Last week’s Supreme Court ruling is narrow, but it means that any unequal treatment of religious groups will be regarded as a violation of the First Amendment, even if it comes at the expense of the dignity of LGBTQ citizens.
Religion & Beliefs
‘Lady of Guadalupe’ Avoids Tough Truths About the Catholic Church and Indigenous Genocide
Ultimately “Lady of Guadeloupe” sanitizes the real-life brutality of the Church toward Indigenous peoples in the 16th century. This absence of critical engagement with the account of the Virgin’s appearance does not do justice to religious devotion, argues Rebecca Janzen.
At County Memorial for Lives Lost to Covid, a Solidarity of Grief Near and Far, and Thankfulness for Essential Workers
Eulogies personal and universal were among seven invocations that seven clergy members delivered in the county’s–or any local government’s–first memorial devoted to the losses of the 15-month-long covid-19 pandemic this afternoon in front of the Government Services Building in Bunnell.
Would Daily Moment of Silence Help Florida Students with Stress or Just Steal More Instruction Time?
The Florida Senate passed legislation that would require every first-period teacher to set aside one to two minutes for a moment of silence. That would be every school day, meaning roughly 180 days in the academic year.
Gov. DeSantis Could Use a Civics Lesson on the Florida Constitution
Even as they push a $106 million proposal to improve civics education, our legislators and our governor persist in violating the Constitution by supporting legislation authorizing programs to send nearly $1 billion to private, religious schools in our state.
The Trump Administration’s Final Push to Make It Easier for Religious Employers to Discriminate
Last-minute policies on religious freedom clear the way for employers to hire on the basis of faith. Some of the changes won’t be easy for Biden to undo.
Court’s Conservatives Are Right: Pandemic Limits on Houses of Worship Are Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning its own recent precedent to forbid attendance limits at houses of worship because of Covid was not an ideological decision so much as a victory for the First Amendment that liberals should be thankful for.
Florida Lawmakers Again Will Consider Requiring Moment of Silence in Schools
An effort to require public-school students to engage in a moment of silence at the start of each school day is back before the state Legislature. Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, refiled legislation (SB 282) on Thursday that would require principals to direct first-period teachers to set aside one to two minutes for “quiet reflection.”
Why Was Flagler’s County Administrator Allowed to Illegally Start a Public Meeting With a Christian Prayer?
A county commissioner read out a long and explicitly Christian prayer prepared by County Administrator Jerry Cameron at Monday’s commission meeting, breaking decades of precedent without prior legal review, public discussion or commissioners’ prior knowledge.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State Virtual National Advocacy Summit Sept. 14-15
AU’s Virtual National Advocacy Summit will bring together AU supporters from across the country to learn, advocate, and build the movement for separation of religion and government.