Religion Dispatches
In 2010 the district court correctly decided that the National Day of Prayer violated the First Amendment: “Its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function.” On appeal, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not disagree—it couldn’t—but it tossed the case.
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While activists cite the policy change and the opportunity for more discussion and visibility on campus, it isn’t clear how faculty would feel safe openly exploring queer theology while contractually required to oppose same-sex relationships on theological grounds.
Read MoreIn the rare instances when courts roll back Christian privilege, the cries of persecution are swift. But parity is not oppression. And the erosion of unwarranted privilege is not persecution; it is the steady march toward equality.
Read MoreThough an estimated 70% of the overall population supports nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people, and a new survey shows that a majority of every religious group agrees, there remains at least one significant hurdle.
Read MoreAccording to a Muslim sergeant and an eyewitness, she was forced by a superior officer to remove her hijab in violation of her religious rights. The army’s version of events is inconsistent.
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Far from sending a troubling message, as Justice Alito contends, removing unconstitutional crosses maintained by the government on government land would send a clear and simple message: In the United States, the Constitution rules.
Read MoreIt seems like American Christians might be alarmed to learn that the nation they hold in regard is confiscating Bibles, criminalizing evangelization, and torturing believers.
Read MoreEvery court to decide on such a cross has said that it must come down or be moved to private property, but the conservative Supreme Court majority may rule in its favor. Have we simply forgotten how well separation of church and state has worked?
Read MoreThe army inquires about soliders’ faiths because it doesn’t assume the people dying to defend this nation are Christian. When one views the cross in that light, it seems antithetical to the ideals for which those same soldiers fought.
Read MoreAccording to a retired attorney for the DOD, “When you proselytize as a commander…you necessarily send doubts to the subordinates that you oversee about your impartiality and thus degrade good order and discipline, and in turn degrade combat capability.”
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