By Brent Walker In President Obama’s meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao Jan. 18-21, the issue of human rights and religious liberty must be discussed along with economic and environmental issues. Certainly, the tradition in the United States is that…
The decade in religious liberty
By Brent Walker Dubbed by Time magazine the “decade from hell,” the past 10 years have been ones for which we can say good riddance: September 11, two costly and deadly wars, the economic meltdown. In terms of church-state relations,…
The advent of Christmas craziness
By J. Brent Walker The United States’ habit of Christmas craziness began, just like reminders of the holiday season itself, early this year. You know what I mean — the perennial cry that someone or some group (usually one’s ideological…
Billboards a blow to U.S. history
By Brent Walker For the next six months, people on the roads of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties in Florida will rumble past billboard ads making false claims and misleading assertions about our country’s history and commitment to religious freedom. One…
The first 100 days of church/state issues
By Brent Walker I write this column as the first 100 days of President Obama’s administration come to a close. What can be said about its church-state record at this early but highly symbolic juncture? A lot has been written…