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How Do We Break the Cycle of Religious Violence in South Asia?

…gaging in religious offense (listed under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code) can face a prison sentence, a hefty fine, or an extra-judicial killing. Whatever the trigger is, and whether or not arrests are made, we see that violence often takes place shortly after. Often, these rumors spread via Facebook or WhatsApp. Soon, a mob will gather. They will destroy homes, shops, and places of worship belonging to the minority community. Law enforceme…

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Joel Osteen and Annise Parker: Strange Stage-fellows

…ay messages when spoken by anti-gay people, even if it is spoken in pretty code. Michael Jones over at Change.org celebrated Osteen’s appearance at the inauguration: “But give both Osteen and Parker some credit. Today was a day for the history books for LGBT politicians, and also a day where a socially conservative evangelical leader and a progressive lesbian mayor found some common ground in celebrating a victory.” This was written before Iloff’s…

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Orrin Hatch: Health Care Dollars for Prayer Cures, But Not Abortion

As they say, you can’t make this stuff up. You can only read it and weep. Today’s Los Angeles Times includes a front-page piece by Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger on an itty-bitty provision in one Senate health care bill that would require insurers to cover Christian Science “prayer treatments” as medical expenses. Hamburger and Geiger write that the measure, introduced by Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, would put prayer treatments “on the same footing…

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Why We’re Not Prepared to Prosecute White Nationalist Violence

…yed to produce such a charge. Further exemplifying the Islamophobia within today’s counterterrorism approach, the Russian Imperial Movement, a foreign—but non-militant Islamist—organization, had its own designation made up for it (Specially Designated Global Terrorists) so as not to fall under the legal implications of an FTO. Illustrating this double-standard is the case of Ethan Melzer. In 2020, the Kentucky-born U.S. Army private was charged wi…

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Mormon ‘Humorist’ Robert Kirby Is Butt of His Own Dirty Joke

…ana will be on Utah ballots in November). I’m no expert on Utah’s criminal code, but I have a strong suspicion that it might have something to say about Kirby’s actions. In Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, Kate Manne argues that in patriarchal cultures, “a woman is regarded as owing her human capacities to particular people… her personhood is held to be owed to others, in the form of service labor, love, and loyalty. ” It seems obvious to me that…

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Catholic Anti-Nuke Activists Looking at 20 Years in Prison a True Test for Religious Freedom

…ons, such as a Sikh who successfully sued the Army in 2015 over a grooming code that would have required him to shave his beard and remove his turban. Justice, not to mention old wisdom about geese and ganders, demands that our judicial system should treat like cases alike. Either sincere religious conviction should be a defense, or it shouldn’t. There should be a healthy debate about the place and extent of religious exemption in contemporary, pl…

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Religious Freedom Org Sticking By Trump Clinging to SCOTUS Nominations

…the U.S. Constitution. Among those ready to contort themselves into Trump promotion machines at any cost is the right-wing Liberty Counsel, which describes itself as a Christian legal nonprofit, “dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Liberty Counsel is an anti-LGBT hate group, and a quick scan of the organization’s client roster reads like a who’s-who of elec…

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‘Religious Freedom’ for Atheists

…tes throughout secular democratic Europe. Article 226b of the Danish Penal Code, for instance, singles out for protection—among other categories—groups of people who “on account of their faith” are threatened, insulted, or degraded. It does not single out people, regardless of their affiliation, on account of their convictions of conscience. Know Thy Enmity The most principled motivation for hate speech laws can be found in the principle of equal…

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I’m Too Sexy for My Church: Will a Thriving Singles Scene Renew American Catholicism?

…Much of what attracted young adults to St. Monica then remains attractive today. Sunday evening Mass works with young people’s schedules and Alejandro has been intentional about making young adults—and women—visible as greeters, choir members and Eucharistic ministers. The homilies speak to them and ask something of them. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved, from service activities to social events. YMA now has 700 active people on…

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What’s Behind a Conservative Mormon’s Call For “Religious Freedom” Advocates to “Stand Down” on LGBT Rights

…that “pursues an international anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ agenda, seeking to promote conservative ideologies—and codify these in regressive laws and policies—that dictate who has rights as ‘family,’ and who doesn’t.” Mero is also an active member (and adult convert) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and has himself followed Church guidance to organize against LGBT equality—most directly against marriage equality and nondiscriminati…

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