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A ‘Vows’ Piece in ‘The Times’ Shows How Doctrinaire Christian Celibacy Has Become Compared to its Ancient Roots

By Joseph Amar

…y. Ephrem reminded Covenanters that foregoing sexual intimacy was meant to free them from themselves, not create a privileged class of Christians. ‘Without good deeds,’ he bluntly affirmed, ‘sexual renunciation is worthless.’ Ephrem’s insights could be arrestingly prescient. He warned that if celibacy were to become institutionalized in the church, it could result in great harm. Ambitious churchmen, he said, might use it as a stepping stone to pri…

Play to Extinction: Religious Groups Unite Against Predatory Gambling

By Frederick Clarkson

…numerous reputable sources since the landmark Congressional study. Casino Free Mass board member Leo Maley, writing in the Amherst Bulletin cited, for example, “a 213 percent increase in suicides (from 24 to 75) in the first two years after casinos opened” in Gulfport, Mississippi. “Such numbers,” he wrote, “are replicated elsewhere.” In a powerful video recently posted by Casino Free Mass in anticipation of the next round of debate over introduc…

A Religion Scholar Gets It Wrong on Indiana’s RFRA

By Danny Fisher

…s of the United States.” The ACLU often tries to resolve the same tensions between religious freedoms and civil rights that Prothero alludes to. In this instance, the organization, which has a long and impressive track record of work seeking to “guarantee that all are free to follow and practice their faith – or no faith at all – without governmental influence or interference,” came out against SB 101 at both the local and national level. In an op…

Why We Must Reclaim “Religious Freedom” from Christian Conservatives

By Bill Berkowitz

…o believe differently from the rich and the powerful is a prerequisite for free speech and a free press, the other two elements of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.” How does your report fit into today’s political landscape? Over the years, the Christian Right has evolved, shaping events and not merely reacting to them. Conservatives have consistently responded to changing social roles and increasing efforts at equality for the historica…

An Abbreviated Guide to 5 Arguments Against Contraceptive Coverage in Obamacare

By Sarah Posner

…s opposition to the regulation as “because the Mandate threatens religious freedom and proposes a reductionist and harmful understanding of women’s freedom.” Alvaré reprises the “immiseration” theme in the brief, arguing that “even if contraceptives have the indirect beneficial effects HHS identifies, HHS does not indicate the size of these benefits, or whether they outweigh the adverse health outcomes caused by some contraceptives, or the adverse…

The Irony in the “Religious Liberty” Argument

By Eric C. Miller

…lowed suit, and both schools continue to reject federal money to this day. Free to run their organizations as they see fit, they are also free from government dependence. Even if you disagree on the particulars, you have to respect the consistency. These days, there is reason for skepticism whenever “religious liberty” clamors to the fore. Researchers have found, unsurprisingly, that frames touting liberties and rights serve as rhetorical veils, a…

Interview with Karen Armstrong

By Andrea Bistrich

…Instead of independence there has been an unhealthy dependence and loss of freedom. Unless people feel free, any “democracy” is going to be superficial and flawed. And modernity did not come with innovation to the Muslims: because we were so far ahead, they could only copy us. So instead of innovation you have imitation. We also know in our own lives that it is difficult, even impossible, to be creative when we feel under attack. Muslims often fee…

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

By Sarah Posner

…standoff between the ACLU and the Department of Health and Human Services, between the USCCB and HHS, and—most visibly to the public—between Republicans and Democrats as conservatives’ religious freedom campaigns have been increasingly politicized over the past four years. In 2011, during the peak of the Republican presidential primary and as the USCCB-led campaign for religious freedom escalated over the contraception coverage required under the…

Praying for a Victory: Packed Supreme Court Takes Up Yet Another Christian Nationalist Cause

By Andrew L. Seidel

…n prayer because he feels pressured to conform). The separation we require between government power and religious ritual protects everyone’s religious freedom. On the basis of this clear rule, the school asked the coach to stop using his position of authority and access to pray with his students. The coach refused and was placed on administrative leave. His contract expired and he didn’t reapply. Instead, he sued, demanding to be rehired and the r…

Supreme Court: Law School Christian Group Can’t Exclude Gays

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…oaning the tolerance found on college campuses: “Our proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom of express “the thought that we hate.” Today’s decision rests on a very different principle: no freedom of expression that offends prevailing standards of political correctness in our country’s institutions of higher learning. I mean, really, the First Amendment ought to give groups the right to name who they will hat…