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An Open Letter to CEO Jeff Smisek On United Airlines’ Blasphemous Safety Video

By Austin Dacey

…ual recompense. In the video message that was played before my last United Airlines flight, you expressed your desire to greet each and every passenger; you invited us to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. If I could greet you now, I would want to know: were you unaware of the monstrosity that was about to follow? There, rising above the hiss of the pressurized air, as the video monitors snapped to the image of an engorged sun bursting from be…

Mile-High Identity Politics: What We Can Learn From the Same-Sex Seating Controversy

By Eboo Patel

…a senior citizen and take his middle. I have watched passengers with first class seats hand their tickets to uniformed veterans and sit in economy. Several times I have witnessed people move further back to allow a mother to sit next to her children. All of these required not only the hassle of moving, but also the discomfort of a worse seat. Sometimes the person with the better seat was asked, sometimes s/he offered. In most situations, the perso…

Pricey Tickets, Cranky Citizens, and Priests Behind Bars as Philadelphia Prepares For Papal Visit

By Anthea Butler

…to continue to shrink into the insularity and disorganization that caused the Philadelphia Archdiocese to decline so precipitously? It remains to be seen. Meanwhile, faithful Catholics and others who want to see the Pope may be losing heart. 10,000 tickets for the Pope’s Speech at Independence Mall sold out in two minutes on Tuesday, with 394k people trying their best to get a few. Tickets are already being scalped at $100 and up on craigslist. I…

Are Atheists Taking 1st Amendment Suits Too Far?

By Gordon Haber

…religion. And despite some notable outliers (cough*Joel Osteen*cough) most American clergymen don’t make much money. In 2010, while the median salary for American rabbis was about $140,000, Catholic priests averaged $25,000 and Protestant ministers $40,000. Should we begrudge them the opportunity to save a little money? To my mind, the more intriguing suit was filed by American Atheists, who want the IRS to require churches and religious organizat…

RD Book: Class Conscious

By Lynne Gerber

…ican Elite Oxford University Press, 2007 Sean McCloud, Divine Hierarchies: Class in American Religion and Religious Studies University of North Carolina Press, 2007 D. Michael Lindsay opens his new book, Faith in the Halls of Power, with a story of the joining of two worlds at a posh New York event. Hosted by Rupert Murdoch “in one of Manhattan’s most celebrated ballrooms,” the event feted Rick Warren—evangelical preacher and publishing sensation—…

Satanic FOIA Reveals Deep Confusion About 1st Amendment

By Joseph Laycock

…Satanic monument at the Oklahoma capital (apparently a statue of a Native American warrior placed on top of the dome in 2002 is actually an idol of Baal erected by Freemasons). A letter writer expressed that the Satanic statue should be allowed because it would force the Illuminati to reveal their Luciferian plans to the world. But most callers essentially argued that the Ten Commandments should be allowed and the Satan monument forbidden because…

United Methodists Elect 1st Gay Bishop; Canadian Anglicans OK Same-Sex Marriage

By Peter Montgomery

…acceptance of same-sex practice or cross dressing. Rather, the new ruling classifies homosexuals and cross-dressers as individuals “suffering psychologically” and committing sinful acts, but society should respect their right to life, hoping that they will eventually see the light. In doing so, he views the issues of homosexuality and cross dressing from three different perspectives: psychologically, socially, and religiously. This distinction is…

‘Religious Freedom’ Rally Sets Stage for 1st Amendment Collision

By Sarah Posner

…peddled by the Catholic Bishops and their supporters. Nettina claimed the number of abortions increase with greater access to contraceptives, a trope commonly used to assert that contraception fails and therefore does not decrease the number of unintended pregnancies. This claim echoes statements made by the Bishops themselves, as well as anti-contraception groups, that birth control doesn’t work and is harmful to women’s health. Hagen recommende…

The “Religious Freedom” President is Gutting the Rest of the 1st Amendment

By Sunnivie Brydum

…egardless, this kind of content-specific censure goes against longstanding American standards that (at least in theory) champion a vibrant and open socio-political national conversation. Finally, draft versions of the president’s proposed immigration restriction suggest that all the nations involved will be Muslim-majority nations, which makes is difficult to square with the principle of religious freedom. As The Atlantic explained: “If implemente…

DeSantis’ Religious Exemption Will Kill—And it Violates the 1st Amendment

By Andrew L. Seidel

…son to exempt churches from orders that temporarily halt large gatherings. Americans have rights to worship and to assemble, but neither of those rights is unlimited and neither includes the right to risk other peoples’ lives. Like all states, Florida already regularly limits worship gatherings that jeopardize public health. For instance, the government prohibits churches from cramming too many people into a building in violation of fire codes. Th…