Religious Right Historian: Net Neutrality is “Unbiblical Socialism”
…ommonwealth both in terms of the ownership of the asset and in terms of the common good of widespread open access. Sometimes free isn’t really free….
Read More800-299-7264 Copa Airlines Toll Free Number Flight Reservations
Pence’s Religious Freedom Policy Made ‘LGBQ’ Hoosiers Sick—Literally
…e law is still officially in force. For many, a physical and psychological toll on those targeted feels like a natural side effect of so-called religious freedom legislation, which targets LGBTQ people and allows employers, healthcare providers, adoption agencies, and businesses to deny service and access to those whose existence allegedly offends their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” But the hard data pointing to the tangible detrimental heal…
Read More
How an 1843 Revelation on Polygamy Poses a Serious Challenge to Modern Mormonism
…s Smith’s belief in the importance of the doctrine, as well as the growing number of people initiated into the order. And though the prophet tried to stop the rumors from spreading, an increasing number of prominent figures outraged by the alleged practice were dedicated to root out the truth. Among those trying to expose the practice and its participants were Joseph’s brother, Hyrum, as well as his wife, Emma. Then, in May of 1843, in a radical r…
Read More
The Quietly Crumbling Wall of Separation
…th’s damage may actually leave some plaintiffs better able to defend their free-exercise rights than before. And other rulings on both free-exercise and non-establishment cases—such as in employment cases involving churches and cases involving government-sanctioned prayer—have maintained a distinctiveness for religion as a constitutional category. But other learned First Amendment scholars—such as Marci Hamilton of Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law…
Read More
Pamela Geller in Brooklyn: Free Speech, Hate Speech, and the Futility of Arguing with a Bigot
…ing that earns her money. Because it’s the only talent she has. This isn’t free speech, it’s free-market. And to what end? If you link anti-Semitism to Islamophobia, or vice versa, you make it more likely each community will deny the other’s pain. Young Muslims who are expected to accept that anti-Semitism is real, at the cost of denying discrimination against them, are unlikely to. This is not only the biggest Jewish city in the world, but the bi…
Read More
Brazilian Evangelicals Launch ‘Sin-Free’ (Read: Gay-Free) Version of Facebook
…an rights are an administration priority. Brazil: Evangelicals launch ‘sin-free’ – ie gay-free – version of Facebook Pink News reports, “Brazilian Evangelicals have launched their own ‘sin-free’ version of Facebook, which is founded on love and acceptance – unless you’re gay.” FaceGloria reportedly attracted more than 100,000 users in its first month. South Korea: Gay couple sues government for marriage recognition In South Korea, where we reporte…
Read MoreNetflix Removing Antigay Film Isn’t “Free Speech,” it’s Free Market
…is the governmental kind. But that’s an entirely different animal. Ditto “free speech.” Constitutionally protected free speech concerns, once again, the government, not the right to express any view without consequence. And no one (and certainly no government entity) stopped del Toro from making his film, distributing it to theaters, and eventually licensing it to Netflix. Quite the opposite, in fact. Once audiences were able to see the film for…
Read More
To Serve God and Wal-Mart: The Making of Christian Free Enterprise
…religious tenets and economic policies, both of which supported Christian free enterprise, traditional values and a gendered workforce. Writes Moreton: “They [Walton Scholars] perceived their own careers and free-market policies generally as a form of public service, on the pattern of the Christian business departments they attended. For its part, Wal-Mart and its suppliers reaped tangible rewards from this network of skilled graduates. In 2005,…
Read More
I Volunteer to Root Out Christian Extremism
…rtheless put the number at roughly 338,000. I am willing to work with this number until a better one comes along. Of this number, roughly 8,000 congregations claim upwards of 1,000 members; most are smaller, indeed most are much smaller. My concept is this: I think we can create a Christian Honor Corps (CHC) of perhaps 10,000 persons. Persons like myself who take our responsibility to monitor Christian extremist thought seriously and who are willi…
Read More
Rage or Courage?: YouTube Terrorism Take Two
…well as their bodies and their polities, are shackled; they will never be free unless or until they embrace freedom as an absolute, unqualified good. In light of this genealogy, one must recognize the beguiling simplicity of the blame game—that ‘rage’ is entirely the problem of those enraged. They are not like us. They take religion to be a sacred cow, while we know that freedom of expression is the first, fundamental, basis of democracy, and tha…
Read More