Photo by rolf neumann on Unsplash. The study of religion has a long history of service to Western imperial ambitions. Recent decades have seen religious scholars wrestle with the implications of this colonial legacy for the future of the field. This essay, divided into two parts, will explore the connections between religion and colonialism. First,…
US Center Chapel, located at the Geographic Center of the Lower 48 States in Lebanon, Kansas. From Jimmy Emerson, DVM (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). During the Super Bowl, Jeep ran an ad that featured singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen in a chapel. Not at a political rally, not at a demonstration, but in a tiny chapel in the…
Photo by David Beale on Unsplash. No one has heard a peep from this chorister in nearly a year. Trained in law, religion, and the law of religious freedom, there was a time early in the pandemic when I wondered whether the social distancing mandates being adopted by state and, in some cases, municipal governments…
Photo by Trnava University on Unsplash. Three weeks ago, in the case of South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, the United States Supreme Court stayed the enforcement of California’s occupancy limits on worship services during the pandemic. At some level, there is nothing new here, as the Court had done the same in a…
Image by Hans from Pixabay. The millstone was an integral tool needed to grind grain to make bread and sustain life, and during Biblical times, it was deemed that taking someone’s millstone would be like taking his or her life in pledge. It has been analogized as an instrument of death, a wrath of severe…
Photo by Jorge Alcala on Unsplash. Constitutional Theology is the intersection of theology with constitutional theory. Constitutional Theology recognizes that the constitutional design will reflect society’s beliefs about the nature of humanity or those who rule. At the same time, it acknowledges that, if the constitutional system is to work, a faith’s interactions with the…
Photo by Min An. A selection of our most popular essays over the past year. You can browse all of our content here! “Decisions You Have Never Made Before: Medical Improvisations in a COVID ICU” by AnonymousApril 16, 2020 “Defiant Congregations in a Pandemic: Public Safety Precedes Religious Rights” by Robin Fretwell Wilson, Brian A. Smith, and…
Photo by Guido Coppa on Unsplash. Though you might not know it, you’re probably familiar with the Biblical story of Barabbas. Appearing only briefly in the crucifixion narrative of the New Testament, Barabbas is the prisoner who was chosen by the crowd, over Jesus Christ, to be released by Pontius Pilate in a customary pardon…
Photo by David Veksler on Unsplash This article is part of our “Notorious ACB: Law, Religion, and Justice Barrett’s Ascent to the Court” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. The No Religious Test Clause within Article VI, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution is a special text in…
Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Brooklyn, NY. Source: Jim Henderson / Wikimedia CC0-1.0 This article is part of our “Notorious ACB: Law, Religion, and Justice Barrett’s Ascent to the Court” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. The U.S. government designates certain entities as “religious” and enforces different rules…