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Religious Freedom
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Religious intolerance is an old story in humanity, nearly as old as religion itself. But tolerance is old too: Cyrus the Great, one of the founders of the Persian Empire back in 500 BC, built his empire on religious tolerance.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The case has drawn considerable attention not only because of the fate of plaintiff Gerald Bostock, a Clayton County employee fired by his superiors after they learned he’d joined a gay softball league, but because of fears that, in the words of the main dissenting opinion, the Court’s decision “will threaten freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and personal privacy and safety.”
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Watching a condemned person die by hanging was once a public spectacle. Today, that is not the case—there is no entrance fee, and witnesses are not allowed to throw vegetables or cheer. But most often the witnesses are hostile to the person. After all, this is the ultimate punishment, and the condemned will finally pay for their crimes with their lives. The families of victims will finally have their revenge, or simple closure of that which began with harm done to their loved one.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The U.S. Supreme Court will shortly decide whether the State of Montana can prevent the use of public funds for any educational institution controlled by a religious organization.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
A bill currently pending in the Ohio state legislature has resulted in statements that, if it becomes law, students would be allowed to give “wrong” answers in class should scientific findings conflict with their religious beliefs. One opponent was quoted as saying that if a student gave a biblically based answer of 6,000 years as the age of the earth, a teacher would be forced to accept it. Others have made similar charges.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
And now just a few short weeks later, all of us suddenly find ourselves searching for faith elsewhere than where the signs and marquees direct us. But faith needs no seats, no altar, no stained-glass windows, no doors nor even walls.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
A friend of mine who lived among the native Inuits of far Northern Canada told me that if a person in the community, through his or her behavior, attitude and refusal to change, had now become a liability to others, he would simply “disappear” for the community. People would literally no longer see, communicate or acknowledge the person in any way, shape or form, even if he was standing right there. He would literally cease to exist, as far as the community went. Then, once he got his act together, people would once again see and acknowledge him.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
To this day, the assailants that closed in on Ryan’s fallen body and riddled it with rifle and shotgun blasts have not been conclusively identified, although as many as a dozen or so “possibles” have been named in connection with the attack. And so, as in the case of Congressman Hinds, the killers of Congressman Ryan escaped accountability from any court of law.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
There’s a day that now comes right after the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. Because hand in hand with terrorism comes Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Some smells made customers stay longer. Others had them fleeing the premises. The research also found odors needed to be appropriate—the smell of fish in a leather store, for example, probably wasn’t going to lead to higher pocketbook sales.
