Speculation has swirled over whom President Trump may pardon before leaving office. But why do presidents have the right to pardon, and how should it be used?
Brian Grodsky, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Tens of thousands of people have defied bans on gatherings to protest abortion restrictions. A scholar of democracy says the policy push during a pandemic has echoes elsewhere.
School reforms pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron are aimed at pushing Muslim students into public schools. An expert explains why this may be the wrong approach.
The US Catholic Church is more diverse and more divided than it was in JFK’s time. Biden could offer an opportunity for the church to move beyond so-called “culture war” issues.
From the civil rights era to the 2020 election, Black Churches have been at the forefront of encouraging voter registration – and fighting voter suppression.
Despite Trump’s moral failings, his support among white religious voters has only slipped marginally. One reason is his anti-immigration stance, which is becoming more important to evangelical voters.
Polls show that a majority of evangelicals back Trump. But that hides a growing divide between enthusiasts of the president and those who question his fitness for office, argues a moral theologian.
Macron wants to ‘build an Islam in France that can be compatible with the Enlightenment.’ But that goal assumes France is compatible with Islam, says a Muslim scholar of religion and politics.
Luc Bovens, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
At the height of Reaganism, close to half of Americans believed a phrase popularized by Karl Marx actually derived from the US Constitution. It doesn’t, but scholars have traced it to the Bible.
Recent protests on racial justice have also questioned the portrayal of Jesus as a white man. An art historian explains how this image appeared and came to be marketed worldwide.
In appearing with Bible in hand at the time of crisis, Trump is signaling his position as defender of traditional values, while ‘othering’ detractors. Russia’s Putin and India’s Modi have done similar things.
Understanding how unrest informed both early Christianity and the foundational stories of the United States can serve as a guide in this current period of turmoil.