Trump's "Religious Liberty" report is a JOKE!

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z493qdc2ZU8

The Bishops, the Billionaires, and the Catholic Far-Right (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Brad speaks with Mary Jo McConahay, who tells the story of how the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have become one of the most formidable and reactionary forces in America — by campaigning to alter democratic institutions under the guise of religious liberty, and allying with major right-wing contributors such as the Kochs. 

But as McConahay details, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In an investigation reminiscent of Jane Mayer’s Dark Money, she uncovers an ominous and long-term political strategy of attacking secular, liberal democracy by waging war on democratic norms and institutions. 

Playing God was chosen by the New Yorker as one of the books helping to make sense of the current political moment.

Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/the-bishops-the-billionaires-and-the-catholic-far-right/

Religious liberty at the Supreme Court: Groff

In past decades, the Supreme Court guarded against such injustices. It held that the First Amendment's establishment clause forbids the government from imposing religious accommodations that place "significant burdens" on third parties. And it recognized that people of different faiths, or no faith, have a compelling interest in avoiding discrimination that's motivated by religion. This approach balanced respect for free exercise with an acknowledgment of everyone else's liberties.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the court has abandoned this balance. Instead, the current conservative supermajority has greenlighted or mandated accommodations that directly injure other people. And it has exacerbated third-party harms by prioritizing religious freedom over everybody else's interest…

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/01/religious-liberty-supreme-court-employment-groff.html

Opinion | Alito’s Call to Arms to Secure Religious Liberty - The New York Times

Justices and legal scholars alike have struggled for decades to identify the right balance for religion within a pluralistic society, an effort Justice Alito reduced to a cartoonish either/or… He offered no acknowledgment, none, of the harm that can occur when religion is elevated above all other claims to recognition and respect.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/opinion/religion-supreme-court-alito.html

Where Justice Alito and Rep. Greene overlap on religious liberty - The Washington Post

All of this reflects a familiar pattern on the right. Polling has repeatedly shown that Republicans in particular view Christians and Whites as targets of discrimination equivalent to or even more so than Black Americans or Jews...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/29/where-justice-alito-rep-greene-overlap-religious-liberty/ 

‘Theocratic’ abortion bans will violate religious liberty, faith leaders say | Abortion | The Guardian

"Our tradition not only permits us to access abortion but also commands us to pursue justice," she said. "We, as a religious minority with a long and complicated history, know all too well that the separation of church and state is one of the great gifts that our constitution offers. And it is critical that it be taken seriously."…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/02/abortion-bans-violate-religious-liberty

How the Satanic Temple is using 'abortion rituals' to claim religious liberty against the Texas' 'heartbeat bill'

… This is why constitutional law professor Jay Wexler has encouraged the work of groups like The Satanic Temple, stating, "Only by insisting on exercising these rights can Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and everybody else ensure that the Court's new religious jurisprudence does not result in a public space occupied exclusively by Christian messages and symbols. At stake is nothing less than our national public life."…

https://theconversation.com/how-the-satanic-temple-is-using-abortion-rituals-to-claim-religious-liberty-against-the-texas-heartbeat-bill-167755

For Christ’s Sake - Progressive.org

…They ran his proposal up to the highest levels of the Republican Party, and they seemingly ignored the law to get the result they wanted, as expressed by the Christian nationalist writer Gary North: to construct "a Bible-based social, political, and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God."…
https://progressive.org/magazine/for-christ-sake-christophi/

Mike Pence does not respect life.

...As professor Reva Siegel of Yale Law School has long argued, a "pro-life" view of the world must necessarily encompass more than stopping abortions. It would sweep in "policies on sexual education, contraception, abortion, health care, income assistance, and the accommodation of pregnancy and parenting in the workplace." Donald Trump and Mike Pence can wrap themselves in the soothing language of supporting life. But not one other word spoken during Wednesday night's debate suggested any regard for human life, as it is currently manifested across the country and, indeed, the planet. As their attempts to minimize and distract from their COVID response shows, they seem a bit more comfortable every passing day to resign themselves to widespread death. Or as Siegel put it in an email to me today, "We have to stop debating abortion in a single-issue context—and ask what opposition to abortion reflects when an official or government opposing abortion fails to express concern for human life in these other policy contexts?"... 

 ... What he was really saying is neither he, nor the president, nor anyone else who refuses to wear masks (including his wife when she joined him onstage after the debate) should be denied their right to exercise "freedom" and personal choice, even if human life is at stake. But this exact freedom and choice is precisely what they would like to deny to women who would also like to make much more fundamental decisions about their own bodies and lives than merely keeping a mask on. Only then does the value of "life" enter the ledger sheet, and indeed tip the balance completely. Pence's "commitment to life" is not a stance that reflects an actual commitment to human existence, or individual agency, or survival. It's a stance that reflects a commitment to unfettered liberty for men, even at the undisputed, scientifically certain risk of others...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/mike-pence-pro-life-abortion-covid.html

Unpatriotic History

https://youtu.be/Q-7AbIvP3HA

True religious liberty at stake in Espinoza case | Freethought Today

The U.S. Supreme Court should appreciate the real issue at stake in the Espinoza voucher case, the Freedom From Religion Foundation urged when oral arguments began Jan. 22. FFRF’s 18-page friend-of-the-court brief, filed in November jointly with Center for Inquiry, American Atheists and the American Humanist Association, cogently argued that true religious liberty would be endangered if the court strikes down a provision of Montana’s Constitution that prohibits funding religious education.
https://www.freethoughttoday.com/vol-37-no-02-march-2020/true-religious-liberty-at-stake-in-espinoza-case

Bill Barr Thinks America Is Going to Hell - NYTimes

And he’s on a mission to use the “authority” of the executive branch to stop it. ....
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/29/opinion/william-barr-trump.html

The Biggest Religious Liberty Cases of 2019 Revolve Around Christian Bigotry | Hemant Mehta | Friendly Atheist | Patheos

Christian website The Gospel Coalition just posted a list of “10 Critical Religious Liberty Cases” to watch next year. Editor Joe Carter says there are “continual threats to the religious freedom of Christians in America” and these cases will be the battlegrounds in 2019....

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2018/12/26/the-biggest-religious-liberty-cases-of-2019-revolve-around-christian-bigotry/

2 pastors just heckled Jeff Sessions at an event on religious liberty - Vox

They told him "you are wounding the body of Christ" by failing to care for marginalized. ....
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/29/18039194/jeff-sessions-religious-freedom-heckled-event-pastor-methodist

Religious freedom for me, but not for thee - The Washington Post

The Catholic sisters in the order of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ announced this month that they plan to petition the Supreme Court to consider whether their religious-freedom rights are being violated by the construction and pending use of a natural-gas pipeline on their land in Pennsylvania. They argue their faith commits them to “believe that God calls humans to treasure land as a gift of beauty and sustenance that should not be used in an excessive or harmful way.” Lawyers representing the federal government have vigorously opposed the nuns’ right to assert a religious-liberty claim in federal court.....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/religious-freedom-for-me-but-not-for-thee/2018/09/28/297fffb4-c340-11e8-8f06-009b39c3f6dd_story.html

Christian Pol, Attacked for Opposing 'In God We Trust' in School, Talks Church and State - Rewire.News - Religion Dispatches

I'm continually surprised that people who say they want less intrusive government are so eager to promote this intrusion into our personal lives.....

https://rewire.news/religion-dispatches/2018/09/17/christian-pol-attacked-for-opposing-in-god-we-trust-in-school-talks-church-and-state/

To Trump, Kavanaugh’s testimony about religious liberty made him worth the pick - The Washington Post

During his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Brett M. Kavanaugh has said repeatedly that he cannot reveal his views on legal cases that might come before him as a justice. Yet on religious liberty — the issue at the center of conservative Christian support for President Trump — Kavanaugh this week sent several signals that he is on the same page as the president’s most loyal base.....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/09/07/to-trump-kavanaughs-testimony-about-religious-liberty-made-him-worth-the-pick/

Opinion | Whose Religious Liberty Is It Anyway? - The New York Times

At his confirmation hearings, Brett Kavanaugh said just what religious conservatives — and Christian nationalists — wanted to hear....

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/opinion/kavanaugh-supreme-court-religious-liberty.html

Josh Hawley is trying to inject politics into the pulpit | The Kansas City Star

Last month, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley made an intriguing — and politically loaded — proposal to a group of conservative religious leaders in St. Louis. Hawley, who’s in a neck-and-neck race with Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill, said he wanted to do away with a long-standing provision in the federal tax code that prohibits religious organizations and pastors from endorsing political candidates....

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article217804295.html

New 'Religious Liberty Task Force' Highlights Sessions, DOJ Priorities : NPR

On Monday the Department of Justice announced the creation of a Religious Liberty Task Force. NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Emma Green, The Atlantic reporter, about the Trump administration's legal emphasis on religious liberty....

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/02/635047680/new-religious-liberty-task-force-highlights-sessions-doj-priorities