump has decided to stop all funding for the World Health Organization, saying the group has put “political correctness over lifesaving measures.”

According to Fox News, Trump said the U.S. will lead a 60-to-90 day investigation into allegations that WHO downplayed coronavirus and how the organization uses funding.

WHO is accused of downplaying the virus when it emerged in China. Trump said WHO caused “so much death” by “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of the virus.

The U.S. is WHO’s largest backer with about $500 million given to the organization each year.

“This funding would be unaffected because the decision to pull funding would only apply going forward,” said Brett Schaefer, senior research fellow in international regulatory affairs at the Heritage Foundation. “Nonetheless, suspending funding immediately would represent a big cut to WHO funds right when developing countries, which depend far more on international assistance to address health issues, are being impacted by COVID-19.

“Although the U.S. is providing significant assistance through other channels, withholding funding to WHO could negatively impact the COVID-19 response in these countries.”

An internal report obtained by the Associated Press last year found that in 2018, the organization spent more on travel expenses than to combat problems in public…