Reconstruction
- July/August 1998
- July 1, 1998
Russia's Retreat From Religious Liberty On September 26, 1997, Russian Federation president Boris Yeltsin signed the widely publicized and highly controversial bill "On Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations." This law, which comprehensively regulates church-state relations in Russia, is hailed by supporters as a landmark provision that will protect Russia from intrusive and unwanted
READ MOREImagine Christian groups that–by religious conviction–are opposed to the practice of homosexuality, yet are nevertheless required to admit practicing homosexuals in membership, or even leadership roles? Certainly, with America's wonderful heritage of religious freedom, that could never happened here. Or could it? In 1995 the University of Wisconsin suspended a Christian group accused of discriminating
READ MOREWhat do a Jewish home synagogue, a Baptist minister, and a federal prisoner have in common? All among the first to be hurt by the demise of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Each of their stories shows why Americans must work to restore free exercise protections, which have been decimated in the wake
READ MOREPronouncements that the United States of America is a Christian nation are fascinating. They sprout like mushrooms after a bad rain, especially around Independence Day and the National Day of Prayer, and usually from the lips of irreligious politicians. In fact, the historical evidence conclusively proves that the United States is not a Christian nation
READ MORESince Everson 1many have asserted that the First Amendment's religion clauses require government to be neutral toward religion. This requirement is not merely peripheral; "neutrality" has been a dominant theme of religious freedom. Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson exaggerates only slightly when he asserts: "That in some sense the federal government and the states ought
READ MOREThis is an appealing, and at first glance a plausible, suggestion. If the analysis of this and the preceding chapter is correct, however, then the proposal to treat neutrality as a matter of degree is seriously misleading. Much of the foregoing discussion has tried to show, in essence, that the ideal of religious neutrality is
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