Religion Dispatches
…al healing practices appear to be protected under one part of the criminal code but not under another) violates their right to due process of law. Wisconsin’s “treatment through prayer” provision is not unique: More than thirty other states offer similar kinds of apparent legal protections for devout parents who reject medicine and turn to prayer when their children are ailing. A number of groups have lobbied for the repeal of such religious exemp…
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…aren’t so much sober accusations of individuals’ crimes than an insiders’ code for ‘elite liberals.’ The Satanic abuse panic of the 1980s and 90s led to the persecution and false convictions of many innocent people and caused traumatic rifts in communities. The panic involved gothic stories of bloody ceremonies conducted by community-members in black robes, including graphic claims of child and adult sexual abuse and rumors of specific “cult” loc…
Read More…sed last year while helping Ralph Reed promote the launch of his Faith and Freedom Coalition). In a nutshell: America should be ruled by God, not government, with no abortion, gay marriage, or jurisprudence Robison disagrees with; the market should be kept “free, healthy, and under the influence of people who understand that importance of personal responsibility,” as “out of control spending” and “intrusive regulation” are “as wrong and immoral an…
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…ollowing the Dover decision, the Discovery Institute unveiled its academic freedom campaign, in 2008, complete with a web site providing sample legislation for interested state lawmakers. The institute’s John West made sure to stress that the bills never mentioned intelligent design. But as DI’s past actions clearly indicate, the goal was still to pry open the door for sympathetic teachers to teach intelligent design and creationism. Louisiana, Al…
Read More…ooklet’s content isn’t religious: This may be the first nonreligious moral code based wholly on common sense. It was written by L. Ron Hubbard as an individual work and it not part of any religious doctrine. Any reprinting or individual distribution of it does not infer connection with or sponsorship of any religious organization. It is therefore admissible for government departments and employees to distribute it as a nonreligious activity. (Repr…
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…won’t be up for selection until 2012. Dan Quinn, a spokesman for the Texas Freedom Network, “[a nonpartisan, grassroots] watchdog, monitoring far-right issues, organizations, money and leaders,” said it’s going to require a watchful eye to prevent board members from using the new provision to adopt creationist-friendly or intelligent design literature. Quinn said that board members could reject material for factual errors. “But then it becomes a b…
Read More…it’s unclear how the case would proceed. According to the Brazilian penal code, criminal charges for genocide can be brought against nationals but foreigners cannot be prosecuted under national law. One possible explanation for FUNAI’s approach is to generate awareness of the detrimental outlook for the agency and the indigenous communities they protect. The incident comes on the heels of growing threats to indigenous sovereignty by a new right-w…
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…Nike’s unwillingness to permit long-term audits by the WRC will “set labor code reforms back 15 years,” according to Kline. He and students at Georgetown have called on the university to end its business relationship with Nike. Villanova students created a petition, underscoring the conflict between the university’s Catholic values and Nike’s complicity in worker exploitation. Administrators at universities including Cornell, Rutgers, Oberlin, Geo…
Read More…ffers high family entertainment value, therefore we will be continuing our promotion. “We regularly offer promotions to our IKEA FAMILY members across a variety of entertainment options, and in this case, our IKEA FAMILY members were being offered a discount on tickets to the show. “As a company, IKEA Singapore respects the diversity and equality of all people living in our community. We also respect that all individuals have a right to their opin…
Read More…oles, prioritizing women’s roles in the home and in raising children, felt free to praise the way Palin balances “the personal and professional in admirable ways.” From the sound of Palin’s acceptance speech, it sounds as though Crouse knows her woman. In a line that evoked George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign references to the “power in the blood,” (referencing an old gospel hymn There is Power in the Blood [of the Lamb]) Palin declared that she would…
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