Institute on Religion & Democracy

Whether seen in a Protestant confessional state or a Catholic integralist state, post-liberalism is among the ideas contending with classical liberty.

Liberalism vs Post-Liberalism Two Harvard Law students share their views on Catholic Integralism and a Christian confessional state with IRD's New Whiggery program.

Church and ministry leaders both in host country France and across the globe have criticized or condemned a satirical depiction of the Last Supper at the Paris games.

Churches Respond to Olympic ‘Last Supper’ Depiction Criticism of the Paris organizing committee for promoting an offensive performance has been widespread among church and ministry leaders.

Christianity’s high regard for the individual has bequeathed to the West its commitment to freedom of speech. But the Olympic opening ceremony evinced arrogance, writes Mark Tooley.

Blasphème & Olympiques A drag queen caricature of The Last Supper does not exemplify the best of France.

We cannot know where the war will end that started last October between Israel and Iran’s terror proxy, Hamas. But the next theater is certain to be southern Lebanon, the stronghold of Iran’s older and more lethal ally, Hezbollah.

Preventing a ruinous war between Israel and Lebanon This is an opportunity for a Western power to prevent the war that began on Oct. 7, and escalated this past weekend, from spreading across the region.

The longstanding relationship between The Gideons International and the United Methodist Church has reached a breaking point following General Conference.

United Methodist Rift with the Gideons Strained relationship with the Gideons follows this year's General Conference, as United Methodists abandoned commitment to a Christian sexual ethic.

This week IRD welcomes summer interns Jeshua Grose and Devin Burnat. Jeshua is a freshman studying political philosophy and journalism at Patrick Henry College. Devin is a Junior studying International Relations and Strategic Intelligence at Liberty University. Welcome, Jeshua and Devin!

America’s transgenerational "treasury of merit" should give us constant hope.

America’s Treasury of Merit Our nation is a deposit of many deeds by many people across vast swaths of time.

Christians often complain about autonomous individualism, but we should heed warnings against nostalgia or searching for answers in authoritarian alternatives to democracy.

Responding to Hyper Empowered Individualism Mark Tooley chats with Andrés Spokoiny about his new book "Tradition and Transition: Jewish Communities and the Hyper Empowered Individual."

Surveys indicate that happiness has recently been in decline. But the barriers to happiness aren't race, inequality or poverty. Instead, argues the University of Virginia's Brad Wilcox, it is about “the closing of the American heart.”

Marriage, Family, and Happiness Research shows that the 'number one predictor' of happiness is actually a good marriage, not money or career.

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas is a curiosity for his disavowal of theological liberalism and simultaneous extreme dislike for evangelicalism. “I’m not a follower of either, because, one, I don’t think you get to make Christianity up: you receive it through the exemplification of people who live in a way that scares you.”

Hauerwas: ‘Last Thing One Should Want is a Personal Relationship with Jesus' Pacifist theologian puzzles at Evangelicals and Protestant liberals, identifying individualism as a problematic tenet shared between two camps he disavows.

If we truly believe that life is sacred and each person is made in the image of God, then we must continue to contend for a reality where abortion is both illegal and unthinkable, even when such a vision seems politically implausible, writes Bethany Moy.

Pro-Life Christians and Dobbs after Two Years Christian churches must stand with women facing challenging pregnancies, be proactive in offering answers, and demonstrate that the pre-born hold worth.

Frequent attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis and Vatican II, originating within the church, have become an ongoing concern for the papacy.

Traditionalist Archbishop Viganò Excommunicated A leading Roman Catholic traditionalist and critic of Pope Francis has been formally excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

Are church labyrinths “rediscovered” or newly invented?

Lost in the Labyrinth Church labyrinths, the mandalic walking trails designed to promote meditative practice, range from amorphous spirituality to New Age secret wisdom.

The IRD was honored to host, and learned much about, U.S. theological education from Reformed Theological Seminary Chancellor Ligon Duncan this month.

Ligon Duncan on U.S. Theological Education Today Dr. Ligon Duncan of Reformed Theological Seminary speaks at IRD on the state of American theological seminaries and formation today.

Richard Nixon was a Quaker, befriended by Billy Graham, married to a Methodist (which his father also was), and influenced by “power of positive thinking” Norman Vincent Peale, while considering Catholicism towards end of his life.

Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation IRD President Mark Tooley chats with author Daniel Silliman about his new book 'One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon's Search for Salvation'

It would appear that what is taking place in the “new” (since General Conference) United Methodist Church is advocacy for the causes of the progressive Left while concerns of mainstream United Methodists are neglected, if not ignored, writes Riley Case.

Monitoring and the New Morality within United Methodism When not at their best, United Methodist monitoring groups give the impression of a big brother looking over shoulders like language police.

Ethan Hawke's 'Wildcat' is a grotesque movie, which is exactly what it should be, writes Sarah Stewart on the Flannery O’Connor film.

Hawke’s 'Wildcat' Profoundly Grotesque Grace, Flannery O’Connor reminds, can combat the darkness of this world and within each of us if we are only willing to be “dead to sin.”

Calls for unity and to “cool down” political polarization characterized prayers offered by church officials following an attempt on the life of former President Trump this past Saturday.

Church Officials’ Prayers Follow Trump Shooting Calls for unity and to “cool down” political polarization characterized prayers offered by church officials following attempt on the life of President Trump.

One of the most bizarre turns of phrase to emerge from contemporary liberal churches is the “kin-dom of God.”

Kingdom, ‘Kin-dom’ and the Supreme Power of Christ Preaching the 'kindom' of God sacrifices Christian orthodoxy for a relativistic and deracinated faith.

“Once he saves us, he sends us,” new Anglican Archbishop Steve Wood and his wife Jacqui shared with Anglican Assembly delegates. IRD's Jeff Walton reports in Mere Orthodoxy.

Moving Forward in the Worship of God Evangelism and church planting characterized the Anglican Assembly. “I do not find country club congregations or chaplaincies to the elite,” Archbishop Foley Beach observed.

How should parents deal with the problems in conveying the Christian faith to their children? IRD’s Rick Plasterer reports on a C.S. Lewis Institute talk.

Raising Christian Children in a Challenging Time - Part 2 How parents should deal the problems in conveying the Christian faith to their children.

How can parents address hostility to orthodox Christian beliefs and practices?

Raising Christian Children in a Challenging Time - Part 1 Training children in the Christian faith in the expectation that they will likely share one’s faith as an adult has become a challenge for parents today.

What common myths are women falling prey to amidst a culture of self-affirmation?

Allie B. Stuckey’s 'You’re Not Enough' Counters Cult of Self-Affirmation Christian author and podcaster Allie B. Stuckey argues in her book 'You're Not Enough' that the self cannot be the problem and the solution.

The tenets of ‘practical atheism,’ do not explicitly reject the supremacy of Christ, but rather promote a lukewarm version of Christianity that does not place God at the center of daily life and the universe, warns African Cardinal.

Cardinal Sarah: ‘Paganization’ Threatens Future of European Christendom African Cardinal Robert Sarah offers defense of traditional Catholic teaching, warning against liberalizing values that have taken hold in Europe.

The sixth-largest gothic cathedral in the world is the ultimate teaching tool for an immersive experience in the medieval worldview.

Remain in My Love: A Visit to the National Cathedral A gothic structure towering over the capital of the United States points us to God who created all that is, who has made it possible for us to know him.

Fellow Methodist Carolyn Moore interviews Institute on Religion & Democracy President Mark Tooley about Methodism, holiness, political theology and the IRD.

Methodist Public Holiness Methodism, holiness, political theology and the IRD.

For Sumner, every slave bore “living image of their Redeemer.” To abet slavery was to trample on Christ’s very own image. May we recall this analogy in our politics of today.

Charles Sumner, Slavery & Christ “Multitudes among us will not be less steadfast in refusing to trample on the living image of their Redeemer.”