- Social:
State and Local Legal Center
Executive Director of the State and Local Legal Center
PROFILE
Lisa Soronen
Guest
FROM Lisa Soronen
To the Point
Is America 'One Nation… under Jesus Christ?' In the small town of Greece, New York, citizens must participate in town meetings to interact with their elected officials. In 1999, Greece began offering prayers at each town meeting, led by the "chaplain of the month." All the chaplains were Christians who mostly invoked Jesus Christ specifically. In 2008, two women went to court, complaining that they were not just excluded, but coerced into religious observances contrary to their own beliefs. This week, the US Supreme Court ruled against them , giving its blessing to sectarian prayer at public meetings. Specifically Christian invocations are okay. What if you're Jewish, Muslim, atheist or agnostic? What's happened to "the separation of church and state?" What should local officials do now? We address an issue that's even older than the Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the founding of the United States.
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To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.