Supreme Court Plans to Make National Decision on Same-Sex Marriage – What it Means
By Jason Hines, PhD - The Court will answer two questions. First, ?does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between…
Chronological & Subject Repository
Category: Church and State
January 2015
Supreme Court Considers First Amendment Ramifications of Church Sign Ordinance
On Monday, January 12, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case of whether a local town ordinance violates the First…
November 2014
7th Circuit Rules Challengers to Ministerial Housing Exemption Lacked Standing
On November 13, 2014, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an atheist group challenging a tax-exempt housing benefit only available to clergy…
Hard-fought religious freedom something to celebrate this Thanksgiving
Households throughout the United States are celebrating a presidentially designated Thanksgiving Day. It provides us an opportunity to reflect on the blessings we enjoy…
October 2014
Opinion: Atheists, Conscience and God’s Name
An atheist airman at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada recently wasn't allowed to re-enlist because he refused to sign an oath containing the…
September 2014
Standing to Sue at Issue In 7th Cir. Hearing on Ministerial Housing Allowance
On September 10, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) v. Lew. The judges focused on…
June 2014
Opinion on the Hobby Lobby Decision: More Equal Than Others
By Jason Hines - Today the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Hobby Lobby and other closely held corporations can refuse to…
May 2014
Rediscovering Agape: Why the Reformation is Not Over
Agape love is the central premise of Protestant Christian theology. According to The Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics, “Luther's rediscovery of the primacy of…
April 2014
7th Cir. to Decide Whether Ministerial Housing Exemption is Constitutional
By Michael Peabody - Last November, a federal judge stuck a stick in a beehive when she found that a long-standing tax-exemption for clergy…
Opinion: Don’t Use Religious Liberty to Discriminate
By James Coffin - In the United States, individuals and groups have a long history of discrimination against fellow humans. But over many decades,…