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Pricking the Conscience of Churches: From AIDS Activism to Ending World Hunger

…eve it is possible to conquer hunger and end AIDS in our lifetime. An AIDS-free and hunger-free world are my mantra. What it will take is political will and compassion without borders. This is not simply a romantic vision, but one embraced by scientists, economists, politicians and other persons of goodwill around the world. These goals are not simply within our reach, but also our grasp. Achieving this future is not inevitable, but neither is it…

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Pussy Riot Members Sentenced to 2 Years for Offending Russian Orthodox Church

…is latest wonderful aphorism. If Medvedev gave his presidency the slogan: “Freedom is better than non-freedom”, then, thanks to Medvedev’s felicitous saying, Putin’s third term has a good chance of being known by a new aphorism: “Prison is better than stoning.” I would like you to think carefully about the following reflection by Montaigne from his Essays written in the 16th century. He wrote: “You are holding your opinions in too high a regard if…

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Anglican Bishops Punish Episcopal Church Over LGBT Inclusion; Secularization’s Role in Moving Latin America ‘Beyond Machismo’; Greek Orthodox Bishop Says Gays Deserve Respect; Global LGBT Recap

…ekim proclaimed before a huge audience. “because for the first time I felt free. In some countries it is so hard to be LGBTI, to be free. Love each other and accept each other because, at the end of the day, we belong to each other.” When he returned to Tetovo, he faced the stark contrast of cultural acceptance between the two countries: he was forced into hiding for a month as he and his parents received death threats motivated by anti-LGBTI medi…

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Circuit Court Rejects Priests for Life Contraception Challenge

…The court concluded that PFL’s rights are not violated under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and it is still free to hate on birth control: All Plaintiffs must do to opt out is express what they believe and seek what they want via a letter or two-page form. That bit of paperwork is more straightforward and minimal than many that are staples of nonprofit organizations’ compliance with law in the modern administrative state. Religious nonprofi…

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Christian Inmate Suing Indiana to Recognize Religion

…uled in Glenn’s favor on a preliminary motion, it’s notable for a prisoner free exercise case to get the court’s approval to go forward. Howard Friedman, who tracks prisoners’ free exercise lawsuits on his blog, Religion Clause, notes that since October there have been rulings in 31 of such cases, two-thirds of which were dismissed by the court. Most prisoner free exercise cases involve Muslim inmates, though neo-pagan groups, New Religious Moveme…

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God is Love: A Desert Prophet’s Message

…The state owns the land, but does not maintain it and people live here for free. There is no water, electricity or septic. Most of the people only come in the cooler winter months. But about 150 people, an incredibly hardy bunch, live here year round, braving temperatures that will climb to 130 degrees. It was 112 when I was there Saturday and Sunday. At the entrance to Slab City is Salvation Mountain, an adobe mountain covered in bright paint and…

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It’s Only a Game: How Not to Think about Video Game Violence

…ntonin Scalia presented the 7-2 ruling as a defense of free speech and the free circulation of ideas. That’s been a consistent theme for the Roberts court, which in recent years has in the name of freedom of speech legalized the sale of animal torture videos and struck down limits on corporate political spending on the grounds that corporations have free speech rights too. But in his dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer asked, “What sense do…

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Flagship Biblical Studies Group Faces Bitter Divide Over Statements on Israel/Palestine

…aeli scholars said that, in this case, they cared less or not at all about freedom of speech. Former SBL President Athalya Brenner wrote that: “At this time I’m less concerned than usual about freedom of expression, future job prospects of younger colleagues, and so on..[F]reedom of verbal expression does not and should not extend to hate speech and violence. Out of self defense, this is not the company i want to keep.” Noam, the aforementioned Ta…

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Discrimination on the Taxpayer’s Dime? The Fight To Curtail the Overreach of RFRA

…Hobby Lobby—where the Court noted that even if women could not obtain cost-free contraception coverage through their employer’s health plan, they could still purchase contraception—unaccompanied immigrant children in custody don’t have that freedom. In addition, Hamilton said, “rape is different” from access to contraception. “Courts have not had a chance to do the weighing of a victim of sexual assault versus the religious claims of an organizati…

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United Nations Affirms the Human Right to Blaspheme

…limitations on speech. It does so not only by asserting that the right to free speech is foundational to a free and democratic society as well as to the protection and promotion of other rights. It also appeals explicitly to the values of freedom of conscience and equality before the law. According to paragraph 48, “Prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with t…

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