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Why I Boycotted a Conference at Brigham Young University

…us jobs at the same time. This seemed so counter to the spirit of academic freedom—and to the very issues of religious liberty that the conference was promoting—that in conscience I felt that I had to take a stand. I had looked forward to the conference. The issue was important, the international roster of scholars participating was impressive, and my old friend and colleague, David Little, was to receive an award for his work on issues of religio…

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How the Abortion Debate Turned the Christian Right On To Liberal Arguments… and Birthed the Religious Freedom Industry

…m the right concerns same-sex marriage. How did they settle on a religious freedom frame? Even prior to Obergefell v. Hodges, religious freedom arguments were being advanced by conservative Christians who disapproved of same-sex marriage. For example, several state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) were put into motion in 2014 and early 2015 in part to try and protect religious objectors. Immediately after the Obergefell decision, th…

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Rage or Courage?: YouTube Terrorism Take Two

…tay on YouTube,” it said.  Google is, in effect, walking a precarious line between advocacy of free speech and incitement to violence. Blocking the video might encourage copycat endeavors to prohibit other material, yet most would no doubt agree that endless provocation of violence must also be avoided—or at least mitigated. All companies that allow people to post content online—Facebook and Twitter, as well as Google—have grappled with similar is…

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NPR Gives a Free Pass to Biblical Literalists

…his wives AND his concubines, between a man and a woman plus other women, between a man and his brother’s widow, between a man-as-rapist and his victim, and between male soldiers and their female prisoners of war. While it is true that advocates for equality and inclusion can never persuade biblical literalists that the clear direction of biblical testimony points toward inclusion (let alone shake their hilarious conviction that the Bible’s only…

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Blankets, Booties, and Jesus: Spiritual War on the Uterus in Rick Perry’s Texas

…ders must meet are “maintain[ing] a pro-life mission and agree[ing] not to promote, refer, or counsel in favor of abortion or abortifacients as an option to a crisis or unplanned pregnancy” and “agree[ing] not to promote the teaching or philosophy of any religion while providing services to the client.” Yet most, if not all, of the centers maintain that Christian faith is central to their mission. Many are affiliated with Care Net, which describes…

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Historian John Ragosta Discusses the Context and Inspiration for ‘Religious Freedom’ in the U.S.

…saw these three things as the great accomplishments of his life: political freedom, religious freedom, and educational freedom and opportunity. Of the three, he thought religious freedom was the foundation because without freedom to think and believe, you could not have the other two. A republic could not work if government and church officials (what Jefferson referred to as an alliance of “kings, nobles, and priests”) were trying to control what…

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Supreme Court Rules Religion is Special… This Time

…There is much that is troubling in the Hosanna-Tabor decision. The balance between the right to free exercise of religion and the right of employees to equal protection under the law is not easy to strike, and this decision doesn’t appear to strike it at all. By failing to specify to whom and in what circumstances the “ministerial exception” applies, the decision seems to open the door to its misuse. But let’s set such quibbles aside. Somewhere at…

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Religious Freedom Historian John Ragosta on “Religious Freedom”

…saw these three things as the great accomplishments of his life: political freedom, religious freedom, and educational freedom and opportunity. Of the three, he thought religious freedom was the foundation because without freedom to think and believe, you could not have the other two. A republic could not work if government and church officials (what Jefferson referred to as an alliance of “kings, nobles, and priests”) were trying to control what…

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Your Uterus Is “An Important Subject” About Which Your Fellow Citizens “Wish To Converse”

…f giving abortion-rights advocates a pass when it comes to suppressing the free-speech rights of their opponents.” Despite the grumbling concurrence, abortion opponents are celebrating a victory for the free speech rights of their sidewalk counselors, even portraying women who have been or will be talked out of abortion as the beneficiaries of the ruling. “These buffer zones have not only denied pro-life activists their right to speak, but have al…

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New York City a Glenn Beck Radio Free Zone (for now)

…es, at least momentarily, the boroughs of New York City a Glenn Beck radio free zone.  (Word has it syndicators are looking for a new outlet.) Perhaps Beck’s self-styled turn to the prophetic last summer and fall—which included forays into the world of Black theology and the mysteries of the Bat Creek Stone, as well as his lachrymose and prayer-scented DC Rally in August —didn’t go over so well with hardboiled conservatives in the City? Beck’s tel…

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