Dear Religion Clause Readers:
Happy New Year 2026!
Thank you for your loyal readership. I hope that you continue to find Religion Clause a valuable source of information on the intersection of law, religion and public policy. If you do, please recommend it to your friends and colleagues.
In 2025, issues of religion often took center stage as the President created a federal Religious Liberty Commission, as the IRS concluded that clergy could endorse political candidates in their sermons, and as the President focused on oppression of Christians in countries such as South Africa and Nigeria. The federal government leveraged concerns about antisemitism on college campuses to disrupt research and battle admission procedures at leading universities in the country. The proper response to gender dysphoria in minors was often framed in religious rather than medical terms as Biblical passages were cited to reject the reality of gender transition.
In 2025, free exercise concerns continued to overwhelm anti-establishment objections as the Supreme Court endorsed parents' right to opt their children out of religiously objectionable public-school instruction. Meanwhile states continue to test the limits on religion in publicly funded schools.
Some commentators have suggested that developments at the federal level in 2025 can best be described as promotion of "Christian nationalism.". I continue to wonder whether that term should be seen as pejorative or merely descriptive of those who believe that the United States is or should be a "Christian nation."
Religion Clause has always been a niche blog which has particularly attracted lawyers, social scientists, advocacy organization personnel, law school faculty, journalists, clergy, legislative and executive branch staff, students and others working professionally or avocationally interested in church-state relations and religious liberty issues. I invite your feedback on whether it continues to serve this purpose.
The Religion Clause website is the most effective way of accessing posts, ad-free. However, Religion Clause posts are also available through e-mail subscriptions, through X (formerly known as Twitter) and through Facebook, though the format, accompanying advertising, and availability of posts through these channels are handled by third parties over whom I have little or no control.
As always, I have attempted to retain Religion Clause's objectivity and its policy of linking to extensive primary source material. I hope that the blog continues to have a reputation for reliability at a time when the objectivity of social media is increasingly called into question.
I want to extend a special thanks to those of you who have sent me leads to developments of interest. I have tried to acknowledge them in the posts that they generate. To all my readers, feel free to contact me by e-mail (religionclause@gmail.com) in response to this post or throughout the year with comments or suggestions. All of your emails are read, even though I apologize that I am often unable to respond to all of them.
It seems likely that religion will continue to animate much of the political, social and cultural conversation in 2026. Religion Clause will try to keep you up to date on all of it.
Best wishes for a year of civil and respectful discussion,
Howard Friedman
