On January 20, RealClear Policy published an article, "Faith in the Public Square," by Professor Mark Rienzi. The article opened with the observation that National Religious Freedom Day coincided with 2023's MLK Day. Rienzi used this observation to look at King's work through the lens of religious freedom.

RealClear Policy
Date: January 20, 2023
By: Mark Rienzi
Faith in the Public Square

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Each January, we honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s observance of MLK Day happened to coincide with National Religious Freedom Day. That juxtaposition is an opportunity to better understand King’s work—and our own times.

National Religious Freedom Day commemorates the 1786 Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. Originally penned by Thomas Jefferson, the law rejected government coercion of religious dissenters, and it laid the groundwork for the First Amendment right of all Americans to exercise their faith freely.

Nearly two hundred years later, King would bring his faith into the public square to help the country confront deep injustice and suffering. At the Lincoln Memorial, he urged Americans “to make justice a reality for all of God's children.” From his Birmingham jail cell, he invoked the Gospel to challenge white Southern clergymen to support the movement for racial justice.
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Click here to view the article.