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Pulitzer-Prize Winning Historian’s Latest Reveals the Problem with Today’s ‘Religious Freedom’

…than a historical summation, described by Rakove thusly: “Disestablishment promoted free exercise, and free exercise made establishment superfluous.” Beyond Belief recounts this history, and, while Rakove touches on the present, his focus is the past. But it’s impossible to read Beyond Belief and not notice that, in their desperation to “make America great again” Trump, Pence, and the other Christian nationalist politicians and judges have turned…

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Gordon Gekko Gets God: The Heritage Foundation of Theology

…e the facts of chemistry or astronomy. But too many Christian leaders feel free to ignore the basic facts of economics. Indeed. Or the Bible. Richards uses the old false dichotomy technique to make his case that free-market capitalism is fully consistent with Jesus’ teachings and Christian tradition. He wants to save us from believing either that private accumulation is “bad” and causes much of the world’s suffering, or that “God wants you to pros…

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What’s So Troubling About Funding a Playground? How Trinity Lutheran Undermines the First Amendment

…affirmative, finding that the Missouri policy violated Trinity Lutheran’s free exercise rights by forcing the church to choose between its religious identity and participation in a government benefit program. In an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court held “the Department’s policy expressly discriminates against otherwise eligible recipients by disqualifying them from a public benefit solely because of their religious character… such a pol…

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Are Kosher Delis Like Catholic Hospitals?

…other words, Soloveichik charged the administration with trampling on the Free Exercise rights of employers while ignoring the wrong of religious coercion of their employees. Sarna, who writes that he hopes Congress will ignore Soloveichik’s testimony, shines light on how Soloveichik and the other Issa witnesses ignored the Establishment Clause in favor of the Free Exercise Clause: In fact, the government makes no such assumption at all. Instead,…

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‘Atheizing’ the Dead, Religious Doughnuts, & Tax-Free Witching

Inspired by Mormon baptism practices, Atheize the Dead offers to convert your deceased loved one to atheism. The Hartford, Connecticut city council found itself in hot water when it proposed a Muslim invocation for one of its pre-meeting prayers. After its website was inundated with protests against the planned invocations, the council decided to cancel prayers of any sort at the meetings and will open with an “interfaith moment of silence.” Dona…

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Sanctuary and the Second Amendment: Do Guns Deserve Special Protection?

…Indeed, the tradition of sacred spaces as gun-free (weapon-free, violence-free, force-free) zones makes the use of sanctuary language in recent “Second Amendment Sanctuary” legislation curious. The turn from the use of “sanctuary” from its origins in restricting vengeance, violent enforcement, and weaponry to the protection of gun-keeping within the sanctuary borders, while rhetorically brilliant, feels particularly cynical when research shows th…

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“Freedom” vs. “Liberty”: Why Religious Conservatives Have Begun to Favor One Over the Other

…liberty suggests a “defensive response.” “I think you could say we are all free, but what does free mean? It’s such a general concept,” said Green, noting that liberty can have more immediate and personal connotations, when spoken to the right audience. “That word seems to resonate with a particular segment of society,” he said. It’s very clear which segment that is. Over the past ten years, lobby groups on the religious right have latched onto “r…

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The Bad Religion at the Heart of GOP Healthcare Policy

…poor and without health coverage, that’s all about you. We wash our hands. Free markets: If you are poor, you are perfectly “free” to sleep under a bridge, in the immortal words of Anatole France. But the wealthy are totally free to suck up health care resources via tax-favored health savings accounts. And it goes without saying that the insurance companies and health providers are totally free to suck out your blood. State authority on insurance…

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“Mitt Romney Style”—A Virtually Religion Free 2012 Contest?

I recently beheld what I believe to be confirming evidence that the 2012 general election has delivered far less religion drama than many of us expected: The CollegeHumor video “Mitt Romney Style,” a political parody of South Korean PSY’s global mega K-pop hit “Gangnam Style,” which is itself a send up of the lifestyles of Seoul’s rich and famous. “Mitt Romney Style” features a Romney impersonator obnoxiously flaunting his wealth.  There are hors…

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As Far-Right Surges in US and Germany Debate Rages Over Disqualification of Those Who Would Destroy Democracy

…s.” According to section 2, parties that “seek to undermine or abolish the free democratic basic order or to endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be unconstitutional.” Section 3 excludes from state financing parties that “are oriented towards an undermining or abolition of the free democratic basic order or an endangerment of the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany.” Judgement as to the constitutionality of poli…

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