Public SquareHuman beings have an inborn thirst for the transcendent. We may not know who, or even if, God is, but we have a natural desire to find out. We are also social animals, eager to form families, gather in clans, display our arts, commemorate the great events of life, and discuss what laws and leaders should govern our communities. What we find in our search for truth unavoidably (and appropriately) informs those social activities. In short, because the religious impulse -- the search for truth -- and the social impulse are natural to human beings, religious expression is natural to human culture. But courts and bureaucrats often rule that religion belongs entirely in private and so should be purged from public life. The Becket Fund fights to assure free religious expression in public spaces and public debate. We defend religious ministers who face government sanctions for what they preach from the pulpit, as in Rigdon v. Perry. We sue the government when it singles out religious viewpoints for exclusion from a public forum, as in Tong v. Chicago Park District. But we defend the government when it’s sued for sponsoring a religiously diverse holiday display, as in ACLU-NJ v. Schundler. And every December, we award the Ebenezer Award -- our lowest honor -- to those responsible for the most ridiculous affront to the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays.
Visit The Becket Fund's website Free Preach, devoted to protecting the right of religious institutions to participate fully in public and political life without fear of jeopardizing their tax status. Litigation
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