Just Liberty

Should a religious student club have the same access and support on campus as a secular student club? And can a religious student club require its leadership to pledge support for a shared statement of faith? A recent court decision in California provides hopeful signs that the pendulum may be swinging back toward a fairer deal for students of faith on America's campuses. Interview with Kim Colby,...

There's been a rash of state-level laws recently that mandate the posting of "The Ten Commandments" on the walls of public school classrooms. What's behind this? And whose version of these biblical commands are we talking about, anyway? Interview with Marc Zvi Brettler, Professor of Jewish Studies, Duke University. Show Notes The Torah website for academic biblical scholarship - https://www.thetor...

It's often been said that those who forget the past are destined to repeat it. If this is true, then we should be taking note of rising rates of antisemitism--not just in America but around the world. Our conversation in this episode weaves together an intensely personal family history with a discussion of cultural and political warning signs that we would be wise to heed. Interview with Richard T...

For a country that claims religious freedom as a fundamental value, America has sometimes had an odd way of showing it--especially when it comes to workplace accommodations for people of faith. Whether it's time off for Sabbaths, or permission to wear religious garb on the job, American workers have had weak legal protection. That is, until now. What changed with the recent Supreme Court decision...

It's a decision that gave many Supreme Court watchers a bad case of whiplash. For decades, the Court said that direct state funding for faith-based schools was constitutionally forbidden. But in Carson v Makin, the Court said that those same religion clauses require the state to fund religious schools in some circumstances. What's behind the Court's 180-degree turn on this issue? And how could it...

Twenty-five years ago, the United States became the first and only nation to link religious freedom advocacy with its foreign policy goals. Why? And what has this achieved? A former State Department official provides an insider's take on how the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 changed the face of U.S. foreign policy, and what's ahead.   Show Notes Knox Thames | Website "Saving Internat...

Christian nationalism has been in the media spotlight ever since the tumultuous events of January 6, 2021. But finding an agreed-upon definition for this phenomenon has proved elusive. What are we really talking about when we call someone a Christian nationalist? And how accurate, really, is that "Christian" label? Interview with Amanda Tyler, Executive Director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religi...

Coming Spring 2024 - a fresh, balanced take on religious liberty and church-state issues in a world of polarization.  Subscribe now so our first episode shows up in your feed.