Law
The Table
The Dangers of Religious Instruction in Public Schools
When I heard the question, “Should we teach religion in public schools?” it made me cringe. Why? The United States is currently in the unenviable …
By Annie Laurie Gaylor
Essay
A Judge Weakened Utah’s Anti-Polygamy Law. What Does This Say About Sex, Race, and Religion?
Americans have always found polygamy fascinating, even entertaining. In the nineteenth century, Mormons were stock villains in a plethora of now mercifully forgotten Victorian novels. …
By Nathan B. Oman
Essay
Concerning “Goodbye Christ”: Langston Hughes, Political Poetry, and African American Religion
“Politics can be the graveyard of the poet. And only poetry can be his resurrection.” Langston Hughes (1964) On the afternoon of November 15, 1940, Langston …
By Wallace Best
Excerpt
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 150 Years Later
On November 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, at the dedication of America’s first national cemetery, on the site of the battle that had turned the …
By Stephen Prothero
Report
Why Faith Groups Are Rallying Behind Immigration Reform
As Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block marched toward the U.S. Capitol Building on a cloudy afternoon this October, he said he felt “a little nervousness.” Walking arm-in-arm with …
By Jack Jenkins
Essay
The Supreme Court’s 2013 Term: Missing Justice O’Connor
The Supreme Court’s new term, which started on October 7, includes several important cases concerning religion. The docket may also dismantle key precedents set by …
By Leslie C. Griffin
Essay
Spike Lee’s “4 Little Girls” and the Aftershocks of the Birmingham Church Bombing
I was watching Spike Lee’s documentary 4 Little Girls when the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case was handed down. An alert flashed on my …
By Briallen Hopper
Report
How a Nun Turned a Monastery Garage into a Global Catholic News Network
In March of 1978, a 55-year-old cloistered nun named Mother Angelica went to Chicago. She was there to give workshops to supporters who would distribute …
By Renée K. Gadoua
Essay
“I Have a Dream”: The 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Famous Speech
The Lincoln Memorial may be the most iconic place in the United States. Americans go there alone or with friends and family members to remember …
By Stephen Prothero
Report
The New Jim Crow: Churches Respond to Mass Incarceration
A t 5 p.m. on a Sunday in April, the air crisp and cool, community members began congregating in an open plaza outside the public library …
By Alfredo Garcia