Dear Religion Clause Readers:
Happy New Year 2023! I hope that you continue to find Religion Clause a valuable source of information on the intersection of law, religion and public policy. In this past year, we have seen important First Amendment doctrinal developments. Free exercise concerns have loomed larger in the view of the Supreme Court and the Establishment Clause has become a weaker limit on governmental actions. Cases which on their surface were not religion cases have nevertheless sharpened cultural and political divisions along religious lines. And antisemitism has become a growing concern.
In reporting on these and other developments, 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.
Religion Clause is a niche blog whose readership includes lawyers, social scientists, advocacy organization personnel, law school faculty, journalists, clergy, legislative and executive branch staff, students and others working professionally dealing with church-state relations and religious liberty concerns in the U.S. and around the world. I attempt to avoid excessively technical matters in my posts in order to make the blog accessible as well to non-lawyers with a general interest in the area.
Thank you to all of you who are loyal readers of Religion Clause-- both those who have followed it for years and those who have only recently discovered it. I hope you will continue to follow Religion Clause in 2023. Please recommend the blog to colleagues, students and friends who may find it useful and interesting.
Best wishes as we all face the challenges that 2023 brings to us. I hope that we are able to deal with these challenges by respecting divergent viewpoints and coming together with solutions to at least some of the many problems that we face.
Feel free to contact me by e-mail (religionclause@gmail.com) in response to this post or throughout the year with comments or suggestions. Best wishes for 2023.
Howard Friedman
