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Why School Prayer Matters

From the May 2020 Print Edition

In his State of the Union address and elsewhere, President Trump has emphasized the importance of prayer in public schools. In one speech he promised “big action” on the matter. But just what action he is contemplating remains obscure. Teacher-led prayer to open the school day? Football players . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square

From the April 2009 Print Edition

The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America by Richard John Neuhaus Eerdmans, 292 pages, $28 When you revisit an important book after the passage of years, you can’t be sure what you will find. The book may be even better than you remembered. Or it may not quite live up to . . . . Continue Reading »

The Wages of Advocacy

From the February 2008 Print Edition

Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America’s Tradition of Religious Equality by Martha Nussbaum Basic Books, 320 pages, $27.50 Martha Nussbaum’s Liberty of Conscience is a blend mixed from approximately equal portions of John Rawls, Sandra Day O’Connor, and the pack of recent . . . . Continue Reading »

Conciliating Hatred

From the June/July 2004 Print Edition

These days, if you announce that the Supreme Court is doing politics rather than law you will provoke more yawns than protests. But what sort of politics is the Court doing? Justice Antonin Scalia frequently charges the Court with stepping out of its judicial role and taking sides in the culture . . . . Continue Reading »

The Constitution in the Cave

From the May 2000 Print Edition

There’s an old and famous story about a community of people who live in a cave. Fires burn behind them, throwing shadows of various shapes onto the cave wall; and never having seen real objects in the sunlight, the cave people think these shadows are the only and most complete reality. One day, . . . . Continue Reading »