CHURCH & STATE | The Supreme Court Says You Can Be Forced to Support Religion
The United States enjoys separation of religion and government in large part because, during the colonial period, people simply got fed up over church taxes. Forced support for religion was common in many of the... Read More
CHURCH & STATE | The Coronavirus Pandemic: Some Lessons I’ve Learned
The chances are good that by the time you read this, your state will be undergoing at least a partial reopening in light of the coronavirus pandemic. We’re not out of the woods yet, of... Read More
CHURCH & STATE | In the Face of a Deadly Global Pandemic, the Government Can Ban Large Gather-ings—Even Religious Ones
As the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on American lives, culture, and commerce by keeping people indoors, members of Solid Rock Church near Cincinnati decided they weren’t about to stay home. In early April, residents of... Read More
CHURCH & STATE | Our Constitution Lacks a School Prayer Amendment—For That, You Can Thank These Champions
In yet another sop to his white evangelical Christian base, President Donald Trump announced in January that his administration was issuing guidelines on religious activity in public schools. Trump made a big deal about the... Read More
CHURCH & STATE | The Five Strangest Things the Religious Right Believes about President Trump
For many years I worried that a biblical inerrancy-believing Christian zealot would secure the Republican Party nomination for president, go on to win the general election, and begin eroding the wall of separation between church... Read More
CHURCH & STATE | There’s No Broad Right to Use Your Religious Beliefs to Discriminate against People—Yet
A few years ago, I was invited to speak at a symposium on religious freedom at a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church in Takoma Park, Maryland. Also on the panel was an attorney for the... Read More
CHURCH & STATE | Vouchers Pose a Threat to Public Schools and to the Public Good
Public schools serve 90 percent of America’s children. Yet lately, it seems, the system is treated as an afterthought by politicians at the national and state levels as they plot to find new ways to... Read More