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Should NASA Have Given $1.1 Million to a Theology Institute?

…sn’t mean the FFRF will actually get anywhere, should it decide to sue. In today’s courts, said Ledewitz, entanglement simply “doesn’t cut it any more.” Unless the government is actively requiring citizens to do something, courts today tend to be sympathetic toward public expressions of religion. “If he sues, he won’t have standing,” said Ledewitz. “Not on the constitutional claim.” In its statement, NASA explained that it had received the letter…

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More Pressure on Obama to Fix His Religious Freedom Legacy

…hey have religious objections to abortion, contraception, or homosexuality. The crux of criticism of the Supreme Court’s decision in Hobby Lobby is that RFRA should not be used to protect religious rights at the expense of third parties. As Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, has noted, the government “has a vital interest in preventing discrimination in taxpayer-funded jobs.” Many of the groups signing tod…

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The Immorality of Immortality

…boredom? I wonder. Needless to say, to the extent that longevity research promotes ways to alleviate the suffering caused by debilitating diseases such as Altzheimer and Parkinson, they are all very beneficial. However, I also believe that all programs about extension of human life cannot be divorced from the deeper reflection about the purpose of human life. Such reflection seems to be missing from the transhumanist literature. One could object…

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Pious White Reformers and Race, Then and Now

…condition that they be exiled beyond the Mississippi River; they could be freed but denied civil and political rights; or they could be freed and given the same rights as white people despite the ways in which slavery had “depraved their faculties.” The primary problem usually cited in regard to the third option was the one that John Adams raised in critiquing Tucker’s entire emancipation scheme: “Justice to the negroes would require that they sh…

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One More Day until Marriage Equality vote in New York?

…emptions in the bill. Wavering Republican senators are reportedly seeking broader religious exemptions akin to those contained in New Hampshire’s marriage equality law. CNN and other news outlets have reported that the governor can extend the legislative session beyond today’s deadline and has said that he would do so. Today, a Buffalo television station reported that the marriage vote would likely take place tomorrow; it said the governor and Rep…

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‘This is a War Meeting…This is Gonna Get Dirty,’ Anti-Woke Capitalism, & American ‘History’: Day 2 Roundup

…e key to these local victories. Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Senior Pastor at Free Chapel, based in Georgia, exclaims during his speech that “America is the greatest nation on earth. God—well, after Israel, that is.” Franklin lavishes praise on Tony Perkins, calling him a leader “who is carrying the torch, fought the fight, defended this land physically and defended this land even more when he came out of the military by defending freedom.” Perkins n…

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With Christian Schools At Risk In Israel, Crickets from American Christian Conservatives

…conservative Christian organizations, all of which advocate for religious freedom and support for Israel, I received no such reaction. In response to requests for interviews or comment from Ralph Reed, president of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, I received just one response—from Reed’s spokeswoman, who said he was unavailable. All…

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LDS Church Launches New Website Calling for Greater Openness and Understanding on LGBT Issues

…start attending LDS temple services again. That’s what I want the most.’” “Today, our authoritarian Church that once had an answer for everything finally said, ‘We don’t really understand everything about being gay but Christ has commanded us to love and the Church needs to become a safe place.’ I’ve been praying for this since 1992.” There is no change in doctrine announced at mormonsandgays.com: no revision to the Church’s position that being ga…

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Herd Heroism in an Age of Rebels: The Cultural Roots of the Anti-Vaxxer Movement

…industrial complex for their well-being, my children will not. Few parents today have seen pertussis or measles firsthand. As Eula Biss points out, it’s easier to oppose vaccines when you have no real concept of the diseases they’re intended to prevent. Similarly, few of us probably have much of a concept of what happens when, say, Neal Beagley refuses treatment for a bladder obstruction. The answer—that backed-up urine ruptures the kidneys and en…

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Workers Once Forced the Social Gospel Into Churches—Can It Happen Again?

…ge, official church statements of support for organized labor were scarce. Today, many denominations have such statements and they could be used to hold clergy and laity alike accountable in the midst of labor disputes. Given that rates of religious affiliation vastly outstrip support for unions among Americans today, there is ample room for such accountability. One other constant bears mention here: because church life in America operates on a vo…

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