“The Religious Left – What It Does and How It Can Do Better” by Robert Wuthnow

The Religious Left: What It Does and How It Can Do BetterRobert Wuthnow Material excerpted from The Religious Left: What It Does and How It Can Do Better by Robert Wuthnow © 2026 by New York University Press. Excerpted with permission from the publisher. Generations of readers have been amply informed about the Religious Right.

“Secular-Christian Social Justice – Climate, Race, and Gender in the 21st Century” by Noa Ben-Asher

Secular-Christian Social Justice: Climate, Race, and Gender in the 21st CenturyNoa Ben-Asher Material excerpted from Secular-Christian Social Justice: Climate, Race, and Gender in the 21st Century by Noa Ben-Asher © 2026 by New York University Press. Excerpted with permission from the publisher. In the opening decades of the twenty-first century, a distinctive vocabulary has emerged

“State of Religious Freedom in Nicaragua: An Analysis of the Violent Incidents Database” by Teresa Flores

Colonial-era Church in the Granada, Nicaragua by Monge Najera (CC BY-SA3.0) Freedom of religion or belief is formally recognized in Nicaragua’s legal framework. The former Constitution of Nicaragua established that the State had no official religion and guaranteed the right to profess or not profess a religion. However, constitutional reforms adopted since 2019 and further

“For the Word of God is Posted and Passive” by Christopher D. Hampson

An SB 10 compliant Poster. Photo by author. The Ten Commandments are almost certainly headed back to the Supreme Court. Over the past couple of years, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas have all passed statutes requiring the Decalogue to be posted in public school classrooms, and the federal courts are reassessing whether such a display is

“Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District” by Nathan Chapman

Moses and Aaron with the 10 Commandments by Aron de Chaves (PD-Art). This piece was originally published on Divided Argument, a legal blog on April 22nd, 2026. Sometimes a case is meta. Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, the Fifth Circuit’s recent Ten Commandments decision, aptly captures how deep into the wilderness our religious

“Martin Luther King, Jr, and the Cost of the Law” by Major G. Coleman

“Martin Luther King, Jr, and the Cost of the Law“Major G. Coleman The following is an adapted excerpt from Major G. Coleman’s book, The Cost of Racial Equality (Cascade Books, 2025). Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers, www.wipfandstock.com Martin Luther King Jr. was not speaking metaphorically when he said, “The practical cost of change for

“Sisters and State Building: The Sisters of the Good Shepherd and Carceral Infrastructure in 19th Century Colorado” by Hennessey Star

Aerial view of the House of the Good Shepherd via Denver Public Library (Public Domain). When the Indiana Women’s Prison History Project endeavored to study the “oldest” women’s prison in the United States they pointed not only to the Indiana Reformatory Institute for Women and Girls—the oldest state penitentiary built exclusively for women—but the Home of the

“Christianity and the Making of Irish Law: Violence, Virtue and Reason” by David H. McIlroy

Christianity and the Making of Irish Law: Violence, Virtue and ReasonDavid H. McIlroy (ed.) The following essay introduces the new book, Christianity and the Making of Irish Law, Violence, Virtue, and Reason (Routledge, 2026) by the volume’s editor, David H. McIlroy. The volume is now available for purchase via Routledge. Ireland, “the Isle of Saints”,

“Transformations and Persistences Between Law and Religion in the Italian Legal Science of the Modern Age” by Alarico Barbagli 

Lady Justice at The Palace of Justice, Rome, Italy by Jebulon (CC0 1.0) Against the backdrop of the affirmation of the Modern State and the birth of national legal systems, the hundred years from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century represent a period full of changes for Europe also in the legal field. As

“Religious Liberty and Immigration: An Analysis of Recent Legal Claims” by Elizabeth Reiner Platt

Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY by David Merrett (CC BY 2.0) This article is part of our series on Law, Religion, and Immigration. If you’d like to explore other articles in this series, click here. This essay is an excerpt from a report published in July 2025 by the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at Union