Law, Leverage, and the New Culture Wars: Redefining Religious Freedom

In this episode of Religion Unmuted, host Elaine Howard Ecklund sits down with sociologist Orit Avishai to discuss her latest research on political polarization and the evolution of church-state controversies. Avishai explains how the historical legal framework established to protect religious minorities has shifted into a more aggressive, power-leveraging narrative surrounding Christian nationalism and state legislation. Through the lens of ethnography and legal analysis, the conversation explores the human stakes of these shifting doctrines and examines that growing obstacles to true religious pluralism in America.