When Amy Coney Barrett took the bench November 4 for her third day of oral arguments as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the questions she asked seemed to reveal both her loyalty to her late mentor, Justice Antonin Scalia, and her ongoing interest in abortion rights. The case at hand, Fulton v.…
Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia. Source: DXR, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0. Currently, all eyes are on Georgia as the state prepares for the runoff elections on January 5th, which will determine which party has control of the Senate. While the battles between Jon Ossoff and David Perdue and Raphael G. Warnock and Kelly Loeffler are…
We the People … in order … to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Because neither the People nor their leaders are angels, the Constitution reflects a Calvinist theological perspective and embodies “obsessive distrust of government — all government…
The modern history of humanity is driven by several contradictions, one of them being the conflict between universalism and particularism. In a nutshell, numerous universalist frameworks are grounded on the idea that norms and values relate equally to all humans, to all living creatures, or — even more widely — to all forms of being.…
The right to vote is a contested concept in American society. The choices made by elected federal and state governments, on the behalf of “We the People” as to who is not included in our democracy both construct American citizenship and reflect American democratic values. The contest around the right to vote, called “the voting…
In the 2016 presidential election, 81% of white evangelical Christians voted for the GOP candidate Donald Trump, while only 16% gave their votes to Hilary Clinton.This significant margin has the potential to grow further in the 2020 election with the voting polls indicating that 82% of evangelicals would vote for Trump over Biden. To close…
“USA Bible” by Pastor Robert / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0 At a campaign event in early August 2020, President Trump made statements about his Democratic rival for the presidency, Joe Biden, that went beyond his typically disparaging remarks about Biden’s policies, cognitive abilities, or political record. Instead, Trump’s comments were decidedly religious. Trump informed…
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Right / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 Florida is the most populous battleground state, famous for high-stakes contests, razor-thin margins, and trouble with electoral administration. Back in 2000, George W. Bush won Florida by 1,784 votes. In Florida, perhaps more than in any other state, every vote counts.…
Tax Law, Religion, and Justice: An Exploration of Theological Reflections on TaxationAllen Calhoun An Introduction by Allen Calhoun This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter forthcoming from Routledge/CRC Press in Tax Law, Religion, and Justice: An Exploration of Theological Reflections on Taxation on March 8, 2021, available online here. Why does the institution of taxation occupy…
For the writer on law and religion, the “religious test” question is a gift that keeps on giving. Over two centuries after we enshrined the rule against religious tests as a “Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” — and, arguably, decades if not more after the Religious Test Clause had…