Tag Archives: Establishment Clause

IFI Joins SCOTUS Brief in Support of Coach’s Prayer

Posted on March 3, 2022 by David E Smith

IFI, along with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Concern Women for America and thirteen other Christian organizations, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court this week in favor of Coach Joe Kennedy, who was fired from a public school in Washington State because he prayed briefly at the 50-yard line after football games.

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged Coach Joe Kennedy, Coach Kennedy, Establishment Clause, Joe Kennedy, Prayer | Comments Off

IFI Joins Brief Demanding that Boston Stop Discriminating Against Christians

Posted on November 29, 2021 by David E Smith

IFI is pleased to join an Amici Brief challenging Boston’s refusal to let a civic organization display the Christian flag while they used the public plaza. Oral argument is set for January 18 and can be heard live on C-Span internet.

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged Establishment Clause, Religious Freedom, Shurtleff v. Boston | Comments Off

Do Christians Regularly Violate the Separation of Church and State?

Posted on September 15, 2021 by David E Smith

Many Christians and non-Christians misunderstand the relationship between morality and religion. Many mistakenly believe that morality is the same thing as religion and, therefore, mistakenly believe that they should not advocate for policies that reflect their moral beliefs. But morals and religion are not the same, and basing our decisions on public policies, laws, or elections on beliefs that derive from religious convictions does not constitute an unconstitutional establishment of a state religion.

All laws reflect or embody someone’s morality. The moral beliefs of people who hold theistic worldviews are no less valid in the public square than the moral …

Posted in Faith, Religious Liberty | Tagged Barack Obama, D.A. Carson, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, Francis Beckwith, Free Exercise clause, Gregory Koukl, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Lynn R. Buzzard, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Perry, Richard Neuhaus, Rob Portman, Robert George, Samuel Silver, sharia, The Golden Rule, The Naked Public Square | Comments Off

Christians, the Church, and the State

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Benjamin D. Smith

I’d like to offer a few words about the separation of church and state—a concept long abused by “progressives.” The religion clauses of the First Amendment were intended to protect religion from the intrusive power of the state, not the reverse. The Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.” That does not mean religious convictions are prohibited from informing political values and decisions...

Posted in Faith, Religious Liberty | Tagged Barack Obama, christian, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, Jason Collins, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Perry, Pete Buttigieg, Richard John Neuhaus, Rob Portman, Robert L. Toms | Comments Off

SCOTUS Allows Lower Court to Ban prayer from Public Square

Posted on July 3, 2018 by David E Smith

In case you thought that the potential to flip Justice Kennedy’s seat alone will bring us back to the constitutional promised land, think again. So long as the lower courts are not restrained, we will never return to the Constitution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

Posted in Faith, Federal, Religious Liberty | Tagged Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Daniel Horowitz, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, John Roberts, Prayer, SCOTUS, Town of Greece v. Galloway | Comments Off