Internal Revenue Service Building in Maryland from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive. This article is part of our series on Law, Religion, and The Johnson Amendment. If you’d like to explore other articles in this series, click here. On a Sunday morning in late October 2008, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Pastor Greg Moss of St. Paul Missionary Baptist…
The Reservation Tribal Office at Lake Superior via the National Park Service. From the earliest Supreme Court rulings to the annual presidential proclamations that mark National Native American Heritage Month, the United States has treated Native sovereignty as both a legal and moral question, one rooted as much in theology as in jurisprudence. The very…
Townsley-Murdock Immigrant Trail in Nebraska by Ammodramus (CC0 1.0) 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. Increased Immigration and Attitudes about Immigrants In a conversation with a colleague the other day, I pointed out that the percentage of foreign-born people in…
St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Roanoke, Virginia by Joe Ravi (CC-BY-SA 3.0). With the election of Leo XIV, who chose his name in an acknowledgment of Leo XIII, the pope of Rerum Novarum, Catholic Social Teaching (CST) might be back in an even stronger way. Hence, there were great expectations for the apostolic exhortation, Dilexi…
“Climate Angels at Extinction Rebellion Declaration Day Melbourne” by John Englart (CC BY-SA 2.0) “I don’t want the same world, just eco.” These are the words of an activist interviewed in the 2021 documentary, Rebellion, directed by Maia Kenworthy and Elena Sánchez Bellot. The film tells the story of Extinction Rebellion (XR), arguably one of…
Russell Senate Office Building by Architect of the Capitol (US-PD). During his second term, President Barack Obama attempted to restart the Israel-Palestine peace process, following in the footsteps of every president since George H.W. Bush. Like other attempts, it fell apart quickly, much to the frustration of all. In April of 2014, then U.S. Secretary…
Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City via Wikimedia Commons (CC0-01). Washington’s controversial Senate Bill 5375, “An ACT Relating to the duty of clergy to report child abuse and neglect,” scheduled to go into effect on July 27, 2025, removes the legal protection for Roman Catholic priests under the seal of confession when dealing with mandatory sexual…
Photo of Mike Nichols at the National Film Society Convention by Alan Light (CC BY 2.0). In the fall of 1966, Hollywood studio magnate Jack Warner and a young first-time director, Mike Nichols, faced independent, but interlocking conundrums. The trouble centered on the film adaptation of Edward Albee’s award-winning play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?—the…
Australian House of Representatives by JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0). The constitutional protections for religious freedom and against the establishment of state religions in the United States and Australia bear a striking similarity. Under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, approved as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, “Congress shall make…
John Trumbull’s painting, Declaration of Independence, (PD-Art). In a recent newsletter to Atlantic subscribers, editor Jeffrey Goldberg refers to the cover story by Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer. They attempt to answer, he says, a simple question: How did Trump rise from political ruin in 2021 to seize the commanding heights of government and the world…