Litigation Update: Legal Developments Surrounding Tithing and Religious Donations

The 2025 Wheatley Institute Seminar on Religion and Politics provided an excellent opportunity for political science and sociology graduate students from around the country to explore the role of religion in society. The seminar explored the history and current landscape of religious identity, influence, pluralism, and its impact on American politics and culture. Students also explored quantitative and qualitative methods and experiential wisdom in studying religion and politics from leading faculty in the field. Learning areas included how to explore data sources for research on religion, how to classify religious groups for more accurate measurements in surveys, how to measure religious behavior and belief, and how to study specific religious traditions.

Wheatley Institute partnered with the BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies to host the 2025 Religious Freedom Annual Review. This year's theme was Religion, Peace, and Human Flourishing: Understanding the Whys of Religious Freedom. The Annual Review brought a broad array of perspectives to this issue, with religious, media, academic, legal, and thought leaders. These exerts addressed several questions. What role does religion play in building peace and fostering human flourishing? How does religious freedom’s respect for both individual choice as well as the human dignity of all increasingly matter in a fractious world? Experts on religious freedom and peacemaking explored the interconnections.

A Washington Times uses Wheatley Institute research as a source in an article that discusses how liberals have become more dissatisfied than those who lean conservative. They cite Wheatley's research on how a person's happiness is directly related to family and religion.

In the final session of the 2023 Religious Freedom Annual Review, a conference co-sponsored by Wheatley Institute and BYU Law's International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke on the need for people to be good stewards of religion. His remarks encapsulated the general theme of the event, focusing on the need for all to be courageous in their religiosity. Deseret News and Church News both covered this session.

The "Inside Sources" podcast had three guest speakers: Jonathan Rauch, Anne Snyder, and Russell Moore; that discussed various topics regarding religion, politics, and society. Each person's commentary helped set the stage for their participation in the June 15, 2023 Religious Freedom Annual Review, hosted by Wheatley Institute and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.