When Shrugging is Not an Option
- May/June 2025
- April 30, 2025
Faith-based charities come to grips with new church-state rules for government funding. The Biden administration recently has revised the regulations that govern how faith-based organizations can participate in federal, state, or local social service programs funded by federal dollars. These rules cover a broad range of services, from low-income housing and workforce development programs to
READ MOREA state court resists an all-or-nothing approach. Controversy continues in courts across the nation over pronoun use for transgender students in public schools. It’s a controversy that state legislatures are increasingly engaged with as well. In April, for instance, Colorado adopted a law—which is certainly likely to be challenged—requiring teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns
READ MOREHow Not to Build a Christian America By January 1 next year all public school classrooms in Louisiana, from kindergartens to universities, will display posters of a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font.” Depending on your perspective, this is either a much-needed step toward “acknowledging the Christian foundations of America”
READ MOREA church-state tragedy in three acts The day after Pope Francis II made his historic July 25, 2022, apology to survivors of the residential schools for Indigenous children run by the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, the New York Times ran a front-page story and photo of the pontiff amid white crosses. They were grave
READ MOREAt a time when fierce partisanship defines American politics, a gala dinner at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill showcased religious liberty as an American value that transcends political and religious differences. Representatives from Congress, civil society organizations, and faith groups came together May 3 for the 18th annual Religious Liberty Dinner, co-sponsored
READ MOREThis year marks the 35-year anniversary of one of the greatest movements for freedom in modern history. In the spring of 1989, millions of students and ordinary citizens flooded the streets of cities around China demanding government reform and individual freedom. For weeks they marched in protest against 30 years of an oppressive, tyrannical government.
READ MORECan religious exemptions be saved from culture-war politics? Illustrations by Jon Krause Religious freedom is important. Not everyone is religious, of course. But for religious people, religious commitments often rank as the most important commitments they have—as commitments that, in a way, define them. Religious people therefore see religious freedom as a natural
READ MOREIowa has become the latest state to wade into the controversy surrounding state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs). Governor Kim Reynolds signed the Iowa RFRA into law on April 3, saying it would uphold “ideals that are the very foundation of our country.” Twenty-seven U.S. states have passed similar laws, all of which are modeled
READ MORETwo young men convicted of blasphemy. An intrepid band of lawyers prepared to step into danger. International human rights lawyer Kola Alapinni shares a firsthand account of the struggle to appeal a death sentence imposed under the Sharia penal code laws of northern Nigeria. It all began in the pandemic year. The looming threat of
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