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Hunter Baker

Hunter Baker, J.D., Ph.D., is the senior fellow for civic renewal and religious liberty at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy at the First Liberty Institute. He is the author of four books on religion and politics and has contributed chapters to many others. Previously, he had a long career as a dean and provost of Christian colleges.

JD Vance

Two Trump VPs, Two Visions 

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What we need is not more polarization, but more earnest engagement.   
separation of church and state

Here’s Why Church and State Must Remain Separate: A Q&A with Hunter Baker  

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I continue to believe that our best path forward is to respect one another and to avoid the constant temptation to engage in emotional and political manipulation from the left and right.
Evangelicalism

Megan Basham’s Civil War

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My interest is not in striking a blow either for or against Basham and the like-minded folks who feel empowered and justified by her claims. Rather, I want to talk about why I think the book is important and how a more expansive framework might help us understand the strife and atmosphere of suspicion more accurately. 
Voting day

For the 2024 Election, We Must Relearn to Be Citizens

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As 2024 approaches, there will be tremendous temptations to go still further in taking the gloves off in an attempt to prevail by any means necessary. There will be power at stake, but also tremendous profit as the purveyors of opinion seek to build audiences and sell advertisements. But we are not helpless. We can be more fair to each other and thus create the conditions for a more fruitful discourse.
LGBT protest

What Happened to “Live and Let Live”?

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Liberalism cannot survive as a political philosophy capable of fostering human flourishing if it abandons its supposed virtues of protecting freedoms of religion, speech, and commerce. Yet, as we observe the march of the left on human sexuality, we see an incredible Javert-like intensity in hounding those who offend its sensibilities. We’ve forgotten that liberalism means winning incomplete victories and living with disagreement.
Christian praise concert with hand raised

Reading Jesus and John Wayne While Evangelical

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A world ruled by muscle is going to be a man’s world. We don't live in that world anymore. And we don’t know terribly well what men and women are without that context. Are they just interchangeable? If there are essential differences, what are they? What should they be?
Torn American Flag

When Pragmatic Politics Goes Bad: An Apology to the Never-Trumpers

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I have awakened on too many days with gratitude on my lips for the blessing of living in a peaceful, orderly, democratic, and free society to see such hard-won advances thrown away for political ambition. Those who realized our inheritance was at risk saw more clearly than I did.
Trump and Pence in front of Flag

How Trump Has Transformed the GOP—and Why Conservatives Should Vote for Him Anyway

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In the past, disparate groups on the American right were united by their opposition to communism. Today, fears of the threat of an ascendant China, the growing boldness of cancel culture, and the enervating philosophy of the “woke” proselytizers form the basis of new right-wing coalitions. If Trump succeeds, the big government of the American right will be one that embraces American ideals, American history, and American religion rather than tearing it down in pursuit of some post-religious techno-secular utopia.

Racism and the Pro-Life Movement

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It is wrong to see the goals of the pro-life movement as being in competition with the need to address continuing manifestations of racism. Those who fight for life and against racism fight for the same thing.