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Trump’s Muslim Ban and the History of Stolen Citizenship in America

…n were meant to eliminate the political clout and enfranchisement of newly freed blacks. Similarly, the Asian Exclusion Act was meant to undermine the economic growth of Japanese and Chinese Americans, as well as to scuttle the flow of immigrants from India and the Philippines who had been taking laborer jobs from poor whites. Indeed, over the past fifty years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, citizenship for people of color has been unde…

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Book Burning and the Scapegoating of Islam

…the West, book burning has come to symbolize the totalitarian rejection of free expression—a desire to enforce conformity of thought. While there is no doubt that something like this is going on with Terry Jones and his church (not to mention Phelps), there is another symbolic meaning that is more ancient and, I suspect, more instructive. I have in mind the symbolism of making burnt offerings to supernatural powers. Rene Girard is a philosopher wh…

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The Non-Existent Tea Party-Religious Right God Gap

…ek at the Values Voters Summit. Here, I heard a lot of talk about economic freedom, the supposedly free-spending, monstrous, socialist government, and about the wonders of free enterprise. Most people hear that, and they think, what happened to the God talk? These people must be trying to appeal to the largely secular tea parties. But it’s there. While many tea partiers might come to a rally with an entirely secular objection to what they call “bi…

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‘Son Worry’ and the Hypocrisy of the ‘Purity’ Movement

…apply to their sons, only to their daughters. That their sons should have free rein to let “boys be boys” or to “sow their wild oats” went hand-in-hand with the idea that chaste girls wouldn’t have to worry about such boys because their own sexual experimentation would be heavily policed. So the so-called “son panic” is really anger that their sons are no longer free to do whatever they want and get away with it—as long as they “do it” to the rig…

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Religious Right Reax to SCOTUS: “A Spiritual 9/11”

…is decision will pave the way for an all out assault against the religious freedom rights of Christians who disagree with this decision.” Rick Santorum promised that as president he would use the bully pulpit of the White House to lead a “national discussion” on the importance of marriage. “I will stand for the preservation of religious liberty and conscience, to believe what you are called to believe free from persecution.” And from Jeb Bush: Gui…

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Muslim Beard Decision was a Boost for “Religious Liberty” Advocates

…determining whether or not a regulation is actually a burden on someone’s free exercise rights. And because of the way the doctrine works, it’s harder for the government to satisfy the rest of the test once the burden has been established. Part of that low bar is due to the fact that the opinion continues the slippage between the concepts of sincere religious belief and substantial burden that were evident in Hobby Lobby as well. The Court notes…

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Ringing in a Christian Nationalist 2019 With an Even Larger Legislative Playbook

…Focus, “Enforcing Federal Law Mandating Compliance by Public Schools with Free Speech Guidelines,” also comes with a model bill, The “Preserving Religious Freedom in School Act,” which essentially seeks to fully enforce a guidance regarding school prayer issued in 2003 by the federal Department of Education. The manual explains that “Federal law requires certification of compliance with Department of Education guidance assuring the religious free

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Obama Inaugural Address Challenges Tea Party History

…the Republic included “as he died to make men holy let us die to make men free,” when the more common version these days calls on us to “live to make men free.”  Yet even with regard to the way military force has been central to what it means to be American, the president presented a new narrative, asserting that “peace and lasting security do not mean we are in a state of perpetual war.” One of the most important ways in which the tea party and…

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Arrests Made in Murders of Atheist Bloggers in Bangladesh, But Int’l Response to Violence Remains Anemic

…extremism. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers to introduce House Resolution 396, which would: recognize the atrocities committed against Hindus and others during the 1971 war of liberation, as well protect Bangladesh’s Hindus and other minorities from ongoing violence mandate religious freedom and human rights be at the forefront of the U.S. relationship with Bangladesh While the resolution is un…

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The Tea Party, the Blind Man, and the Elephant: Part 1

…told a councilman that if he could find access to the shop he could have a free sub. Now the place hosts (and I mean hosts: free wings and sausage and their locally-famous sweet tea) a monthly tea party meeting. I’ll admit to being put off when a few weeks back the character of the sign changed: it said “a red-neck, Bible thumping (something or other) owns this joint,” making me feel generally unwelcome. Last night there were over 100 people there…

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