TAGS
FIRST AMENDMENT
MEDIA & ETHICS
Freedom of speech is a precious gift bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers. Anti-Scientologists routinely abuse that right. I could now proclaim that even though I detest what the haters say about my church, I will defend their right to say it. But I won’t. It would be a lie. Why on earth would I want to defend the abuse of this precious right by for-profit hatemongers?
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
In keeping with the spirit of the day, I engaged in a bit of reflection on what the Constitution means to me personally. Certainly as a lifelong Scientologist, a religion that emerged in the 20th century, the promise of religious freedom, combined with the prohibition of any official state religion, stand out. Although the forward progress of Scientology has not been without challenges, I’ve personally observed the strong commitment of many Americans to the ideal of religious freedom which has helped it thrive.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
To this day, the effects of that shot continue to be felt as nations come to grips with the concept of individual freedom.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
If you live in America you might find this hard to believe. Most people here and in Western countries are accustomed to Christians being “the norm,” with religious bigotry and scorn reserved for newer or less “mainstream” faiths. But that analysis would be missing one critical element: almost all religions are a minority somewhere.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
A brief glance through the Renaissance reveals so many examples of art and architecture created in honor of and inspired by the artist’s faith. Grand churches made of massive stones have sprung up in every European city—a testament to the faith and love of the people who started building them, knowing they might never live to see them finished.
MEDIA & ETHICS
We’re living in strange times. As a virus sweeps through the world, people’s stress level has reached a boiling point, and many are fed up with the status quo. People of color and their allies are fed up with racism and police brutality.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
In the weeks prior to the tragic raid, one such demagogue, the notorious convicted felon Rick Ross of the now defunct Cult Awareness Network, appeared on several network news shows and revealed that he had been “briefing” both the FBI and the ATF with his poisonous rhetoric.
MEDIA & ETHICS
Yes, something is changing: the rest of us, who have had to live with invasions of privacy and out-of-control attacks, are getting help from an unexpected quarter: the very wealthy. They are hitting back at media companies, who for 50 years have relied on a 1964 case that lets them publish provable falsehoods on politicians and public figures… unless they can prove “actual malice.”
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
The line in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been nearly beaten meaningless by repetition: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This line has been interpreted as a “separation of church and state.”
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
This situation has gotten so bad that there are now law firms that specialize in defending churches’ rights against suppressive government zoning boards, and these law firms make enough to stay in business just combating government suppression of religion.
