Tag: church and state - Page 17

April 26, 2014

One Christian Unicorn: Religion In The Schools

If you spend enough time involved in the fight to maintain the separation of the church and state, you tend to see the same arguments from theists used over and over. Even though the arguments have been refuted over and over, they still use them and act like it is a way to get a checkmate against real religious freedom. One such argument is believing if only religion were put back into the schools all the problems in the world will disappear. The reality is much much different.

Something interesting I found on the Intertubes the other day gives a good example of an argument about putting religion back in the schools. It was a blog post about a book by Jeff Wallace titled “In God We Trusted”:

Read the post

March 24, 2014

If Hobby Lobby Wins, Corporations Will Be Able To Tell Your Doctor What To Say

The Hobby Lobby religious exemption to covering contraception case will be heard in the US Supreme Court starting on Tuesday. If corporations are given a right to religious freedom there is no telling how bad this will be for people. One bad result, that hasn’t been reported on by the media, is that both plaintiffs want to prevent Doctors from even talking about contraceptives to their employees. These corporations want to get between you and your doctor.

Read the post

March 23, 2014

Religious Persecution Is A Fantasy From The Right

image of a street sign showing Church and State streets crossing

Those of us who are concerned about and study separation of church and state issues, here in the US, know that complaints by Christians about religious persecution are, for the most part, fits of fantasy by people on the right. Claims of persecution seem to increase when there are large cultural shifts like we see in acceptance of same-sex marriage. It’s always good to have a list of points showing that religious persecution of Christians is in fact a fantasy.

Rob Boston, Director of Communications at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, wrote “Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give You the Right to Tell Other People What to Do” where he points out how much the religious believer is favored in the US and are not persecuted:

Read the post

February 25, 2014

New York Town Uses Tax Dollars To Plow Church Parking Lots

This winter has been tough for many of us. Feet of snow and frigid temperatures have gripped the US from the Midwest to the Northeast for much of the winter. Many local governments have been strained to keep the roads clear. Some elections are decided based on how elected officials handle services like plowing snow. How would taxpayers feel if their local government passed an ordinance to plow the parking lots of some local churches? One New York town, Shandaken, did just that and like most actions that support religious privilege, the town leaders don’t see the problem.

Read the post

February 20, 2014

Ohio Exempts Faith Healing from Child Abuse Laws

Recently a Pennsylvania couple was convicted of allowing a second sick child to die. They tried to use their religion as a defense for refusing to take two of their children to medical professionals. Did you know that Ohio also exempts religious beliefs of the parents from laws meant to protect children? This is the worst kind of religious privilege since it can lead to the death of a child. We need to demand our legislatures remove religious exemptions for child abuse and neglect.

The other day a friend of mine, from my local Humanist group, pointed out a section of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC), Chapter 2919: Offenses Against The Family:

Read the post

January 30, 2014

Great Time At The Ohio Secular Summit

image of the Secular Summit 2.0 Welcome Sign that greeted participants

Secular Summit 2.0 Welcome Sign Greeted Participants

On January 28th, a bitterly cold Tuesday morning, approximately 20 people gathered for the second annual Secular Summit in the Museum Gallery in the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus. The summit was organized and hosted by the Center for Inquiry Northeast Ohio (CFI NE Ohio) but included people from the various secular groups in Ohio. In the morning we had several speakers, some training in lobbying, and then the afternoon was when participants visited their Representatives and Senators to introduce themselves and the issues of importance to seculars in the state. The extreme cold couldn’t keep us from talking to the legislature, most of whom have completely opposite views.

The Secular Summit was held in the Museum Gallery on the ground floor of the Ohio State House.

Read the post