Ten years ago the state of California found itself embroiled in a debate over the nature of marriage. Listed on the ballot for the Fall elections was Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
In the book, 1984, George Orwell paints a bleak portrait of a future where Big Brother is watching everything you do, and the thought police can practically read your mind. In order to gain the support of the population, an ironically named Ministry of Truth twists the meaning of words to make terrible concepts seem acceptable with slogans such as War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; and Ignorance is Strength.
His passion in the classroom was the minor prophets – particularly the biblical books of Amos and Micah. He spoke of justice, and mercy and humility, and how being “religious” did not mean anything if you didn’t “defend the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)
Have you ever wondered what legal mechanism existed that permitted the legalization of slavery in the United States after the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791? How it was that men, women, and children were held in bondage after Francis Scott Key wrote the famous words, “land of the free, and the home of the brave” in 1812? How segregation persisted in law until the late 1960s?
I saw it as soon as we walked out of the store from our back-to-school shopping; a big red pickup with a big Confederate Flag flying from the back. Immediately, I felt uncomfortable and wished that I wasn’t parked so close to it.
By Jason Hines, Ph.D., J.D. [dc]I[/dc] am slightly ashamed and embarrassed that it takes incidents like what happened in Charlottesville yesterday to drive me back into the writer’s chair. […]
In a narrowly drafted opinion, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled that the government could not compel a Christian printer to promote messages that violated his religious beliefs.
In a stunning report, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman Martin Castro attacked the Religious Freedom Restoration Act at both the state and federal level, challenged the terms “religious liberty” and “religious liberty” as code for intolerance, and argued that free exercise rights should yield to other civil rights if they come into conflict.
On August 16, 2016, the Northwest Religious Liberty Association (NRLA) celebrated its 25th anniversary by highlighting key legislative achievements, including the passage of the Idaho Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in 2000 and the two-part passage of the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) in 2009 and 2010.
By Jason Hines, Ph.D., J.D. – One of the unfortunate things about the discussion that occurs whenever a police officer shoots another unarmed Black man is its monotony. I was planning to sit out the debate that would occur around the death of Alton Sterling. The reason I wanted to sit the discussion out is because we always seem to hit the same beats. Black folk say #BlackLivesMatter. The ignorant and the bigots among us say #AllLivesMatter. Before long, someone asks, “What about Black on Black crime?”