The Justice Department argued that the same First Amendment analysis should apply to churches as to social clubs. The Court called that argument “hard to square with the text of the First Amendment itself, which gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations. We cannot accept the remarkable view that the Religion Clauses have... Continue Reading

The Supreme Court has sided unanimously with a church sued for firing an employee on religious grounds, issuing an opinion on Wednesday that religious employers can keep the government out of hiring and firing decisions. In the case of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, Cheryl Perich, a “called” teacher, argued that the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and... Continue Reading

The Protestant work ethic promotes excellence. But what is the connection between Protestantism, work, and excellence? The pioneering sociologist Max Weber was the first to draw attention to the Protestant work ethic. In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, published in 1904, Weber studied the phenomenal economic growth, social mobility, and... Continue Reading

(RNS) On Dec. 21, 2012, the Mayan calendar reaches the end of its 5,126 epoch. That’s a cause of consternation among some end-times adherents, and amusement among some descendants of the Maya. Fresh from having survived one end-of-the-world prediction—a two-stage affair covering 2011’s drop-dead dates of May 21 and Oct. 21—we now plunge into the... Continue Reading

The author of Hebrews has not asserted that his listeners have committed apostasy, though he is obviously concerned that some are in significant danger of falling over this precipice. He has warned the whole congregation of the irreversible consequences of apostasy. His warnings, along with other elements in his exhortatory material, together with his doctrinal... Continue Reading

Broadcasters are different from other types of media — such as print media, which has more freedom — because of their ability to “intrude on the privacy of the home without prior warning,” especially for the viewer who is “just tuning in or switching channels,” the ACLJ brief said. Further, broadcast media is “uniquely accessible... Continue Reading

“It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything.” –G. K. Chesterton By changing the lyrics of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, Hip-Hop Rapper Cee Lo Green (of Gnarls Barkley fame) helped make clear that... Continue Reading

“This supports over three decades of consistent research showing that kids who grow up in a home with their married parents tend to do better in all measures of educational attainment than their peers being raised in single, divorced and cohabiting-parent homes,” An analysis of 20 years’ worth of school suspension rates nationwide shows that... Continue Reading

Socially conservative voters are focused on unseating the president, not on denominational rivalries. The Iowa caucuses have again produced upheaval. The 2008 contest saw the Huckabee phenomenon and announced the Obama earthquake that toppled the Clinton dynasty. Now the 2012 caucuses have put former Sen. Rick Santorum near the front of the Republican presidential pack... Continue Reading

The God-as-exalted man doctrine has profound effects on other areas of Mormon theology, according to scholars. For example, Mormons believe that God has a celestial wife, to whom Jesus was born in a premortal existence. The good news for Mitt Romney: he won the Iowa caucuses. The bad news for Romney: evangelicals remain reluctant to... Continue Reading