Across industries, leaders are facing a new level of complexity.

AI is changing how decisions are made. Workplace tensions are harder to navigate. Employees are asking deeper questions about purpose, identity, and belonging.

At the center of all of this is one factor that can no longer be ignored: values. Not just corporate values, but deeply held personal values, including faith and belief.

That is why leaders from Fortune 500 companies are gathering in Washington, DC this May for the 7th Annual Dare to Overcome Faith@Work Conference.

From sensitive topic to business priority

For years, faith in the workplace was treated cautiously.

That is changing.

New research shows that organizations that engage employees’ spiritual values see stronger trust, better collaboration, and more resilient leadership. This is not theoretical. It is showing up in real business outcomes.

The conversation is shifting from whether this matters to how to lead it well.

What makes this conference different

This is not a typical leadership event.

It brings together executives, ERG leaders, and practitioners who are actively working through these challenges inside major companies.

Participants will:

• — Start in ERG roundtables including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and interfaith groups
• — Hear from senior leaders including a keynote from Equinix EMEA President Bruce Owen
• — Learn practical strategies for scaling ERGs and measuring impact
• — Tackle real challenges such as responding to external events and rebuilding trust
• — Explore the future of leadership, including AI ethics and cultural change

This is about execution, not just ideas.

A global movement is building

This conversation is not limited to the United States.

In the UK, recent Faith@Work summits hosted at EY brought together leaders to address similar challenges around ethics, belonging, and the future of work.

Companies recognized as faith-friendly workplaces span industries and are setting a new standard for leadership.

Dare to Overcome DC builds on that momentum and brings it to a broader audience.

Recognizing companies leading the way

A key moment at the conference will be the announcement of the 2026 Faith-Friendly Workplace REDI Awards.

These awards highlight organizations that are creating environments where belief is respected and supported.

More companies are realizing that this is not just about inclusion. It is about performance, trust, and long-term success.

Who is showing up

Leaders from companies such as Accenture, American Airlines, AZZ, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Consumers Energy, Dell, Equinix, Ford, Merck, and PwC are participating and supporting the event.

This is a cross-industry conversation that is already happening inside major organizations.

The real question

The question is not whether faith and values belong in the workplace.

The question is whether leaders are prepared to engage them well.

Those who are will be better positioned to build trust, lead through complexity, and create stronger cultures.

Join the conversation

The Dare to Overcome Faith@Work Conference takes place May 20 to 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.

If you are thinking about the future of leadership, culture, and belonging, this is a conversation worth being part of.

Register here

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: London, UK — 23 April 2026 — Faith@Work UK and Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

EY UK hosted the Faith@Work Annual Summit 2026 at its Canary Wharf headquarters on Monday, as the firm was recognised as the UK’s most faith-friendly workplace among the Big Four. The event convened senior leaders from business, government, academia, and faith communities to examine how faith inclusion is shaping modern workplaces—and how it can help guide the future of work in an era of artificial intelligence.

REDI Index Recognises Cross-Sector Leadership

A central feature of the summit was the 2026 UK Faith-Friendly Workplace ‘REDI’ Index Awards, recognising organisations that are setting the benchmark for faith inclusion across industries.

This year’s honourees reflect a clear trend: faith inclusion is no longer confined to a single sector but is being embedded across the UK economy. Award recipients included:

AWE — Top in UK Government Sector
Baringa — Top in UK Management Consulting
EY UK — Top among UK Big Four
John Lewis Partnership — Top in UK Retail
NATS — Top in UK Aviation Industry
Nationwide — Top in UK Financial Services
OVO Energy — Top in UK Energy Sector
Thames Water — Top in UK Utilities

Together, these organisations demonstrate how faith-friendly practices are contributing to employee wellbeing, retention, innovation, and organisational performance in a values-driven labour market.

Faith Inclusion and the Business Case

Opening the summit, Dr Brian Grim of Faith@Work UK and the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation set out a clear vision: shaping a world where faith dignifies work—and work dignifies the world.

“Across sectors, we’re seeing that when employees are free to bring their whole selves, including their beliefs, to work, organisations perform better,” said Grim. “These companies are not outliers—they are leading indicators of where the future of work is heading.”

The business case for faith inclusion was explored in an early panel featuring Fiona Jackson (Radius) and Professor Binna Kandola (Pearn Kandola), who highlighted how inclusive, values-driven cultures can strengthen employee engagement, unlock innovation, and drive long-term success.

Insights presented drew on research spanning more than 200 organisations and hundreds of employee resource group leaders, illustrating the growing role of faith and belief networks in areas such as wellbeing, recruitment, policy development, and cross-industry collaboration.

EY’s Embrace Network Showcases Practical Impact

As host and award recipient, EY played a prominent role in demonstrating how faith inclusion is being implemented in practice.

In a dedicated session, four senior partners from EY’s interfaith network, Embrace, shared how the firm has built a multi-faith employee community spanning Sikh, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish colleagues. They outlined both the practical steps behind the network’s development and the strategic rationale for investing in faith inclusion.

The discussion highlighted how initiatives like Embrace contribute not only to inclusion, but also to stronger organisational culture, collaboration, and measurable business outcomes.

AI, Ethics, and the Role of Faith

A defining feature of this year’s summit was its focus on artificial intelligence and its ethical implications.

In his keynote, Lord Lionel Tarassenko explored the evolution of generative AI and posed critical questions about its societal impact. He highlighted both the transformative potential of AI and the risks associated with its rapid deployment, including reliability, misuse, and the blurring of boundaries between human and machine capabilities.

Subsequent panels examined what faith traditions can contribute to discussions on AI, including moral foundations, human dignity, and responsibility in the face of rapid technological change.

A session on “building guardrails on AI” brought together experts from leading academic institutions to explore practical approaches to governance and accountability in emerging technologies.

“AI is forcing us to confront some of the oldest questions humanity has ever asked,” said Grim. “What is a person? What gives work meaning? What responsibilities do we have to one another? These are questions faith traditions have wrestled with for centuries—and they are highly relevant right now.”

From Inclusion to Impact

Beyond workplace inclusion and technology, the summit also addressed broader economic and societal questions.

A panel on “Dare to Overcome: Building an Impact Economy” explored how organisations can align commercial success with social good, reinforcing the idea that businesses play a central role in shaping both economies and communities.

The programme also highlighted practical examples of faith in action, including the Canary Wharf Multi-Faith Chaplaincy, which provides support across one of London’s busiest business districts.

Leadership in a Digital Age

The summit concluded with a keynote from AI strategist James Poulter on “leading with purpose in a digital age,” emphasising the importance of aligning technological advancement with human-centred leadership and ethical responsibility.

An executive reception followed, offering participants the opportunity to continue discussions and build partnerships across sectors.

A Movement Gaining Momentum

Across its programme and participants, the Faith@Work Summit 2026 underscored a growing shift in how organisations approach both inclusion and innovation.

The REDI Index honourees demonstrate that faith-friendly workplaces are emerging across industries, while the summit’s discussions point to an increasing recognition that ethical leadership—particularly in the context of AI—requires deeper engagement with questions of purpose, values, and human dignity.

As these conversations continue, the intersection of faith, business, and technology is set to play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of work.

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Media Contact: Mariyum Hussain

The 20th April 2026 Faith@Work Annual Summit hosted by EY at Canary Wharf was a high-level, one-day UK event celebrating excellence in workplace religious inclusion and exploring the intersection of AI, society, and faith.

Professor Lord (Lionel) Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci will lead the discussion about the how business leaders need to respond to the ethical issues caused by increasing use of AI in the workplace. Lord Tarassenko is a leading Oxford engineer and House of Lords peer whose pioneering work applying AI and signal processing to healthcare has produced FDA-approved clinical systems and major industry innovations. A founder of multiple spin-outs, he bridges academia, industry, and policy on technology, health, and workforce transformation.

You can download his presentation PPT here.

Professor Lord (Lionel) Tarassenko is a pioneering engineer and physician-scientist whose work has transformed healthcare through machine learning and signal processing. Founding President of Reuben College, Oxford, he led development of the first FDA-approved AI patient monitoring system. A CBE and member of the House of Lords, he bridges engineering, medicine, and policy.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: REDI Index 2026 Recognises Industry Leaders Advancing Faith Inclusion Across the UK

London, UK — 20th April 2026 — The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) in partnership with Faith at Work UK will recognise the 2026 UK Faith-Friendly Workplace ‘REDI’ Index honourees, recognising leading organisations across sectors that are setting the standard for faith-friendly workplaces.

This year’s awards highlight a powerful trend: faith inclusion is no longer confined to a single industry. Instead, leading employers across aviation, consulting, finance, retail, energy, utilities, and government are embedding faith-friendly practices into their workplace cultures—strengthening employee engagement, innovation, and organisational performance.

2026 UK REDI Index Honourees

• AWE — Top in UK Government Sector
• Baringa — Top in UK Management Consulting
• EY UK — Top among UK Big Four
• John Lewis Partnership — Top in UK Retail
• NATS — Top in UK Aviation Industry
• Nationwide — Top in UK Financial Services
• OVO Energy — Top in UK Energy Sector
• Thames Water — Top in UK Utilities

Key Takeaways

Faith-friendly workplaces span multiple sectors
The 2026 honourees demonstrate that faith inclusion is a cross-industry priority. From infrastructure and energy to professional services and retail, organisations are recognising that supporting employees’ religious identities contributes to a more inclusive and productive workplace.

A competitive advantage in today’s workforce
Companies that actively support faith inclusion are seeing tangible benefits, including improved employee wellbeing, stronger retention, and enhanced reputation. In an increasingly values-driven labour market, faith-friendly policies are emerging as a key differentiator in attracting top talent.

Alignment with core organisational values
Each of this year’s honourees exemplifies how faith inclusion aligns with broader corporate values such as respect, integrity, belonging, and purpose. By embedding these principles into workplace culture — through employee resource groups, inclusive policies, and leadership commitment — these organisations are translating values into action.

Awards Ceremony

The 2026 UK REDI Index Awards will be hosted by EY UK at its Canary Wharf office in London on Monday, 10 April 2026.

This event will bring together business leaders, diversity professionals, and faith advocates to celebrate progress and share best practices.

Free for All* is the home of Faith at Work UK. Free for All’s goal is to amplify the work of existing charities in the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) space and enable hundreds of new institutions from the worlds of politics, education, business, and civil society to join this movement. The annual Faith at Work UK Summit is a key opportunity for partnership, dialogue and action.

About the REDI Index

The REDI Index benchmarks organisations on their commitment to religious inclusion and faith-friendly workplace practices. It provides a framework for companies to evaluate and improve how they support employees of all faiths and beliefs.

For media enquiries, please contact: Mariyum Hussain

• mariyum.hussain@goodfaith.org.uk

* Free For All is a newly established charity and collective impact initiative building on the success of the UK FoRB Forum (UKFF) and Faith at Work coalition (FAW). The board and team comprise leading FoRB experts and practitioners. Our stakeholders combine senior leaders and institutions from over one hundred organisations across public policy, industry, faith and civil society.  These diverse actors are determined to make a collective impact, calling on organisations from every sector to understand and promote the importance of religious freedom around the world. At a challenging time, Free For All will become a critical player and a force multiplier for the global FoRB agenda.

Jim Shannon MP, Chair of the APPG FoRB, & Dr Brian Grim, President of RFBF, convened “Business & FoRB” at Palace of Westminster (Committee Room 20) on Tuesday, 21st April, 5 pm-6 pm. This special event recognising the positive impact of faith-friendly workplaces in the U.K.

This event spotlighted a range of faith-friendly workplaces. This year’s REDI awards highlight a powerful trend: faith inclusion is no longer confined to a single industry. Instead, leading employers across aviation, consulting, finance, retail, energy, utilities, and government are embedding faith-friendly practices into their workplace cultures—strengthening employee engagement, innovation, and organisational performance.

See PRESS RELEASE

Organisations present and recognised include:

• AWE — Top in UK Government Sector
• Baringa — Top in UK Management Consulting
• EY UK — Top among UK Big Four
• John Lewis Partnership — Top in UK Retail
• NATS — Top in UK Aviation Industry
• Nationwide — Top in UK Financial Services
• OVO Energy — Top in UK Energy Sector
• Thames Water — Top in UK Utilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Faith at Work Annual Summit 2026 to Convene UK Leaders on Faith, AI, and the Future of Work

London, UK — April 2026 — The Faith at Work Annual Summit returns in 2026 as a premier, high-level gathering of business leaders, policymakers, academics, and faith representatives to explore how faith inclusion is shaping the modern workplace—and to advance a bold vision: that faith belongs at work and has something vital to say about the future of work in an age of artificial intelligence.

Hosted in London, this one-day summit will celebrate excellence in workplace religious inclusion while advancing a forward-looking conversation on the ethical and societal implications of AI.

Faith@Work champions a simple but transformative idea: faith belongs at work. When people are free to bring their beliefs into their working lives, organisations become more human, more innovative, and more effective.

Celebrating Faith-Friendly Workplace Leadership

The morning session will spotlight the UK REDI (Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) Index Awards, recognising organisations leading the way as the most faith-friendly workplaces across sectors. These awards highlight best practices that foster inclusive cultures where employees of all faiths and beliefs can thrive.

Short acceptance remarks from award recipients—including participating organisations such as EY UK—will underscore the growing business case for faith inclusion.

These organisations are not isolated examples—they are part of a growing movement across sectors demonstrating that faith-informed workplaces are both possible and beneficial. Faith@Work exists to spotlight what’s working and accelerate this momentum.

A Timely Conversation: Faith, AI, and Society

This year’s summit places a special focus on the intersection of faith, artificial intelligence, and the future of work. As AI reshapes how we work, lead, and make decisions, deeper questions are emerging about dignity, purpose, responsibility, and what it means to be human at work.

The summit will explore how faith traditions—long engaged with questions of purpose, dignity, and responsibility—can help shape the future of work in an age of AI.

Opening the summit, Brian Grim (Faith@Work UK & Religious Freedom & Business Foundation) will set the vision:

“Shaping a world where faith dignifies work—and work dignifies the world. Faith makes workplaces better: it frees people to be their best selves, builds cultures of kindness, and shapes strong industries and economies that work for the common good.”

Programme Highlights

• Panel: Why Faith Inclusion is Good for Business
  Featuring Fiona Jackson (Radius) and Binna Kandola (Pearn Kandola), this session explores how values-driven workplaces enhance innovation, employee loyalty, and performance.
• REDI Index Awards Ceremony
  Recognising the UK’s leading faith-friendly employers across industries.
• Keynote: “Generative AI: A Force for Good?”
  Delivered by Lord Tarassenko, examining how AI can be aligned with human values and ethical frameworks.
• Panel: What Does Faith Have to Offer?
  A multi-faith discussion with leaders from EY, the London School of Jewish Studies, the Anglican Communion Science Commission, and others on moral foundations, human dignity, and AI ethics.
• EY Faith & Belief Network Panel (Embrace)
  Insights into how one of the UK’s largest professional services firms supports faith inclusion through employee networks.
• Panel: Building Guardrails on AI
  Featuring experts from LSE, Oxford, and global initiatives on responsible technology governance.
• Closing Keynote: “Leading with Purpose in a Digital Age”
  Delivered by James Poulter, offering a vision for leadership that balances innovation with meaning and purpose.

Unique Collaboration and Community

The summit will also feature an introduction to the Canary Wharf Multi-Faith Chaplaincy, showcasing practical models of interfaith collaboration in the workplace.

The day concludes with an Executive Reception, offering senior leaders the opportunity to connect, reflect, and build partnerships that advance faith inclusion and ethical innovation.

Across sectors and industries, change is already happening. This summit offers a unique opportunity to connect with leaders at the forefront of this movement—and to be part of shaping what comes next.

Event Details

Date: Monday, 20 April 2026
Location: Canary Wharf, London (hosted by EY UK)
Time: 09:00 – 18:00

Tickets required

About Faith at Work UK and Free for All*

Free for All* is the home of Faith at Work UK, with a mission to amplify the work of existing charities in the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) space and to enable hundreds of new institutions—from politics, education, business, and civil society—to join this growing movement. The Faith at Work Annual Summit serves as a key platform for partnership, dialogue, and action, bringing together diverse stakeholders committed to advancing faith inclusion and building workplaces that respect and reflect human dignity.

Our goal is normalisation: a future where faith-friendly workplaces are so common that this work is no longer needed.

* Free For All is a newly established charity and collective impact initiative building on the success of the UK FoRB Forum (UKFF) and the Faith at Work coalition (FAW). Its board and team include leading FoRB experts and practitioners, bringing together senior leaders and institutions from over 100 organisations across public policy, business, faith, and civil society.

United by a shared commitment to advancing freedom of religion or belief, these stakeholders are working collectively to drive impact—encouraging organisations in every sector to recognise and promote the importance of religious freedom globally. At a time of increasing challenge, Free For All aims to be a critical player and force multiplier for the global FoRB agenda.

For media enquiries, please contact: Mariyum Hussain

• mariyum.hussain@goodfaith.org.uk

Q: When is it appropriate for leaders in public organizations to talk about religion at work?

A: Brian Grim (Religious Freedom & Business Foundation) provide this information to the Washington Post for their story (story summary here).

In general, it is appropriate for organizational leaders to acknowledge religious holidays. Doing so can recognize the deeply held beliefs of employees and stakeholders and help foster a sense of inclusion, belonging and respect. A best practice is to acknowledge significant holidays across the range of religions represented within a workforce or constituency.

With these principles in mind, it can also be appropriate for a leader to acknowledge their own observance, for example noting that Christians, including themselves, are celebrating Easter, so long as the message remains clear that this is a personal or community-specific observance rather than one shared by all. Similarly, leaders may share general information about what members of a faith believe in connection with a holiday, just as they might for other religious traditions, provided it is presented in an informational and inclusive way rather than as a statement of shared or expected belief. With these principles in mind, it can also be appropriate for a leader to participate in their own faith-specific observances, such as receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday.

It is also important to recognize that even within a single religious tradition, practices and expressions can vary significantly. For example, different Christian communities observe holidays in different ways. Some Catholic parishes wait until Christmas Day to begin singing Christmas hymns or to light a Christmas tree, while many Protestant traditions begin these practices earlier in the season. Orthodox Christians usually celebrate Easter (Pascha) on a different date altogether. Leaders should be mindful not to assume a single, uniform set of beliefs or practices even within a particular faith.

Where challenges arise is in how those messages are framed and the context in which they are delivered. It is one thing to note that, for example, Christians are celebrating Easter and to offer respectful greetings and congratulations. It is another to present a message in a way that assumes shared belief, promotes a particular faith as universal, or calls on all employees, regardless of their own beliefs, to participate in or affirm that religious perspective.

Importantly, the issue is not necessarily that a leader offers devotional content. Context matters. A devotional may be entirely appropriate in a voluntary, faith-specific setting, such as a meeting of an Employee Resource Group (ERG) organized around a shared religious identity. That is very different from delivering devotional content to an entire workforce in an official communication, where participation is not voluntary and the audience includes individuals of many different beliefs.

This distinction is especially important in a governmental context. Under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, the government must neither prohibit the free exercise of religion nor appear to establish or endorse a particular religion. Messaging from agency leadership that is highly devotional and directed to a broad, captive audience risks crossing from permissible acknowledgment into perceived endorsement.

More generally, when messages of this kind come from agency leadership and are directed broadly, they may signal endorsement of a specific religion and may inadvertently exclude or alienate employees who hold different beliefs or none at all.

So the key distinction is between inclusive recognition and perceived endorsement, as well as between appropriate and inappropriate contexts.

Faith in Britain is shifting. Christianity is experiencing the greatest outflow, alongside significant movement between denominations. Islam, while seeing modest growth, appears notably stable, with little to no outflow. Meanwhile, Buddhism, pagan traditions, and broader spiritual practices are attracting the largest influx of new adherents.

But why?

Charlotte Littlewood, Head of Research at IIFL, in a virtual briefing for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation explored the findings of this comprehensive study into changing patterns of faith in Britain. See the full study here.

Dr Charlotte Littlewood is Director of Research & Media at the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL), leading programmes on faith in Britain. A specialist in extremism and antisemitism, she brings experience across policy, academia, and fieldwork. Her research examines how harmful narratives spread between communities and institutions, and how effective responses can strengthen cohesion and counter discrimination.

By Brian Grim

On Easter Sunday, President Trump posted the following on his Truth Social platform. I reproduce this because many may not have seen this, or only excerpts from it. [Warning: quote below contains shocking and vulgar language]:

Shortly before he made this post — as I share in this newsletter — various Christian clergy likened Trump to Jesus at a White House Easter celebration, attended also by Catholic Bishop Robert Barron.

Since 2008, my wife and I been a members of the Catholic Community at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, where Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of the Military Services USA, is a frequent celebrant.

With religious rhetoric being weaponized, I was heartened by my bishop’s comments aired on Easter Sunday (recorded on April 2, 2026), which I highlight in this week’s newsletter (also available on LinkedIn).

Preemption and the Moral Limits of Just War

In a CBS Face the Nation interview, Archbishop Timothy Broglio offered a rare public challenge to the moral logic of the current war with Iran. Under Catholic teaching, he suggested, the conflict likely fails the standard of a just war.

“I would think under the just war theory, it is not,” he said. While Iran “was a threat with nuclear arms,” the United States, he argued, is “compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized.”

That distinction is central. Just war reasoning requires necessity and last resort. A preemptive logic shifts those criteria. It moves from responding to harm toward anticipating it.

Broglio did not dismiss the difficulty facing policymakers. Leaders, he said, “may have information that led them to think that that was the only choice they had.” But he returned to first principles. “War is always a last resort.” The message of Jesus is one of peace.

He also aligned himself with Pope Leo XIV’s call for negotiation. “I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation,” he said. He acknowledged the practical difficulty of identifying a negotiating partner.

At the same time, he pointed to the human cost. “Lives are being lost, both there and also among our troops. So it is a concern.”

His comments were not only theoretical. They were pastoral. Service members, he noted, are generally required to obey lawful orders, even amid moral ambiguity. Within that constraint, his guidance is practical. “Do as little harm as you can, and… preserve innocent lives.”

But Broglio’s concern does not end with the ethics of war itself.

Asked about leaders invoking Jesus in support of the conflict, he struck a more pointed note. Such framing, he said, is “a little bit problematic.” It is “hard to… cast this war… as something that would be sponsored by the Lord.”

Taken together, his argument does not resolve the strategic debate. But it clarifies the moral stakes. If preemptive force becomes easier to justify, the framework meant to restrain war begins to shift with it.

Religion as Rhetoric

Broglio’s caution comes at a moment when the role of religion in public life is under strain.

Recent reporting points to a broader pattern. Religious language is increasingly used less as a source of moral constraint and more as political symbolism. Rather than disciplining power, it can reinforce it.

That shift is visible in rhetoric surrounding the Iran conflict. Christian language has been invoked to frame military action in moral or even providential terms. In that context, Broglio’s warning reads as a corrective.

The concern extends beyond war.

At a recent White House Easter gathering, televangelist Paula White addressed President Trump in language that drew immediate criticism. Drawing on the narrative of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection, she told the president, “No one has paid the price like you have paid the price… You were betrayed and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us.”

She then linked Trump’s political success directly to Christ’s victory. “Because he rose… you rose up. Because he was victorious, you were victorious.”

Inside the room, the tone was celebratory. Outside it, the reaction was swift. Religious leaders warned that such comparisons risk trivializing core Christian claims. Political observers pointed to the fusion of religious symbolism with personal and political loyalty.

Critics see in this a deeper inversion. Religion no longer serves as a standard against which power is judged. It becomes a language through which power is affirmed.

The pattern is not isolated. Across the political landscape, religious imagery, prayer, and theological language are increasingly used in ways that prioritize mobilization over moral clarity. The effect is cumulative. Religion risks becoming symbol rather than substance. It is invoked to sanctify decisions rather than to question them.

This is the backdrop to Broglio’s intervention. His appeal to just war principles is not only about when force is justified. It is also about what role religious reasoning should play in public life.

If religious language becomes a way to authorize political action, especially violence, rather than to limit it, something fundamental shifts. The tradition is not simply applied differently. It is repurposed.

And that raises a more basic question. When faith enters the public square, does it still function as a check on power, or has it become one of its instruments?

Why it matters

Broglio’s intervention highlights a deeper tension at the intersection of faith and public life.

The question is not whether religion belongs in political discourse. It already does. The question is what it does there.

Does it serve as a source of moral accountability? Or does it become a form of moral cover?

In that sense, the debate over preemption is also a debate over meaning. Not only what counts as a just war, but what counts as a serious use of religion in the first place.