Winnifred Sullivan and Elizabeth Hurd, in particular, seem to interpret the Chicago Council Report as an attempt to construct a…
A valuation of religious freedom
American politics
“How the health care bill made nuns rad”
At Slate, Noreen Malone notes that American nuns were instrumental in countering the conservative position of the Catholic Bishops during…
Commentary: Obama distorts meaning of Passover
Jennifer Rubin accuses Barack Obama of diluting and distorting the message of Passover.
The rise of the seculars
Kosmin and Keysar and others are already analyzing who has given up worship, belief, and other modes of religiosity. I…
Was early America a Christian America?
The furious debate in some quarters over whether America was born a “Christian nation” is ironic. The historical record shows…
The global securitization of religion
My first thought upon reading the Chicago Council’s report “Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy”…
Big day at AIPAC
AIPAC, the powerful D.C.-based pro-Israel lobby, is currently hosting its annual policy conference, attended by over 7,500, according to its…
The extra-territorial establishment of religion
There is an embarrassing giddiness in the religious studies world today. With our new mantra in hand—the new “salience” of…
Confronting the mythical beast
The notion of “American civil religion” reminds me of the legendary vampire. It has a seemingly irresistible tendency to take…
‘Under God’ not a prayer, rules Appeals Court
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the…