“There are extraordinary circumstances under which people may be able to break the law and claim higher authority, but being an elected official is not one of them,” says Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. But Roger Severino of the Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society disagrees. “The law actually requires religious accommodation where it’s reasonable. It’s part of our traditions, it’s part of our history, and it’s part of our law,” he says. More →

September 11, 2015

John Unger is simultaneously the pastor for three churches of three different mainline Protestant denominations, and a state senator in West Virginia. “I’ll tell you that I can’t do it, not alone,” says Unger. “I recognize my limitations, but I believe that with God all things are possible.” More →

June 5, 2015

“This case is about Christians aggressively imposing themselves upon their fellow citizens with the power of government,” says plaintiff lawyer Douglas Laycock. But defense attorney Tom Hungar warned that the case could lead to “government regulating the theological content of prayers, prescribing what is orthodox and what is not in religion.” More →

November 8, 2013

“For the protection of government as well as for the protection of religion, they need to be separate. I think when government gets involved in religion, it corrupts religion, and I think when religion gets involved with government, it can corrupt government,” says plaintiff Susan Galloway. More →

October 4, 2013

How will the Democratic Party appeal to religious voters without alienating the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated voters? More →

March 8, 2013

The God gap was alive and well this year in American politics, according to one professor of political science. White evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons, and a growing number of religiously unaffiliated voters all played a part in Election 2012. More →

November 2, 2012

Some pastors say their job is not to endorse political candidates. It is to make sure that their church members vote and “that they understand what’s at stake,” says Pastor Jeffery Daniel. More →

September 21, 2012

We talk with Rev. Frank Wade, interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral, about the value of cathedrals in a twenty-first century world and the role a cathedral can play in helping the nation understand the relationship between faith and politics. More →

August 24, 2012

A national debate is underway over the First Amendment, federal law, and whether “reasonable minds can disagree” about what religious freedom means. Watch excerpts from some recent interviews. More →

June 15, 2012

“Rick Santorum is a very particular kind of Catholic…A lot of Catholics don’t see themselves in him, and a lot of people actually don’t even know that he’s Catholic. Most people assume he’s an evangelical,” says Religion News Service editor in chief Kevin Eckstrom.
know that he’s Catholic. Most people assume he’s an evangelical.” More →

March 9, 2012