When Shrugging is Not an Option
- May/June 2025
- April 30, 2025
Better Late Than Never I was first made aware of your magazine when I was a member of the Montana House of Representatives due to your habit of keeping legislators informed of your views. I want you to know that during my eight years in Montana government, I did not receive a publication that I
READ MORE"Almighty God hath created the mind free. . . ."-Thomas Jefferson "It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage, and such only, as he believes to be acceptable to him."-James Madison "We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being." -William O. Douglas "Political decisions must be
READ MOREBut today in the religious world there are multitudes who, as they believe, are working for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ as an earthly and temporal dominion. They desire to make our Lord the ruler of the kingdoms of this world, the ruler in its courts and camps, its legislative halls, its palaces
READ MORE"Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!" the crowd shouted, inspired by Alabama governor Fob James's remarks at a rally in support of Judge Roy Moore's practice of opening sessions with prayer and of displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. "The Supreme Court's 'wall of separation,'" the governor told the crowd, "reminds me
READ MOREThose adamant about imposing religious exercises in public schools in Alabama now have the children to sanctify their cause. Across the state, students are protesting, holding rallies, and even walking out of classes-all over the injunction by a federal district judge prohibiting public schools from promoting religious activity in the classroom. One can wonder how
READ MOREThey put the Negroes in the schools," said Representative George W. Andrews of Alabama after the 1962 Engel prayer decision, "and now they've driven God out." Of course, in the 35 years since then, the nation has progressed enough in race relations that no serious politician would utter such crudities. Yet America doesn't seem to
READ MOREMichael Chandler has been trying to figure out why he's different. A product of northeast Alabama, Chandler has lived in De Kalb County all his life. As he walks along his deck, pointing out the boundaries of his 30-acre property, Chandler tells his junior high son not to stay out too long on the four-wheeler-it's
READ MOREWhen Cora Miller said "No way, Jose," Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant said "Adios, amiga." The Clinton, Maryland, attendant refused to sing a happy birthday song for a customer. It was her second day of work, and her last. Cora Miller is a Jehovah's Witness. She chose serving God over enchiladas. Her religion forbids the celebration of
READ MOREWhat is the "original meaning" of the First Amendment's religion clauses? Though in Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the Supreme Court advanced the "strict separation" account of the Establishment Clause, dissenting scholars and judges have argued for an "accommodationist" alternative instead. In Boerne v. Flores, meanwhile, Justices O'Connor and Scalia used history to defend
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