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Faith, Family and Life
75 posts, newest first (page 3 of 4).
Bob Jones University, the IRS and the question it left every churchBob Jones University v. United States (1983) upheld revoking a school's tax exemption over racial discrimination, and its reasoning still matters to churches. Should pastors endorse candidates? The Johnson Amendment fight, argued fairlyA 1954 floor amendment gagged churches on campaigns, and conservatives split over repeal; here is the free-speech case, the pulpit case, and a verdict. Missouri's 1838 extermination order and what Latter-day Saints enduredMissouri's governor ordered Mormons driven out or exterminated in 1838, and the order stayed on the books until 1976, a lesson in liberty for unpopular faiths. Bible riots, Know-Nothings and the amendment named for James G. BlaineNineteenth-century anti-Catholic politics left state "no aid" clauses that still block religious families from school choice, and the history explains why. Pulpits, boycotts and the church roots of the civil rights movementThe civil rights movement was organized in churches and argued in Scripture and the Declaration, and conservatives have good reason to honor that inheritance. The 1688 Germantown protest and the believers who started abolitionFour Quakers wrote the first colonial protest against slavery in 1688, and the religious argument they began ran straight to the Thirteenth Amendment. The Boston sermon of 1750 that taught colonists when to resist a kingJonathan Mayhew's 1750 sermon read Romans 13 as a limit on rulers, and a generation of colonial pulpits carried that reading into 1776. Can a conservative who doesn't believe still defend the faith of the West?Non-believing conservatives have strong reasons to defend the Judeo-Christian inheritance, and believers should welcome them as allies. Why 'created equal' is a claim about God and not just about politicsThe Declaration grounds equality in a Creator, which puts rights beyond any government's power to revoke. The text, Aristotle, Lincoln and the objection. Jerusalem and Athens, the two cities every free society still lives inWestern liberty rests on biblical moral law and Greek reason, and either alone falls short. The argument, the strongest objection, and the conservative answer. Pharaoh, the Red Sea and the Great Seal design Franklin and Jefferson wantedIn 1776 Franklin and Jefferson proposed Exodus scenes for the national seal. The story shows why a tale of liberation fits America. Thomas Paine, a deist, argued for independence from the Book of SamuelCommon Sense made its case against monarchy from Gideon and Samuel, and the choice of sources shows how biblical the language of American liberty was. Why Washington's Farewell Address called religion and morality indispensableWashington's 1796 warning that free government cannot last without religion and morality, read passage by passage, and what it means now. To bigotry no sanction, Washington's 1790 letter to the Jews of NewportWashington told a small Jewish congregation that religious liberty is a natural right and not a favor from the majority. A close reading, line by line. From a Civil War coin to the Pledge, how 'under God' entered public lifeTwo national mottoes arrived in two eras of danger, the Civil War and the Cold War, and the dates explain why they were added and why they still divide us. Seven Christmas claims about the public square, checked against the lawMost of what people believe about Christmas being banned from or required in public life is wrong in both directions. Seven claims, tested. The Bladensburg Peace Cross, a World War I memorial and a 7-2 rulingA tall cross built in 1925 for 49 fallen soldiers survived a lawsuit, and the Court's reasoning explains why tearing it down would have been no neutral act. A town board, a guest chaplain and why opening prayers survived the CourtTown of Greece v. Galloway (2014) upheld prayers before town meetings because legislative prayer is as old as the Republic. The history settles the case. Wisconsin told Catholic Charities it was not religious enough and lost 9-0In 2025 the Court held 9-0 that a state may not exempt only religious groups that preach to or serve their own. A fair look at the ruling and what it means. The Cold War cathedral case where the Court sided with Moscow's archbishopKedroff (1952) struck down a New York law that took a cathedral from Moscow's archbishop. A state may not decide who governs a church, even an unpopular one. Casinos open, churches capped, and the pandemic rulings that restored worshipIn 2020 and 2021 the Court went from deferring to worship caps to striking them, ending in a rule: no worse treatment than comparable secular activity. A Muslim inmate's half-inch beard and the 9-0 ruling against ArkansasHolt v. Hobbs (2015) held unanimously that Arkansas could not ban a short beard grown for religious reasons. Liberty for one faith is liberty for all. A Santeria church, a Florida city and the unanimous ruling for minority faithsLukumi (1993) shows that a law aimed at one faith fails even under Smith. Conservatives who value religious liberty should cheer it, and here is why. Espinoza v. Montana and the Blaine Amendments Against Religious SchoolsEspinoza (2020) held Montana could not exclude religious schools from a scholarship program for being religious. The 1870s history behind the ban matters.
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