Religion in America has moved from being highly public and largely unified to extremely private and diverse.  This quest creates the possibility of millions of American religions grounded in personal, self-obsessed, self-absorbed religious experience disconnected from a sacred text. If true, New Thought, the Divine Self, and the Goddess within culminate in the tyranny, if not the revenge, of the self. And Christian churches throughout America would do well to engage in a root-and-branch exorcism of practices and beliefs that inevitably lead to nothing less than a dead end that has escaped reality.

A growing body of evidence from outside the United States suggests that virtually no evidence supports the contention that restricting gender transition interventions contributes to rising suicide rates. Contrary to such contentions, a large-scale study of health data on Finnish youths who sought care from gender clinics undermines the claim that gender-transition interventions improve the mental health of gender-care recipients. Indeed, the study found that serious mental health problems increased dramatically among adolescents and young adults who underwent gender-transition interventions.

A few weeks ago, the Pacific Justice Institute, along with the Alliance Defending Freedom, filed an urgently important petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. This petition raises the following question before the U. S. Supreme Court: Can Olympus Spa, a Christian, family-run Korean bathhouse that provides an intimate environment exclusively for women and girls, be required to admit a male who identifies as a woman?

In 2023, the FBI’s Richmond Field Office during the Biden Administration issued an internal assessment titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” The assessment claimed, largely without credible evidence, that white supremacists and other domestic extremists were increasingly attempting to co-opt or infiltrate “radical-traditionalist Catholic” communities. Properly appreciated, this document is inconsistent with the First Amendment right of all Americans—Catholics included—to freely exercise their religion, without government interference.

Attorney Aaron Siri poses a thought-provoking question: “Ever hear ‘I believe in cars’ or ‘I believe in tools’?” Most adults would likely answer no. Yet many people readily say they “believe in vaccines.”

Is the West’s commitment to religious freedom under threat? Several recent cases implicating Christians provide an affirmative answer to that question.

The Trump v. Slaughter case marks the collapse of Humphrey’s Executor precedent and re-establishes executive power, meaning that all principal officers who exercise executive power must remain removable by the President even if the statutory language under which such officers were appointed granted them protection against termination. The power to terminate or remove, residing in the President of the United States, constitutes an indispensable mechanism of presidential supervision and democratic accountability.

The rise of democratic socialism, which is richly tied to anti-Israel, if not anti-Semitic, hatred, indicates that the barbarians are already inside the gates. This move is more than a political trend — it represents a worldview shift with profound implications for Christians and for the nation. As a consequence, eternal vigilance is required.

Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jewish man, and his family sought to meet the challenges facing the modern West through faithful religious practice. Mr. Grand’s faith requires him to pray three times daily, preferably with a group of at least ten men, known as a “minyan.”

His faith also requires him and other Orthodox Jews to refrain from driving on the Sabbath and High Holidays. Because walking to synagogue was difficult, Mr. Grand invited members of his community to walk from their homes and pray in his house.

Mr. Grand’s invitation prompted a strongly hostile response from the city. A neighbor first reported the gathering to the mayor. The city then sent Mr. Grand a cease-and-desist letter, asserting that using his home as “a religious place of assembly and/or operation as a shul or synagogue is not permitted.”

In considering Canada’s headlong rush toward national suicide, it is useful to recall the words of Clay Jones, who wrote a book titled “Why Does God Allow Evil?” Jones observes that demented psychopaths did not advance most genocidal activities. Instead, ordinary people committed genocide—mums, dads, and sweet old grandmothers—looking to improve the nation’s efficiency and apply a utilitarian calculus to society's health care needs. These are people who can be found at Tim Horton’s or a Krispy Kreme Donut shop.

A common denominator driving radical ideologies within the postliberal West is the assumption that everything, including our biological identity, is simply a social construct. This perspective accepts that nothing is innately normal, nothing is inherently beautiful, and everything we possess is or can be constructed by man-made, self-created values on a road that leads to perfection.

On this view,  science, medicine, and law ought to prepare us for a future that represents the triumph of human construction rather than God’s sovereign creation. This is not a new idea.

Recently, Southwest Airlines paid Charlene Carter, a pro-life flight attendant, nearly $1 million after terminating her for expressing pro-life views. After the trial, the jury reached a verdict, and the federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas ordered Southwest Airlines and Transport Workers Union Local 556 to give Carter the maximum amount of compensatory and punitive damages permitted under federal law, plus back-pay and other forms of relief.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans are capable of becoming God’s chosen party. History demonstrates that both political parties are capable of indefensible conduct. Still, contemporary elites' approaches to questions of race evoke Democrat-led measures in the South in the latter part of the 19th century. The behavior of Democrats in the 19^th century and the misbehavior of contemporary elites today demonstrate both groups’ triumphant ability to capitalize on and instrumentalize race and then ride the crest of this wave—which they helped foment—to power.  

The West has collapsed into an eruption of wokeness, identity politics, and identity-group movements generously mixed with seething anger despite theologian Herman Bavinck's declaration that God “made the whole human race” from one blood.

In a bombshell development, an Alabama grand jury has indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on eleven counts. The charges include wire fraud and making false statements to a federally insured bank. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the nonprofit organization sent more than $3 million to informants inside extremist groups without informing donors how their money was used.

Christian parents ought to be prepared to eviscerate everything that contributes to the production of soft-cubicle men rather than leaders. Instead, Evangelicals should encourage boys to engage in necessary conflict, take risks, flee safety, and learn to fight for something more enduring than another deposit in their 401(k).

Ben Sasse is rapidly approaching where he and we began, as he reaches the end of all his exploring, with full knowledge that God created the heavens and the earth. Knowing where we began helps us discover who we really are: little more than a mist in the face of eternity.

On the Supreme Court’s view, Colorado is engaged in a naked application of its power in a way that shrinks Chiles’ viewpoint and diminishes her speech rights in contravention of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Put differently, Colorado regulates Ms. Chiles' expression while declining to regulate the speech of counselors with which the state agrees.

The world is not what we think it is. It is far more interesting, mysterious, exciting, connected, and adventurous. The world cannot be reduced to ideology, nor should we accept the shrunken world-view fashioned by elites. Instead, Christians should seek to live in a world that has regained its sense of wonder and awaken their sense of God's presence. Such a world offers an antidote to the life many of us are living.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that a Mississippi street preacher’s lawsuit challenging restrictions on speech near a city amphitheater can proceed. The court held that his prior convictions do not bar claims seeking only prospective (future) relief. This case reflects the increasingly frequent collision between the secular West and churches and ministers.

Providing limited respite care service programs is essential for caregivers and elderly adults alike. Despite their unquestioned value to the community and to the state, highly valuable respite care service programs face several crippling challenges.

We live in a divided country. As Mary Eberstadt observes, there are two propositions on which divided Americans can agree:  (1) that we are more viciously divided than ever before and (2) that identity politics is among the most potent political forces of our time. She argues that the sexual revolution created identity politics.

Once again, religious observance and practice have been placed in doubt by state action. As a consequence, two plaintiffs have brought a lawsuit that could reshape American education. Led by the distinguished public interest law firm, First Liberty Institute, two plaintiffs, Riverstone Academy and Education ReEnvisioned BOCES (ERBOES), have challenged the Colorado State Board of Education and the Colorado Commissioner of Education.

As tariff revenues hit historic highs, the United States Supreme Court has brought the hammer down on Trump’s economic policy.

The growing demand for reconsideration of NAR churches, prophets, and apostles gained takeoff momentum with the well-known failings of IHOP in Kansas City, Missouri. The alleged misconduct by various apostles, leaders, and prophets throughout the NAR universe provokes two questions: (1) Can NAR churches survive? And (2) Should such churches survive?

In future cases, the pertinent questions are whether the decisions by the American Medical Association and the American Plastics Surgeons to reverse their medical advice for minors and whether the work of psychologist Brooke Laufer should (1) inform and affect decisions by school boards to offer support plans for minors and socially transition students without parental input, and (2) whether school board decisions can pass muster with citizens, courts, and children in the long run.

Both the First Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Bethel Church, Redding, California, face justifiable scrutiny. First Baptist Church faces a lawsuit involving claims of “willful and wanton negligence.” The suit involves multiple defendants. The case was prompted by the misbehavior of Keenan Hord, a former youth minister, who pleaded guilty to 13 counts of sexual assault.

Against this backdrop, Bethel Church now faces credible allegations that it platformed two individuals over a span of years—Shawn Bolz and Bob Hartley—who, according to witnesses, engaged in a pattern of prophetic manipulation and sexual abuse.

The contested debate regarding the reality and recognition of the biological differences between men and women has now reached the United States Supreme Court. After a firestorm of social media controversy, on January 13, 2026, the Court heard oral arguments in two cases: West Virginia v. B. P. J. and Little v. Hecox. These cases are framed by recently passed statutes in Idaho and West Virginia that reserve girls’ sports for females.

On January 18, 2026, Don Lemon, Nekina Levy Armstrong, and a group of raucous protestors interrupted services at the Cities Church in Minneapolis. Ms. Armstrong and two other protestors have already been arrested for their participation in the protest, while a Magistrate judge has rejected charges against Mr. Lemon. Still, the question remains whether Don Lemon, an alleged journalist, should face criminal charges as well.

Humankind’s pursuit of perfection on the road to paradise has always turned dark. Often this progressive pursuit has relied on questionable science that leads inevitably toward eugenics and planned breeding that culminates “in the lethal tenets of the Nazi regime.” This quest for perfection continues to reverberate throughout the West today.