Vive la liberté? An Uncertain Future for Religious Liberty in France
- January/February 2023
- January 1, 2023
Running for public office is undisputedly the hardest, most humbling, and most exhilarating exercise of American civics. In my quest to become an Oregon state legislator, I had the privilege of enduring both the majesty and seamy underbelly of electoral politics. As a candidate of solid faith and spiritual conviction, my approach to being a
READ MORERethinking our assumptions about Constantine, Theodosius, and the origins of the Christian persecutory impulse. Religious intolerance takes many different forms, and through the centuries many faiths have persecuted. Christians first began to persecute in the late Roman Empire; however, this persecutory mentality was not something forced on the church by emperors, eager to use its
READ MOREA new television program dares to cross religious and political minefields—and manages to produce a kinder, more nuanced approach to difficult conversations. What happens when you bring two polarizing topics together in one half-hour television program? You get a fast-moving, thought-provoking, and sometimes confronting discussion of current events called Faith & Politics. The host of
READ MORELast year’s Supreme Court decision in Carson v. Makin laid the foundation for a new era in the flow of state funds to religious schools in the United States. Was this decision a much-needed corrective to school-choice programs? An end to unjustified discrimination against religiously affiliated schools? Or was it the work of a conservative
READ MORE“Blisteringly acrimonious” is perhaps a mild description of recent public discussions about the federal Respect for Marriage Act, a new law that codifies recognition of same-sex marriage. Two polar extremes have defined the debate. Both showcase our continuing national confusion about religious freedom. On one hand, some on the extreme left allege that religious free
READ MOREOnce a centerpiece of the French liberal tradition, laïcité takes an intolerant turn. French laïcité can be translated into English as “state secularism.” In line with this translation, laïcité is often seen as an official form of state hostility toward organized religion, banning displays of religiosity from public spaces. However, neither this translation nor this
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