A new report highlights which states have laws and policies on the books that are the friendliest and most hostile to faith-based nonprofits.
The Napa Legal Institute released its 2025 Faith and Freedom Index on Monday.
The report ranks each state on a scale of 0-100 based on its protections for religious nonprofit organizations. The overall score is based on a state's "religious freedom score" and its "regulatory freedom score."
No, Washington State is not friendly to faith and freedom. Neither is Oregon nor California.
Be informed, not misled.
Michigan (31%), Washington (35%), Massachusetts (37%), Illinois (38%), and West Virginia (38%), and Maryland (38%) received the lowest overall scores for protecting religious and regulatory freedoms in the report.
The New York Post says Michigan and Washington state were among “the worst places to operate a faith-based nonprofit,” the report said. These states have several laws that can “burden” operations, according to the report, including “broad” Blaine Amendments and nondiscrimination laws that may lack robust exemptions for faith-based employers and public-facing ministries.
According to the Napa Legal Institute's report, Oregon ranked near the bottom, while California's performance was mixed depending on which religious freedom index is consulted.
The report broadly noted that three-fourths of states scored under 50%, and named West Coast states like Washington and Oregon among those with the lowest protections.
“Although California’s current administration is not generally favorable to religion, California nonprofit religious corporations continue to enjoy legal protections such as exemption from state charitable registration requirements and greater autonomy in internal affairs than secular nonprofits,” the report stated.
The report looked at regulatory burdens, including charitable registration laws, as well as religious freedom protections in employment law and state constitutions, to produce scores for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
So, what does this mean?
The report’s authors warned that, despite the White House’s efforts to protect religious liberty, several states still lag in safeguarding faith-based organizations. While many Republican-led states scored high, the report noted results did not fall neatly along partisan lines.
Alabama (72%), Kansas (69%), Indiana (68%), Texas (65%), and Mississippi (63%) received the highest overall scores for protecting religious and regulatory freedoms for faith-based nonprofits, according to the 2025 report.
Alabama and Kansas were cited as having “stronger protections for religious free exercise or worship” in their state constitutions than even the First Amendment, according to the report. Both states also earned high marks for having nondiscrimination laws that avoid burdening faith-based employers and for enacting state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs).
“The many religious freedom attacks over the past few years are chilling reminders that without staunch state-level protections for religious freedom, ordinary Americans will suffer, regardless of how supportive the current administration may be,” Napa Legal Senior Counsel Frank Devito said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“From Catholic priests in Washington to concerned parents in Montgomery County, Maryland — incidents from two of the lowest scoring states on the 2025 Faith and Freedom Index — too many Americans have been forced to spend precious time and money litigating issues that should never have gone to court in the first place,” he said.
The report concluded that lawmakers have an opportunity to bolster protections while the Trump administration and the Supreme Court continue to champion religious liberty.
“This year’s Faith and Freedom Index serves as a powerful tool for lawmakers to see where they must add protections, strengthen existing state laws, or repeal harmful state laws. We must seize this moment, especially given the current presidential administration and a Supreme Court that continues to champion religious freedom, to enact stalwart, enduring state protections that will protect the rights of Americans for generations to come."
Takeaway
It was Ben Franklin who said, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately," after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The church must also stand together in the current culture.
Presbyterian educator and evangelist Charles Finney identified the solution to cultural decline.
He said, "If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discernment, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it."
He also said, "The Church must take right ground in regard to politics... Politics is a part of a religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as part of their duty to God... God will bless or curse this nation, according to the course Christians take in politics."
There is no legitimate reason why Christians and Christian pastors should not lead in the spiritual life of our country.
The tired old cliche about the church not being involved in politics is just that — tired and old. But not biblical.
There are demonic forces at work seeking to silence and remove any voice that speaks to the culture on behalf of biblical Truth and the Gospel.
God has given us a reprieve with the Trump Administration.
This is our time to stand for Righteousness and Truth. And to "take right ground."
To make a difference.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Courageous. Be Prayerful.