The First Amendment Center has conducted an annual national survey since 1997 of American attitudes toward the First Amendment. The “State of the First Amendment: 2014” is the seventeenth survey in this series. This year’s annual survey repeats some of the questions that have been administered since 1997 and includes some new questions as well.

At major Harvard-affiliated Boston hospital: Physician expelled from staff for telling the truth about homosexual behavior and criticizing hospital’s involvement in “Gay Pride” events. Hospital says physician’s statements on homosexual behavior constitute “discrimination,” ”harassment,” and “unprofessional conduct.” On March 30, a major Harvard-affiliated hospital in Boston, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), expelled a well-respected urologist from its medical staff...

IT’S MORE THAN MARRIAGE: What’s really at risk if the Supreme Court redefines a millennia-old institution? By the end of June, the United States Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, a case challenging the constitutionality of state laws that define marriage as between one man and one woman. Depending on the Court’s ruling, the...

Those with only a loose religious affiliation are finally admitting they don’t really have one at all. You’ve heard it suggested that the United States is simply Europe on a 50-year delay. Most churches will be museums before your grandchildren reach adulthood. Though new numbers from Pew Research released this month point to a decline in American Protestants, no serious...

A common theme of many science fiction tales is mass delusion. From The Matrix to The Truman Show, we find fictional characters who think they are making decisions on their own volition based on an accurate perception of their situation. In each of these cases, the people are actually experiencing a false reality manipulated by outside forces using them for...

Thank you to our listener, Leslie Inez Davis who called in and shared this poem with us.    

On April 28, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Obergefell vs. Hodges, the historic marriage case in which the institution’s very definition will be decided for the nation. In June, the Court will issue its decision, the repercussions of which will affect laws and practices in every state. The stakes are so high, it causes me to...

This column by Frank Bruni in The New York Times is lighting up a lot of us this morning, judging by my e-mail. It captures the spirit animating the LGBT movement and its allies. That the most powerful newspaper in America would feel comfortable publishing this is a signal. This is not a war we have chosen, but make no...

The federal Restoration of Freedom Act was an unfortunate response to a Supreme Court decision. By Andrew C. McCarthy — National Review — April 4, 2015 (Read Full Article) Back when there was more wisdom in the practice of law, meaning back when the profession had more humility, there developed a sage doctrine: Courts should resist ordering “specific performance” when...

 George Washington would roll over in his grave — bumping into his fellow Founding Fathers — if he knew the scope of America’s public debt. Among the values shared by America’s first leaders was an absolute fear of debt, given the pain and misery that followed it. As America celebrates another birthday, their convictions should be studied again. John Adams,...