There has been much attention drawn over the past year to the religious freedom bills being presented by legislatures across the states. Some have been passed, some have failed, and some have reached a state’s highest executive officer only to be vetoed. Proponents of these laws argue that they are designed to ensure that the Read More

Some argue that Mississippi has long been known as one of the most conservative in the nation, with its people and legislature thumbing their noses at many of the federal government’s social reform efforts throughout the course of post-Civil War history. Others claim that the state is merely holding true to its roots and ensuring Read More

The Constitution of the United States of America is fairly straightforward regarding freedom of religion and religious tests. This is especially true when you consider the fact that it was written over 200 years ago by men who had no idea what life in the USA would be like in 2016. Yet their words and Read More

What is the difference between civil hate and criminal hate? Other than the obvious types of penalties, these two forms of hatred are more similar than many people want to admit. Sure, a criminal action typically involves physical bodily harm to a person or their property, but are not a person’s mental and emotional well-being Read More

In order to fully understand the precarious nature of a situation, it is sometimes necessary to step back and view it from another perspective. In the context of constitutionally protected religious freedom in the United States, this perspective can be obtained by looking to other countries around the world. A recent development in Bangladesh’s constitutional Read More

There are few people who would deny that the first Europeans to travel to the land that would become the United States of America were fiercely religious. They believed so strongly that their way of life was the correct one that they fled persecution in their homelands to find ground where they could plant roots Read More

Many cases have passed through the American court system that contribute to what we understand to be the current state of First Amendment jurisprudence. These cases together form a structure that is supposed to provide guidance to us as citizens, both lawyers and nonlawyers alike. It is also a part of American culture to question Read More

Any time that proponents of combining secular governance principles with the (Christian) church profess their belief that this nation should be a religious nation, they should be reminded of the many sins committed by the religious states of the past and how our Constitution was created to prevent those sins from being used against American Read More

Which is more true in today’s political environment: ‘Faith in politics’ or ‘Faith and politics’?  At the heart of this question is what many Americans struggle with every election season, as they are bombarded by the beliefs of candidates for an office that is (perhaps remarkably) still very secular. The original language of the U.S. Read More

The United States has been considered a Christian country for most of its history. It was not until the 1960s, however, that religion and politics became almost inextricably entwined. When the country’s first Catholic president took his oath of office, he did so despite the extreme pressure from opponents during his run who ran smear Read More