Secular Left Posts

March 27, 2015

Indiana Ends Fair And Equal Treatment

I was going to write a long winded post about the ‘Religious Freedom’ law signed by Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence today but I decided Brandan Robertson, on his blog Revangelical, made the kind of point I would be making. Basically, laws like Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ law makes a mockery out of ideals of fair and equal treatment that evolved from the civil rights struggle.

Here is an official photo of the private signing ceremony. Governor Pence is seated at the desk. We know Catholics are well represented but where are the atheists and Muslims?

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March 9, 2015

Missouri House of Worship Protection Act Unconstitutional

February 16, 2015

Alabama Judge Roy Moore Hates Same Sex Marriage Enough To Violate His Oath Of Office

file photo of Judge Roy Moore with his 10 Commandments monument
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in happier times when he thought he could force his religion on others

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is no stranger to violating his oath of office when it comes to his religious views. This time the line he’s drawn is same-sex marriage. He hates it. In an interview he tried to equate same-sex marriage with slavery to describe how wrong it is. This is why we need separation of church and state. Religious views shouldn’t trump civil rights or federal court decisions.

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January 30, 2015

Removing Restriction On Electioneering Might Be A Good Thing

clipart of preaching from the pulpit

Earlier this month, as soon as the Republican party took full control of both houses of Congress, Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC-3] introduced a bill that would remove the electioneering prohibition for churches and other 501(c)3 tax-exempt groups. This is a good and bad bill so I’m torn over it. While it would open a Pandora’s box of electioneering for churches, the current language of the bill would remove the restriction for all tax-exempt groups.

The American Humanist Association is sounding the alarm:

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January 27, 2015

Mormons Will Stop Fighting LGBT Rights As Long As They Get A Free Pass On Their Bigotry

December 25, 2014

Using Zoning Laws To Protect Religious Privilege

photo of the inside of a strip club
I’m sure there are plenty of believers in a strip club

One tool local governments use to protect religious privilege are zoning laws. They are regulations that spell out what people can and can’t do with their property. Many zoning regulations specifically spell out protections for religious property like churches while other zoning laws are used more subtly like getting a Zombie Nativity removed.

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