Institute on Religion & Democracy

Institute on Religion & Democracy The Institute on Religion & Democracy is a faith-based alliance of Christians. Thank you for visiting!

We keep our readers in touch with the issues and our activities via www.TheIRD.org and Faith & Freedom, our quarterly magazine. In resources mailed to homes around the country, we address the issues from just war to denominational politics to same-sex marriage to immigration.

What should we think about billionaires? They should be neither exalted nor despised. Earning so much is a sign of econo...
09/03/2026

What should we think about billionaires? They should be neither exalted nor despised. Earning so much is a sign of economic productivity, not moral goodness. But creations like Amazon have benefitted millions, maybe billions, of people, Doug Bandow argues.

Material gains are both reward and responsibility, since we are but stewards of all that is provided by God.

Sanctification is more than moral improvement. It is the work of God transforming us into the likeness of Christ. in Goo...
09/02/2026

Sanctification is more than moral improvement. It is the work of God transforming us into the likeness of Christ. in Good News Magazine Jonathan Powers explores how through baptism, Communion, and worship, the sacraments draw us into God’s presence, reorder our loves, and form us for lives of holiness and mission.

Through baptism, Communion, worship, and the shared life of the Church, God meets us in ordinary things and transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

Mainline Protestantism’s collapse has been a great tragedy for America. But Bill McKibben portrays the reasons for its c...
09/02/2026

Mainline Protestantism’s collapse has been a great tragedy for America. But Bill McKibben portrays the reasons for its collapse as its actual strength. And he imagines that it is now in a revival defined by political activism. He will be disappointed, writes IRD's Mark Tooley.

Religious groups that do not believe in the uniqueness of their own faith generally do not fare well in the world and are displaced by others.

The Godless Constitution and the Providential Nation by Steven D. Smith is timely reading for America’s 250th birthday, ...
09/01/2026

The Godless Constitution and the Providential Nation by Steven D. Smith is timely reading for America’s 250th birthday, especially amid increasing debates over Christian Nationalism, reviews IRD’s Mark Tooley.

The American Constitution is not as “godless” as postliberal critics say—but the people must sustain spiritual capital for it to work.

“Above all, add to the rest (for it is not labour lost) that old unfashionable medicine, prayer.” -John Wesley
08/31/2026

“Above all, add to the rest (for it is not labour lost) that old unfashionable medicine, prayer.” -John Wesley

God is eager to hear us and more gracious than we can imagine, writes the John Wesley Institute's Dr. Ryan N. Danker.

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, ...
08/28/2026

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, and personnel” by religious standards, writes Helen Alavaré, Professor Emerita of Law of the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, and personnel” by religious standards.

What does it really mean when Scripture calls us to be holy as God is holy? In Good News Magazine, Jason E. Vickers expl...
08/27/2026

What does it really mean when Scripture calls us to be holy as God is holy? In Good News Magazine, Jason E. Vickers explores sanctification as both consecration and moral transformation, showing how the Holy Spirit uses Word, sacrament, prayer, fasting, and other means of grace to make us perfect in love.

Sanctification means more than being set apart for God. It is the Spirit’s gracious work of making us holy by conforming us to the perfect love, goodness, and purity of Jesus Christ.

“Indeed the mode of showing your courtesy may vary, as Christian prudence will direct. But the thing itself is due to al...
08/27/2026

“Indeed the mode of showing your courtesy may vary, as Christian prudence will direct. But the thing itself is due to all: the lowest and worst have a claim to our courtesy.” -John Wesley

Eighteenth-century British thinkers tied manners to religion, refusing to separate moral formation from outward behavior.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows what happens when Spider-Man misunderstands his responsibility. In doing so, it reveals ...
08/26/2026

Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows what happens when Spider-Man misunderstands his responsibility. In doing so, it reveals an important truth about the human person and our relationship with others.

It is in both sacrifice and revelation that we imitate Christ, who both gives of Himself physically unto death and reveals the Father to us.

WATCH: IRD's Mark Tooley chats with Regent University's William Reddinger about his new book Political Thinkers for Our ...
08/25/2026

WATCH: IRD's Mark Tooley chats with Regent University's William Reddinger about his new book Political Thinkers for Our Time, which explains the Anglo-American political tradition through prominent thinkers such as Edmund Burke, George Washington, Alexis de Tocqueville, Abraham Licoln, Friedrich Hayek and Wilhelm Röpke.

Regent University's William Reddinger shares on his new book Political Thinkers for Our Time, explaining the Anglo-American political tradition.

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