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303 Creative Is Not a ‘Religion v. Gay Rights’ Case — But Here’s Why the Christian Right is Happy with the Media Suggesting Just That

By Heron Greenesmith

…incentive the Christian Right has to keep the focus on religion instead of free speech is because the implications if Smith wins on the free speech argument are, frankly, unthinkable. A win for Smith would bore a hole right in the center of nondiscrimination laws—nondiscrimination laws for all, not just for LGBTQ people—no matter what ADF want us to think. A win for Smith would, by some measures, create an entirely new class of rights: artists who…

Are Kosher Delis Like Catholic Hospitals?

By Sarah Posner

…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,…

Not All Choice is Free

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…fference between a citizen and/or organization withholding taxes for state services with which they do not wish to be identified, and a citizen and/or organization being asked to provide those services themselves. The problem is that this creates a false distinction between the state as an actor and people as actors. State services are, all of them, provided by organizations and by people. Catholic institutions are claiming an exemption from the o…

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

By Annika Brockschmidt

…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…

On Religion, Abortion, and Politics: Dr. George Tiller’s Christian Ethics

By Ed Knudson

…and hatred by those who attacked him on a daily basis outside his clinic. Free From All, Free For All One of Luther’s most popular writings is his pamphlet called “The Freedom of a Christian,” in which he declares that a Christian is free from all earthly authority through the power of the gospel, which establishes a reconciled relationship with God—a quite subversive political orientation since it relativizes all earthly authority. At the same t…

Mercy, Justice, and the Telephone Company

By Daniel Schultz

…loped is the twin definition of citizenship: on the one hand, citizens are free to participate in the political realm. On the other, they’re free to participate in the economic realm, which is to say, the market. Increasingly in the post-war era, it’s that last definition that has taken precedence, leaving us with a global marketplace populated by members of many different nations and ethnicities. As Cavanaugh points out, the less government you h…

The Bad Religion at the Heart of GOP Healthcare Policy

By Peter Laarman

…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…

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

By Michael J. Altman

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…

Court Rules in Favor of For-Profit Employer Seeking Exemption from Contraception Rule

By Sarah Posner

…Restoration Act, not on the plaintiffs’ claims under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise, Establishment, and Free Speech clauses. Under that standard, the court determined that the Newlands and Hercules would suffer a substantial burden on their free exercise of religion should they be required to provide contraception coverage under their self-insurance that that provide to the company’s employees, and that the government had not implemented the…

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

By Joanna Brooks

…ently than you matters less? Indeed, the Hartford Courant / Religion News Service reports that the “God gap” between religious and non-religious voters has shrunk this election year. In fact, it’s smaller than the gender gap for the first time since 1960. That means, voters are more likely to split according to their gender (women strongly prefer Obama) than they are according to whether they attend church. Or could it be as well that the late…