Show notes:
In the first segment, our panelists discuss the US Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2022. The Commission conducts crucial research and provides vital information on the status of religious liberty.
In the second segment of the show, we explore Christian nationalism. Christian nationalists insist that the United States was established as an explicitly Christian nation, and they believe that this close relationship between Christianity and the state needs to be protected—and in many respects restored—in order for the U.S. to fulfill its God-given destiny. Recent scholarship underscores the extent to which these efforts to secure a privileged position for Christianity in the public square often coincide with efforts to preserve the historical status quo on issues of race, gender, and sexuality. And the practical ramifications of such views involve everything from support for laws that codify specific interpretations of Christian morality, to the defense of religious displays on public property, to nativist reactions to non-white, non-Christian immigrants.
In the third segment, our focus turns to the court case, Bixler v. Superior Court. Recently a California Court of Appeals issued a surprising decision, declining to enforce religious arbitration agreements between a number of plaintiffs and the Church of Scientology. While a decision refusing to compel arbitration was not, itself, surprising, the basis for the court’s decision was: that compelling arbitration would violate the First Amendment right of the plaintiffs to change their religious beliefs. Such a holding is the first of its kind when it comes to religious arbitration agreements.
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About the Show: Faith & Politics is a show dedicated to discussing issues surrounding the intersection of Church, State and politics and the examination of whether you are allowing your faith to shape your politics or your politics starting to shape your faith. What do you do when God and government come face to face?
Panelists: Dr. Lawrence Brown, Associate PARL (Public Affairs & Religious Liberty) Director Northeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists; Bettina Krause, Editor of Liberty Magazine; Melissa Reid, Washington Liaison for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; André Wang, General Counsel and Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the North Pacific Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
About Us: North American Division Public Affairs & Religious Liberty (PARL) is a ministry dedicated to proclaiming and defending the God-given gift of religious freedom which is integral to our identity as Seventh-day Adventist Christians. Learn more about PARL at www.religiousliberty.info.
Panelists
Dr. Lawrence Brown
Bettina Krause
Melissa Reid
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