Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian

church & state

Select a Category class warfare evangelicals Iraq Left Behind Mammon music Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003

May 2013

May 16, 2013

Christian denominations and marriage equality: A simple quiz

Does your denomination regard marriage as a sacrament? If so, Congratulations! You support marriage equality!...

April 2013

April 04, 2013

North Carolina Republicans introduce bill to outlaw Baptist churches and establish N.C. Staatskirche

"A resolution filed by Republican lawmakers would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion,...

March 2013

March 30, 2013

President Obama’s Easter statement

This is President Obama's fifth Easter statement. It's a routine pronouncement of the sort that...

March 19, 2013

Praise for Melissa Rogers as choice to head White House faith-based office

Melissa Rogers is Baptist in the Roger Williams sense of the word, and I agree...

March 19, 2013

Don’t treat people as symbols for a tribal loyalty quiz

Worse than that, though, is what these tribal trustees are doing when it comes to...

March 19, 2013

Culture-war diaries

Rob Bell and Hillary Clinton take sides; reinventing Promise Keepers; biblical special effects; a new...

March 11, 2013

When talk of ‘civil disobedience’ is just masturbation

Marriage equality does not affect Southern Baptists at all. It does not require them to...

February 2013

February 12, 2013

Muslim students, lofty neutrality toward the Other, and the Miley Rule

Whether it's a Christian majority struggling to come to terms with their Muslim neighbors or...

February 12, 2013

Church and state and erecting convenient boundaries

Out in the Hamptons, explicit discrimination poses as a defense of religious liberty as the...

January 2013

January 28, 2013

Do white evangelicals have a delusional persecution complex? Barna says yes, and provides quantifiable proof

A great many white evangelicals have a delusional persecution complex. That delusion is an expression...

January 27, 2013

66 books and all that: Texas schools teaching ‘memorable’ Bible lessons

The separation of church and state is necessary to protect the state and to protect...

January 25, 2013

‘It means not having to think about any of this, ever’

"What does it mean to be privileged?" Jamelle Bouie asks, "It means not having to...

January 24, 2013

Outsourcing theocracy to Uganda: This is what bad fruit looks like

Uganda is 85-percent Christian. The U.S. is 70-percent Christian. This is not about missions or...

January 23, 2013

Roe v. Wade backlash myth clouds real history of state’s rights and segregated schools

White evangelicals in the 1970s were upset with the U.S. Supreme Court, but that anger...

January 15, 2013

Who should pray at the inauguration? How about nobody?

We do not need prayers at inaugurations. We need to not have prayers at inaugurations....

January 14, 2013

How President Obama reminds me of Ron Sider (and why that’s both good and bad)

Ron Sider's response to personal attacks was to reach out, to invite his critics to...

January 12, 2013

When Christians argue that Jesus Christ has no religious significance

An Ohio public school superintendent is defending the ginormous reproduction of Sallman's Head of Christ...

January 06, 2013

Your lips say ‘school prayer,’ but your eyes tell me ‘desegregation’

Part of the problem with arguments about "prayer in schools" is that quite often they...

January 05, 2013

Church & state and ‘beliefs’ that believers don’t care about

Hospitals really aren't looking to hire medical professionals who don't believe in professional medicine. Hiring...

January 01, 2013

Knocking on the White House door 150 years ago for a fireside chat on the eve of emancipation

“You come to me as God’s ministers, and you are positive that you know exactly...

December 2012

December 10, 2012

When is a religion not a religion?

Bill O'Reilly and Mat Staver are both trying to justify Christian privilege. They want the...

November 2012

November 25, 2012

The religious liberty right to believe that algebra is an abortifacient

The student's beliefs are factually wrong -- demonstrably so. Her beliefs are based on poor...

November 24, 2012

With friends like Caesar, the church doesn’t need enemies

Two red-state stories about the dismal state of church and state, both of which feature...

November 22, 2012

Hitting the ground like bags of wet cement

Happy Thanksgiving from WKRP; Art Simon on gratitude; Goblinbooks on the pilgrims -- "enemies of...

November 12, 2012

Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and let your ‘no’ be ‘no’

When Rep. Ellison affirms the solemnity of his oath by placing his hand on the...

September 2012

September 30, 2012

The oldest image of Jesus Christ is a crude, mocking caricature

We can have laws against blasphemy or we can have religious freedom. We can never...

September 27, 2012

If N.J. archbishop John Myers is right, then only Catholic marriage should be legal (and all Protestants are living in sin)

Civil marriage is a civil right over which the Catholic church has no jurisdiction. The...

September 26, 2012

One confusing story, two stories confused, and three versions of 10 commandments

Richard Beck tackles one of the stranger sections of the Bible -- the deliriously weird...

September 20, 2012

Regarding the first rule and the First Amendment

Try not to be an asshole. That's always the first rule. That's Rule No. 1....

September 19, 2012

3 things you can do if you want to be a big jerk

Here are a few recent stories in which various people -- including some public officials...