Constitution Day Lecture with Dr. Gerard Bradley, Notre Dame Law School

Dr. Gerard V. Bradley of Notre Dame Law School, one of the country's leading experts on religious liberty, will give the 2020 Houghton College Constitution Day Lecture, entitled "The Religion Clauses' Voldemort: Saying that Government Should Aid Religion Because Religion is Good."

Description: If there is one word to describe the jurisprudence of the Religion Clauses, it is neutrality. At least that has been the stated goal of the Supreme Court for over two generations — “neutrality” not only among religions, but also between religion and what the Court calls “non-religion”, and between believers and non-believers. The constitutional interpretation which dare not be spoken would reject the last two kinds of “neutrality.” This Voldemort of the First Amendment holds that public authority may aid religion and favor it because religion is good for persons and good for society. This was the Founders’ view. It could be ours again.