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Welcome to the website for Institute on Religion & Democracy. The IRD is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches' social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, and to contribute to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad. Thank you for visiting!

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IRD's quarterly publication Faith & Freedom, our UMAction Briefing, and other publications are available online to registered users.  Click here to learn more.

IRD MEDIA CENTER

The Institute on Religion & Democracy has a team of experienced experts in their fields of study.  We provide published authors who have been following the mainline denominations for almost thirty years.

Featured IRD Expert

Dr. Paul Marshall
Ambassador to Islam? The United States shouldn’t legitimize the OIC.
Dr. Paul Marshall, IRD  Board Member, serves as a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom.

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Current Hot Issues Header

12
MAR

Lenten Discipline: Bash Israel
“Groups like Churches for Middle East Peace seem determined to put Israel as well as fish into the frying pan this Lent,” says IRD President Mark Tooley.

11
MAR

Please Don’t Forget Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangcheng is a courageous legal advocate famous for exposing the brutal practices of forced abortion and sterilization of Chinese women.

11
MAR

Faith in Open Borders
Joining with groups like ACORN, a wide coalition of religious left groups will march on Washington, D.C. on March 21 on behalf of eventual amnesty and largely open borders under the rubric of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). The National Council of Churches (NCC) is even hailing CIR as a “divine mandate” and a “patriotic act.”

09
MAR

Individualism and the Death of Liberty
No one will be surprised by the assertion that American culture—including most of the American Church—is characterized by individualism. Self-actualization, deciding for oneself, and believing what seems true to you, is seen not only as a right, but as a duty.

 

 


Outrageous Quotes Header

"You not only have a constitutional right for abortion, but you have a God-given right"

- Rev. Carlton Veazy of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), Speaking at a pro-abortion event on Capitol Hill that opposed restrictions on government-funded abortions in the House of Representatives-passed health care legislation.