Faith and Law

Jefferson called the Declaration of Independence “an expression of the American mind.” What is that mind and what does it tell us for today, especially about the great questions of truth, happiness, and . . . God? Matthew Spalding, Kirby Pro­fessor in Constitutional Government and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College and member of the board of Faith and Law join...

Sixty percent of women who had an abortion said they would not have if they had received adequate emotional or financial support. Women who seek abortions are typically already mothers living in poverty and facing food and housing instability. Churches and non-profits are essential sources of support for these moms – but what can Congress do to help them choose life? Autumn Christensen,  Executive...

The sports betting industry generated $16.96 billion in revenue in 2025 alone, with gamblers betting a total of nearly $167 billion on athletic contests. Is this working against the flourishing of our society? Christine Emba, Senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute   and Dr. Johnathan Cohen, Sports Betting Policy Lead at The American Institute for Boys and Men joined us for a discussion...

The patriotism and personal virtue of George Washington have long been admired by a grateful nation. In this lecture, Dr. Joseph Prud’homme, Burton Family Chair in Religion, Politics, and Culture and Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Faculty member in Religious Studies at Washington College, delved more deeply into the specific traits of character which made George Washington...

Aristotle taught that every good deed requires a beautiful image. Then it stands to reason, America needs a great store of beautiful images designed to help us maintain our way of life and preserve equal justice, liberty, and law.  Dr. Matthew Mehan, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Government for the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College is at the end of a long res...

What am I doing here? What steps can I take when at times I feel tempted to despair about my work? How will I be able to continue to do the work I love in a culture of such fracture, polarization and contempt that only seems to be intensifying?  This conversation with board certified psychiatrist, author, speaker,  Dr. Curt Thompson, will  provide practical ways of finding joy and resilience while...

Honduras’ entrenched corruption, pervasive violence, narcotics flows, and weakened democracy continue to drive migration north and have consequences far beyond its borders. Amid these pressures, brave Christian civic leaders are stepping forward to uphold justice in a climate of impunity and inspiring others around the world to seek justice in their own contexts. Our discussion with reporter Ross...

Many Christians talk earnestly about ‘the Christian roots of America,’ but never say what they were. Equally the MAGA movement aims to ‘make America great again,’ but never stops to say what made America great in first place. Dr. Os Guinness , foreign admirer of the US, will join us for a continuation of his Friday Forum from June 13, 2025 “ 2026: Recovering What Made America Great in the First Pl...

What is the significance of the Christian confession that God has made each person with a sense of the divine?  Dr. Gray Sutanto, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Reformed Theological Seminary , joined us to discuss how the awareness of God arises in the human person, and its implication on apologetics as well as public discourse. Support the show

American political life is increasingly fractured by generational conflict, growing distrust of institutions, and a willingness across the spectrum to exercise power arbitrarily. From Congress to town halls, an older generation seeks to preserve the past while a younger movement pursues change even at the cost of community bonds. This shift raises urgent questions about democracy, the rule of law,...

Common ground is hard to find in today’s politics. In a society teeming with irreconcilable political perspectives, many people have grown frustrated under a system of government that constantly demands compromise. More and more on both the right and the left have come to blame the Constitution for the resulting discord. But the Constitution is not the problem we face; it is the solution. Yuval Le...

Dr. Joseph Prud'Homme, Burton Family Chair in Religion, Politics, and Culture, and the director of the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture at Washington College, MD, joined us to discuss the classical liberal tradition.  Properly understood, classical liberalism has been the foundation of the American Republic since its founding. The core tenets of this tradition include its commitm...

Public policy making wrestles with competing visions of what it means to be human and of how we can live well individually and in community.  In a lecture titled " The Public Policy Calling ", Dr. Jennifer Patterson, Lecturer in Public Theology and Director of the Institute for Theology and Public Life at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington DC discussed how christians in public p...

In a culture that prizes outrage over reconciliation, forgiveness is increasingly seen as weakness--an outdated concept that fails to take harm seriously. But what if forgiveness is not about minimizing justice but about restoring hope? In a Friday Forum titled “The Power of Forgiveness in a Culture of Rage”, international author, speaker and theologian Amy Orr Ewing joined us to discuss the trans...

In a recent interview, the campus free speech advocate, Greg Lukianoff, noted that Americans are waking up from the “Vegas Delusion” when it comes to what’s happening at the nation’s colleges and universities regarding the freedom to express one’s views. No more does “what happened on campus, stay on campus,” he opined, this aversion to free speech was happening in our council chambers and corpora...

You're listening to the Faith and Law podcast.  This spring, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor , protecting the right of parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children and to opt their young children out of one-sided gender ideology curriculum in public schools. Our panel of experts, in partnership with the Becket Fund For Religious Liberty, explo...

The culture of freedom we enjoy in the United States is deeply shaped by religious minorities seeking to honor God in their beliefs and orders of worship from the colonial period to the present day. Marc Wheat, General Counsel for Advancing American Freedom,  introduced the historical and legal context for the First Amendment, thereby establishing the foundation for our Friday Forum titled “ Relig...

Most Americans either do not understand legislative politics, or if they do, they are repulsed by the process.  But Congress is the most important institution in the American government because without it, democracy is impossible. Working in Congress gives you the opportunity to do good for thousands, perhaps millions of people. Where else in the world can you do that, so early in your career? Mar...

In 1988, Ben Spencer was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he did not commit. He spent 34 years wrongfully imprisoned. Now, Ben has teamed up with award-winning journalist Barbara Bradley Hagerty to share his story – and larger story about the flaws in the legal system that allow mistakes to occur, and how some states are trying to fix them. Conversation was moderated by Scott Peyton, direc...

Many Christians talk earnestly about ‘the Christian roots of America,’ but never say what they were. Equally the MAGA movement aims to ‘make America great again,’ but never stops to say what made America great in first place. Dr. Os Guinness , foreign admirer of the US, joined us to discuss what it was that gave the American republic a freedom like no other – which needs to be recovered today. Sup...

Ed Simcox, author of In the Room and Indiana’s 55th Secretary of State joined us for a reflection on his personal encounters with Chuck Colson and the early days of the national justice movement. As Prison Fellowship marks its 50th anniversary, this discussion explored how faith shaped a generation of public leadership and why the call to second chances remains vital for policymakers today.  Our c...

People with disabilities are created in the image of God, imbued with the same intrinsic value and bestowed the unalienable rights declared in our  nation’s founding document. However, the history of disability policy and social norms have not always mirrored this foundational truth.  Drawing from her experience, surviving a life threatening and rare spinal cord tumor that left her as a quadripleg...

Is the purpose of religious liberty to end religious oppression or is it to change, perhaps even eradicate, religion as it has been known across history? That question has been at the heart of America’s debates about religious liberty since the founding era and it still plagues us today. Dr. Richard Samuelson, Associate Professor of Government at Hillsdale College, presented a study of this foundi...

In his 1962 book, Propaganda , Jacques Ellul outlines three conditions for propaganda’s success. Bombard people with excessive information so they will forget, always have “breaking news” so they do not reflect or think critically, and have no North Star or standard to measure deviation. As Christians we are called to remember, called to think, and called to follow our certain and firm North Star....

During a time when political conversations are marked by deep division, polarization, and challenging moral questions, what resources do evangelicals have to think and act critically, coherently, and theologically about public life? In their new book, Hopeful Realism: Evangelical Natural Law and Democratic Politics , political theorists Dr. Jesse Covington of Westmont College, Dr Bryan T. McGraw o...