Tag: freedom of religion

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Why Marriage in America Is Wrong

 

Marriage equality has become a sticking point for many Americans, primarily from the conservative side of the spectrum. As we get closer to the point where SCOTUS could arguably settle the dispute, I have been thinking about why we have ended up with the entire argument in the first place.

The basis of the marriage equity camp’s argument is the 14th Amendment, while those opposed tend to argue on the basis of the First Amendment (even though we haven’t really gotten to the point where lawsuits are being filed to force religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriage.) Ben Carson ended up in a minor situation with the Southern Poverty Law Center over the fact that he publicly stated that gay rights organizations should not be able to define marriage. Sadly, I can’t bring myself to agree with him, at least not in the context of state recognition of marriage.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Member Post

 

Since the time of the French Revolution all births, deaths and marriages must be registered with the local Civil Status Officer. And if that officer doesn’t like the name you chose for your child they can report you to the local prosecutor and get the courts to intervene. So we come to recent events in […]

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Promoted from the Ricochet Member Feed by Editors Created with Sketch. Atheist In the Foxhole? So Help Me God…

 

As many are aware, the Air Force became the last branch of the military to make “so help me God” optional in the oath of enlistment this past week.

A legal review of rules that required the phrase occurred after the American Humanist Association (AHA) threatened to sue on behalf of an atheist airman. The unnamed airman at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada was denied re-enlistment Aug. 25 after crossing the phrase out of the oath.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. HS Football Coach Suspended for Joining a Team Prayer

 

It has been a tough few weeks for football suspensions. As lurid tales of players beating women and “whooping” children dominate the headlines, a successful Arizona high school football coach has been suspended for an even more shocking offense:

Tempe Prep football coach Tommy Brittain has been suspended two weeks for praying with his team after the Show Low [Ariz.] win two weeks ago, his wife, Melissa, confirmed.

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A nightmare:  Attorneys for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City filed a lawsuit at noon today to stop the satanic black mass that organizers are planning to stage next month in the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall.  Preview Open

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That’s the title of a good Hitchcock film released in 1953. It concerns a Catholic priest who receives the confession of a murderer during the sacrament and then is pressured to reveal that confession to police. Sixty years ago, that scenario was just strong dramatic fiction. Today, it’s a reality for one priest in Louisiana:  […]

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I have little respect for Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a judge, but occasionally she does have a point.  Suppose an employer’s sincerely held religious belief is offended by health coverage of vaccines, or paying the minimum wage or according women equal pay for substantially similar work? Preview Open

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Promoted from the Ricochet Member Feed by Editors Created with Sketch. Do Owners of a Corporation Waive Their Free Exercise Right? Hobby Lobby and the Right — and Duty — of Conscience

 

The United States Government suggests that, by adopting the corporate form, the Green family — owners of Hobby Lobby — waived their rights of conscience. The Government betrays a deep misunderstanding of its subject.

Conscience insists on rights, which our Constitution affords. Those rights are not guaranteed for any low purpose, to do merely as we please. Conscience connects us with the divine as each finds it. And through that connection, it imposes duties. What is commonly called the “right” of conscience, then, is merely the space to discharge those duties. Because those duties are undeniable, the corresponding rights are unalienable. As James Madison said in his Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, the right of conscience “is unalienable…because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator.”