The Strange Career of Free Exercise

How efforts to bolster religious liberty set off a chain of unintended consequences.
Painting of a person facing another person whose head is made up of sixteen little heads. Untitled (Study) by Geoff McFetridge.

Originalism’s Charade

Two new books make a devastating case against claims that the Constitution should be interpreted on the basis of its purported “original meaning.”
People pray outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2022.

Separation of Church and State Has Always Been Good for Religion

The US Supreme Court's most recent decisions undermine centuries of established secularism within American government.
Statue of Jefferson in front of white columns of building facade

The Decline of Church-State Separation

The author of new book explains the fraught and turbulent relationship between religion and government in the U.S.

Why Do We Pledge Allegiance?

Few democracies require children to make a daily declaration of fealty to country.
President Trump and religious leaders praying in the Oval Office
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Today is a National Day of Prayer. Should That be Legal?

How solid is the wall between church and state?
Seal of the County of Lehigh, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pa., Fights the Courts to Keep the Cross in Its Seal

The case hinges on whether its display is to honor local history or Christianity.
Billy Graham and Richard Nixon

The King’s Chapel and the King’s Court

Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, and their White House church services.
Full text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, etched in stone.

What Does It Mean To Make America "Christian?"

The "Christian Amendment" and the push for Christianity to be established as the national religion of the United States.

Prior Convictions

Did the Founders want us to be faithful to their faith?
A drawing of a woman looking inside the door of a church where children are playing.

The Quiet Revolution of the Sabbath

Requiring rest, rather than work, is still a radical idea.
Evangelical lobbyist Peggy Nienaber (R) claims she prayed with Supreme Court justices as her organization was writing amicus briefs on cases like Dobbs.

Can SCOTUS Majority Learn the Lessons of Early America Before it's Too Late?

Breaking down the myths of originalism and America's founding.
The cover of the book "This Earthly Frame," depicting clouds swirling around the US Capitol dome.

The Struggle to Make the United States Secular

How progressives came to think that any recognition of Christianity by a public institution violates others’ rights.
Toy santa mug shots

The War on Christmas

A brief history of the Yuletide in America.
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A Founder of American Religious Nationalism

On Rousas Rushdoony's political thought and lasting influence on the Christian right.
An American flag flying in front of a large Christian cross.

The Religious-Liberty Attack on Transgender Rights

Conservative Christians are out to restore their historical legal privileges.