Religious institutions and individuals are at the heart of America’s thriving civil society, providing effectively for the welfare of individuals and communities in ways that government programs do not have the capacity to address.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
Check out the new improved FamilyFacts.org. A resource for charts and information on why the family is so important to a free and civil society. Read More.
In 1935, President Roosevelt (D) said: “Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.” Read More.
Problems like poverty, addiction, and homelessness are serious and complex. Seek Social Justice is a six-lesson DVD small group study guide that provides a framework for understanding and engaging human need. Read More.
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) is being criticized by the secular and religious left for comments he made about the role his Catholic faith played in crafting his budget. The most outrageous criticism is that it played any role at all. The reactions to…
Conservatives are often portrayed as selfish scrooges who only care about their own bottom lines. But when it comes to truly meeting people’s needs, they’re the leaders of the pack. Star Parker knew poverty personally. As a…
The recent Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate under Obamacare, requiring nearly all insurance plans to cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, has sparked heated debate across the country. Although proponents of Obamacare have attempted to frame the debate differently, one question remains fundamentally at issue: Can the federal government…
This year, March Madness ran right up to Holy Week in the Christian calendar. Millions of Americans who began the week watching NCAA basketball finals would head to church at the weekend to commemorate Good Friday and Easter. But religious institutions got quite a bit of attention…
Abstract: Freedom of religion is at the heart of the American understanding of liberty. Under our constitutional order, the free exercise of religion is not a mere matter of toleration but an inalienable natural right. As George Washington explained in his famous…
The recent Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate for preventive services under President Obama’s health care law is an unprecedented assault on religious liberty. The mandate forces many religious employers to either contradict their faith by providing and paying for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization in violation of their deeply…
America is in the midst of a gravely serious debate about religious liberty. It was touched off by news that President Obama’s health care law will coerce religious groups to violate conscience by covering certain products and services in their health plans or face steep fines. Sadly,…
A 15-year-old girl spray-painted the words on pale yellow aluminum siding perched oddly on a slab of concrete: “For sale! Fixer upper.” Hours earlier, the siding had been part of a wall and the slab the front porch of her grandmother’s home in Harrisburg,…
Egypt’s transitional military regime threw down a direct challenge to the Obama Administration on Monday when government prosecutors announced that 43 people, including 19 Americans, will stand trial for allegedly interfering in Egypt’s internal politics. Egyptian officials claim that they illegally funded political groups in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, while the…
Abstract: Religious staffing by religious organizations is an established, baseline position in federal law that deserves continued support. Most fundamentally, religious staffing by religious organizations is socially desirable conduct that benefits individuals and society, not unjust discrimination that should be eradicated through law. In…
Introduction[1] By extolling freedom of religion in the schools, President Bill Clinton has raised the level of debate on the importance of religion to American life.[2] The time is ripe for a deeper dialogue on the contribution of religion to the welfare of the nation. America has always…
Over the past decade, considerable research has emerged that demonstrates the benefits of religious practice within society.[1] Religious practice promotes the well-being of individuals, families, and the community. Of particular note are the studies that indicate the benefits of Religion to the poor.[2] Regular attendance…
Abstract: Proponents of religious freedom have firmly established that same-sex marriage threatens religious freedom in a number of ways. In response, some have argued that certain threats to religious freedom discussed in this context have more to do with nondiscrimination laws than with the…
Abstract: Did America have a Christian Founding? This disputed question, far from being only of historical interest, has important implications for how we conceive of the role of religion in the American…
The word "justice" is on everyone's lips nowadays, and may signify almost anything. We hear the cry "Peace and Justice!" from folk who would destroy existing societies with fire and sword. Other folk fancy that perfect justice might readily be obtained by certain financial rearrangements -- as if anything in this world ever could be…
No metaphor in American letters has had a more profound influence on law and policy than Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state." Today, this figure of speech is accepted by many Americans as a pithy description of the constitutionally prescribed church-state arrangement, and it has become the…
Today's political debates are often muddied by misconceptions of the role of government and its responsibility to American citizens. What are the limits of good government? How can the virtues necessary for freedom flourish? Sustaining ordered liberty depends on good answers to these questions. 1. What should government do? Government plays an indispensable role in a…
As Americans exercise their right to vote in presidential primaries, caucuses, and conventions, candidates face questions from voters on a wide range of issues, including religious faith. When it comes to this issue, what should they be looking for? Which questions about religion are most helpful in selecting a President?…
On October 5, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a very important case concerning religious freedom. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC has to do with which employees of a church-run school count as ministers and, thus, whose employment status lies within the sphere of that…
Abstract: Today, religious liberty issues are more complicated than simply freedom from government interference in religious worship or teaching. Threats to religious liberty and respect for conscience are emerging in the health care field, in the area of institutional religious freedom, and in the…
A new Gallup poll finds that a majority of Americans are very or moderately religious, a statistic that bodes well for...…
It's a rare moment indeed when Catholic priests speak from the pulpit on political issues, but across the country,...…
No. It’s that simple. A number of House members and senators have been circulating this picture of the first panel from...…
Since the Obamacare anti-conscience mandate was proposed in August, the Obama Administration has come under intense...…
President Obama has been accused of violating the Constitution with two high-profile decisions over the last month....…
If it weren’t for Obamacare, we wouldn’t have this problem. By “this problem,” we mean of course the Obamacare...…
The commotion surrounding President Obama’s press conference Friday on the latest Obamacare mandate caused plenty of...…
It is a rare moment indeed when faith denominations of all stripes unite together in common cause, and it is rarer...…
In last week’s Republican primary debate, a Jacksonville, Florida, resident asked the candidates what role their...…
A remarkable page in the history of American conscientious objection is being written by citizens throughout the United...…
Research Fellow
Director, Domestic Policy Studies
Visiting Fellow