S6, Ep. 04: Election Day 2024: What happened and where do we go from here
Release Date: 11/21/2024
S6, Ep. 04: Election Day 2024: What happened and where do we go from here
Respecting Religion
Now that Election Day 2024 is in the rearview mirror, what did we learn? Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman look at the results and what they might mean for our country and the protection of faith freedom for all. They discuss where we saw religion used on the campaign trail, what we might expect to see in the next four years under a second Trump administration, and ways all of us can make a significant difference in local communities. SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:37): Did Americans vote for authoritarianism when they voted for Trump? Holly mentioned being in Georgia after the...
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S6, Ep. 03: On the road with ‘How to End Christian Nationalism’
Respecting Religion
Today’s episode takes you on the road with Amanda Tyler as she travels the country with her book, titled “How to End Christian Nationalism.” You’ll hear a conversation with Amanda and the Rev. Dr. Bill Leonard about the problems of Christian nationalism, held October 29 at Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “How to End Christian Nationalism” is a vital companion for countering the dangerous ideology, and you can order a copy wherever you get your books. Our next podcast episode will be released November 21, and it will include Amanda’s and Holly’s...
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S6, Ep. 02: Oklahoma and Texas try to force Bible teaching in public schools
Respecting Religion
We continue to see bold attempts by people who espouse Christian nationalism to influence our youngest population, and news this summer out of Oklahoma and Texas show two troubling examples. In this episode, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman talk about the edict from Ryan Walters in Oklahoma to mandate having the Bible in public schools – alongside our nation’s founding documents – and the new proposed curriculum in Texas that strangely uses religious beliefs as fact in lessons for students as young as kindergarten. Segment 1 (starting at 00:37): How does Christian nationalism...
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S6, Ep. 01: The Supreme Court is back … and so are we
Respecting Religion
To kick off season 6 of Respecting Religion, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman take stock of the Supreme Court. There is no religion case on the docket – yet – for this term, but there are several cases that do impact religion. They review the most important things we saw out of last year’s term – from the “Trump docket” to the abortion cases – and they talk about how the Rahimi decision about a gun regulation illustrates the trouble with the Court’s new “history and tradition” test. Plus, this is the last episode before the release of Amanda’s book How to End...
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S5, Ep. 30: Season finale
Respecting Religion
As the weather heats up, so does the pace of Supreme Court decisions. On our season 5 finale of Respecting Religion, Amanda and Holly recap some recent decisions and discuss what we can expect in the next month. Religion is still at play in several cases, even if religious legal statutes aren’t the questions being considered. Plus, they look at some recent statements from Supreme Court justices during extracurricular activities and share what those reveal about the justices themselves and the work at the Court, including a rare – and surprising – statement one justice gave directly to...
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S5, Ep. 29: LGBTQ rights and religious freedom
Respecting Religion
LGBTQ rights and religious freedom are often pitted against one another, but they are not mutually exclusive. This episode of Respecting Religion looks at the recent decision by the United Methodist Church to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings as well as the broader conversation. Holly Hollman is joined by guest co-host Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, BJC Communications Director. He shares some of his personal story, then he and Holly reflect on work bridging differences between LGBTQ rights advocacy and religious groups that oppose LGBTQ protections. They highlight the Respect...
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S5, Ep. 28: Conscience protections in SCOTUS abortion cases
Respecting Religion
How do religion and religious freedom arguments interact with cases about abortion access? The legal landscape here is beyond complex, and in this episode, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman look at how conscience protections were discussed in two recent Supreme Court cases about abortion. There is a deepening religion and policy conversation in our country, and they discuss how that conversation is reflected in these oral arguments – from Church Amendments to the doctrine of preemption. SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:38): U.S. Food and Drug Administration v....
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S5, Ep. 27: 100 episodes and 100,000 downloads
Respecting Religion
For the 100th episode of Respecting Religion, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman answer listener questions, ranging from the law surrounding the tax-exempt status of religious institutions to their favorite Supreme Court justices. They also look at some of the big Supreme Court decisions and the shifts on the Court since this podcast began four years ago, sharing some of their favorite and most impactful episodes. SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:38): How did we get to 100 episodes? The podcast series on the dangers of Christian nationalism ran in 2019, and it’s available on...
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S5, Ep. 26: Archaic laws and new theories emerge from state abortion debates
Respecting Religion
The intersection of abortion and religion often grabs headlines, and this episode of Respecting Religion looks at recent developments in two states: Arizona and Indiana. Amanda and Holly discuss an Indiana case that involves free exercise arguments under state law to support abortion, and they examine the impact of Arizona’s 1864 law that criminalizes abortion. Both situations are resulting from the tremendous change in the law after the Dobbs decision in 2022, leading to some unexpected situations. SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:38): The Arizona situation Our...
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S5, Ep. 25: The crisis in teaching constitutional law
Respecting Religion
Some troubling trends at the Supreme Court are starting to affect the legal profession and how students in law school approach the U.S. Constitution. As SCOTUS continues to upend decades of established precedent in church-state law, Amanda and Holly discuss what’s changed since they were in law school and the rapid changes in church-state law itself. They look at the views of legitimacy of the Court, and Holly shares specifically what she sees in her work teaching church-state law at Georgetown University Law Center. SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 01:15): Respect for the...
info_outlineNow that Election Day 2024 is in the rearview mirror, what did we learn? Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman look at the results and what they might mean for our country and the protection of faith freedom for all. They discuss where we saw religion used on the campaign trail, what we might expect to see in the next four years under a second Trump administration, and ways all of us can make a significant difference in local communities.
SHOW NOTES
Segment 1 (starting at 00:37): Did Americans vote for authoritarianism when they voted for Trump?
Holly mentioned being in Georgia after the elections for BJC’s Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State. You can learn more about the presentations from Dr. John Compton during that event, focused on the politics of secularization, on our website at BJConline.org/ShurdenLectures.
Amanda mentioned her current book tour for How to End Christian Nationalism. Her last stop in 2024 will be in Richmond, Va., this weekend, but she will be back on the road in 2025. Visit EndChristianNationalism.com for details and ways to order the book.
Segment 2 (starting at 13:42): Where did we see religion and Christian nationalism in the closing days of the campaign and its aftermath?
Click this link to watch remarks from President-elect Donald Trump on election night, and click this link to watch Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech on election night, both via C-SPAN.
For more on the January 6 attack on the Capitol, read the report itiled “Christian Nationalism and the January 6, 2021, Insurrection,” created by BJC and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Amanda sent an email to the BJC community after the election. You can read it on Baptist News Global: This is the time for our movement to meet the moment
If you want to receive emails from BJC, you can sign up on our website: BJConline.org/subscribe
Amanda mentioned being in Austin, Texas, on Monday to testify against the troubling Bible-infused curriculum proposed for Texas public schools. For the latest, read this article by Troy Closson for The New York Times: Texas Education Board Backs Curriculum With Lessons Drawn From Bible. Amanada and Holly discussed the issues with this curriculum in episode 2 of season 6: Oklahoma and Texas try to force Bible teaching in public schools.
We want to hear from you! If you want to connect us with an organization doing good work in your community, contact Joy Pettigrew, BJC’s community partnership manager, at [email protected]. An organization does not need to be devoted to countering Christian nationalism, even if that might be the outcome of the work they are doing.
If you are in North Texas and want to get involved in the North Texas Organizing Project, contact Lisa Jacob at [email protected].
Segment 3 (starting 32:51): Good news about school voucher initiatives
Don Byrd wrote an article for BJC’s website about the rejection of school vouchers in Kentucky, Nebraska, and Colorado: Voters soundly reject school voucher initiatives in multiple states
For more discussion on the problems with school vouchers, listen to episode 8 and episode 9 of season 5.
Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC’s generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.