NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty addresses this question. Here is an excerpt followed by a link to the article: Americans’ religious liberties are under attack – or at least that’s what some conservatives say. Newt Gingrich warns the U.S. is becoming a secular country, which would be a “nightmare.” Rick Santorum says there’s a clash between…
Category: Current Events
Cumberland Times News : Start telling the truth about ‘school prayer’
EXCERPT: Visit public schools anywhere in America today and you’re likely to see kids praying around the flagpole,sharing their faith with classmates,reading scriptures in free time,forming religious clubs,and in other ways bringing God with them through the schoolhouse door each day. As for celebrating Christmas,students are free to say “Merry Christmas,” give Christmas messages to…
BILL TRACKER: Congress Votes to Reauthorize US Commission on International Religious Freedom
H.R. 2867: United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2011 is now on President Obama’s desk. There had been some concern that the USCIRF may not have been approved by the Senate. Bookmark this page to track the latest developments. The funding and function of USCIRF was the subject of…
Adventist church leaders meet with Hungarian ambassador on looming deregistration of churches
Religious liberty leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church this week met the Hungarian ambassador to the United States in an effort to help officials from that country better understand the potential effects of a looming deregistration of churches.
New York City ‘Workplace Religious Freedom Act’ Clarifies Religious Accommodation Requirements for Employers
On August 30, 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the “Workplace Religious Freedom Act” (Int. 632-A) into law clarifying what requirements employers are required to meet to demonstrate that they have done all that is necessary to make a reasonable attempt to accommodate the bona fide religious needs of employees. Under pre-existing law,…
Should Congress Continue to Fund the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom?
(This article was written as a contribution to a Liberty Magazine Round Table discussion. Read the other responses and contribute your thoughts at http://www.libertymagazine.org/index.php?id=1665 ) By Michael D. Peabody – In August 2011, the Pew Research Institute released a study, Rising Restrictions on Religion, which found that more than a third of the population of the world…
Trial Court Upholds Most of Canada’s Anti-Polygamy Law (Religion Clause blog)
Law Professor Howard Friedman reports on his Religion Clause blog: Excerpt: In Canada, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the province’s superior trial court) today upheld most of Canada’s anti-polygamy law (Sec. 293 of Criminal Code of Canada) against challenges to it brought under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The suit was brought…
Vatican again urges radical reform of global marketplace – The Irish Times
Excerpt: TRADE ISSUES: FOR THE second time in the last month, the Holy See has argued that international trade markets need to be radically reformed. The point was made by secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who, at a Vatican meeting of European Bishops’ Conferences on the New Evangelisation yesterday said: “The [global] crisis illustrates…
John F. Kennedy’s Speech Affirming Separation of Church and State
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.
ANALYSIS: Bishops Claim Religious Liberty Under Assault
The Church can assert its right speak in the the public square, but it should not assume power it does not have in order to force the rest of society to follow its lead.