Religious Freedom
August 23, 2019
UN Devotes New Day to Combatting Anti-Religious Violence
There’s a day that now comes right after the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. Because...
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Religious Freedom
August 15, 2019
Highlighting the Difference: A Study of Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies
Some smells made customers stay longer. Others had them fleeing the premises. The research also found odors needed to be appropriate—the...
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Religious Freedom
August 3, 2019
Interfaith Courage Awarded at Second Ministerial for Religious Freedom
More than 30 years ago, Ivanir dos Santos began combating racial discrimination and promoting rights of members of minority...
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Religious Freedom
August 3, 2019
Supreme Court Allows Cross to Remain: Did It Establish Religion?
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that a 40-foot-high cross honoring residents of the Maryland town of Bladensburg...
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Religious Freedom
July 24, 2019
Second Ministerial for Religious Freedom Shines a Light on Intolerance and Genocide
It was a big event: on its final day, a participant reported, “Close to 900 members of civil society and religious groups...
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Religious Freedom
June 25, 2019
Is Freedom of Religion Limitless?
In the weeks prior to the tragic raid, one such demagogue, the notorious convicted felon Rick Ross of the now defunct Cult...
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Religious Freedom
May 29, 2019
Canadian Church Permits Atheist to Remain Minister
Religion is extremely valuable to society, but only when people are free to examine the subject for themselves and draw the...
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Religious Freedom
February 26, 2019
The Quran: Paving the Way in the Land of the Free
The origins of Islam in the U.S. today trace back to one simple concept, one word, three syllables: sla-ve-ry. When Ilhan...
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Religious Freedom
February 22, 2019
U.S. Supreme Court Ignores Religious Freedom in Death Penalty Case
The case seems simple at first. Dominique Hakim Marcelle Ray was convicted in 1995 of the rape and murder of a 15-year old...
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Religious Freedom
February 6, 2019
Religious Status Is for Those Who Help
Reading this recent article about a jailed neo-Nazi trying to hide behind “religious freedom” to protect his hate speech...
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Religious Freedom
February 4, 2019
The Greatest Tradition
Somewhere, thousands of years before Christ, deep in China, a spark was lit. We don’t know if it was a man or a woman but...
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Religious Freedom
January 20, 2019
City in Washington Prevents Minister from Helping Homeless
Probably everyone reading this post has personally observed the large and growing problem of homelessness in the United States....
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Religious Freedom
January 18, 2019
Religious Freedom–A Dream Worth Fighting For
Somehow religion and government, these two important arenas of human interaction, must come to terms with one another and...
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Religious Freedom
January 8, 2019
Church Is a Haven: No Touchy!
Isn’t that one of the key reasons religion exists? Besides recognizing and enhancing the spiritual aspect of humankind,...
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Religious Freedom
January 8, 2019
Religious Freedom—The History You Don’t Know
Until the mid-1300s, witchcraft and magic had been quietly accepted as part of the mystic melting pot that was Europe. That...
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Religious Freedom
January 2, 2019
The Price of Freedom
Some people see freedom as dangerous. They see people who cannot be enslaved as dangerous. They are the type who think that...
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Religious Freedom
December 19, 2018
Religious Freedom Roars Back to Life
On September 11, 2001, all that changed. As the nation focused on the War on Terrorism, religious freedom was no longer a...
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Religious Freedom
December 13, 2018
Bloggers of the Roundtable
These “Bloggers of the Round Table” are an eclectic bunch: musicians, writers, lawyers, pilots, business owners, clergy…...
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Religious Freedom
December 3, 2018
A New Years’ Ode to Religious Freedom
One of my personal goals in 2018 has been to speak out, loudly and as often as necessary, to protect my religion, Scientology,...
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Religious Freedom
September 20, 2018
How Religion Improves Lives and Why Bigots Oppose It
Growing up as an agnostic, John did not give religious matters too much thought. Nor did he assess his actions against any...
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Religious Freedom
September 12, 2018
Cyrus the Great and the Roots of Religious Freedom
You’ve probably never heard of Cyrus the Great, but if you admire and enjoy freedom of religion, freedom from slavery, and...
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Religious Freedom
August 13, 2018
Unanswered Questions About Jonestown—Witnesses Report
Was Jonestown one of the worst massacres of innocent American men, women and children in history? What purpose could the deaths...
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Religious Freedom
July 16, 2018
Unanswered Questions About Jonestown
Dr. Mootoo did not waver in his assessment of what had happened: the vast majority of Jonestown residents were victims of...
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Religious Freedom
July 11, 2018
Canadian Supreme Court Finds For the Jehovah’s Witnesses
The decision is a victory for the rights of religious groups to uphold standards for membership based on their own religious...
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Religious Freedom
July 1, 2018
Unanswered Questions About Jonestown—First in a Series—Who Silenced Joe Holsinger?
In November 1988, the Chicago Tribune featured his comments in an article by Bruce Buursma. Holsinger, Buursma wrote, “has...
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Religious Freedom
May 15, 2018
Why is Religion Under Attack?
Religion has been attacked and even its symbols are being aggressively removed from our society. School prayer, the Ten Commandments,...
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Religious Freedom
April 19, 2018
A Scientologist Asks, Is Religion Necessary for a Society to Thrive?
Just as scientists don’t rely on the blessings of priests to practice their disciplines, priests do not need the approval...
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Religious Freedom
April 1, 2018
The Ultimate Act of Defiance
Too often, man has seen rebellion as simply the opportunity to “do unto others as you believe they have done unto you.”...
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Religious Freedom
February 12, 2018
Martin Luther and Religious Freedom
I’m grateful to the contribution Luther made to religious freedom, which helped make it possible for Scientology to be practiced...
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Religious Freedom
February 12, 2018
When Sports and Religion Collide
Religion in sports is sometimes a touchy subject. Sometimes after a big win, in a postgame interview, an athlete may thank...
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Religious Freedom
January 2, 2018
The Insidious Government Suppression of Religion
This situation has gotten so bad that there are now law firms that specialize in defending churches’ rights against suppressive...
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Religious Freedom
December 29, 2017
The Little Boy Who Survived the Sutherland Springs Shooting
He was shot five times—twice in the stomach, twice in the leg and once in the elbow. He wasn’t a Marine and he wasn’t...
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Religious Freedom
December 27, 2017
A Jewish Scientologist’s Reflections on Hanukkah and Religious Freedom
This year, on the last night of the holiday, as the candles in our menorah flickered out with puffs of smoke, I thought of...
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Religious Freedom
December 13, 2017
The Worsening Attacks on International Religious Freedom
Whatever your religious beliefs may be, it is likely that others who share them are being attacked in some corner of the world....
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Religious Freedom
December 12, 2017
What is “Separation of Church and State” About Anyway?
I recently read an article in which the author asserted that the purpose of freedom of religion and “separation of church...
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Religious Freedom
November 21, 2017
Why Is a Texas School Being Bullied by the Freedom From Religion Foundation?
This is not free thinking. This is hostile to religion and to an individual’s freedom of religious choice, as outlined explicitly...
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Religious Freedom
October 25, 2017
A Very Satanic Xmas: Freedom of Speech or Just Plain Provocation?
Over the 2016 Christmas period, Boca Raton’s traditional Christian Nativity scene gained an unlikely neighbor: a satanic...
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Religious Freedom
October 17, 2017
Religion in Schools: Does it Work?
“Religious studies” should, in my view, be just that—a comparative study of a whole array of religions, giving an overview...
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Religious Freedom
October 13, 2017
Why Religion Matters Now More Than Ever
More than ever in these tumultuous times, Man needs knowledge of his own spirituality and a higher state to reach for as a...
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Religious Freedom
October 6, 2017
Why Religious Freedom is Under Attack
Most world religions share a common purpose, whether it’s acknowledging spirituality, encouraging humanitarianism or preaching...
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Religious Freedom
September 13, 2017
Adams, Jefferson, Religion & Freedom
A while ago I wrote a post about a squabble in Arizona over whether a humanist could give a benediction to the state legislature...
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Religious Freedom
September 9, 2017
UN Youth Summit Inspires Human Rights Advocates Worldwide
I met Christians, Buddhists, Bahá’ís, Sikhs and Muslims. They were all united in their belief that fundamental human rights...
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Religious Freedom
August 28, 2017
Bigotry 101: Beware of Dragons
“Stay away from that,” warned my history professor, glaring at the book in my bag. “I’m serious.” “It’s… dangerous!”...
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Religious Freedom
August 23, 2017
STAND Member Reflects on Visit to Iconic Religious Freedom Site
Under cover of a January blizzard, Roger Williams left his wife and children, slipping away to avoid the men sent to arrest...
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Religious Freedom
August 12, 2017
The Importance of Religious Liberty, a Scientologist’s view
During the modern age, regardless of how that is defined, unquestionably few groups have done more to advance the cause of...
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Religious Freedom
August 11, 2017
The “Haunted” Inn and a Lesson on Perspective
Recently, I flew back to my home town for a high school reunion. I rented a car and drove to the Historic Brook Forest Inn,...
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Religious Freedom
August 3, 2017
STAND Considers United Nations Combat of Hate Speech a Good Sign
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered an insightful speech when he launched the Fez Plan of Action to prevent hate...
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Religious Freedom
July 20, 2017
A Case of Medical Discrimination
I took a survey yesterday about my recent experience in the hospital. I was there for a C-section for my third baby. One of...
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Religious Freedom
July 19, 2017
Faith, Freedom and One’s Fellow Man
After seven hours of a passionate but civil public dialogue, more than 170 Americans came together to decide the future of...
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Religious Freedom
July 12, 2017
A Scientologist’s Great-Grandmother’s Poem
I was fortunate enough to know, and have wonderful conversations, with a truly fascinating woman—my great grandmother. Just...
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Religious Freedom
July 4, 2017
Reflections on Independence Day and Freedom of Belief
As a Scientologist, a STAND member and a United States citizen who spent the bulk of her college career studying the American...
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Religious Freedom
June 30, 2017
Did the Supreme Court Just Strengthen or Weaken Religious Freedom?
Many generations of Supreme Court Justices have tried to define the correct balance of church and state.
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Religious Freedom
June 28, 2017
Football, Faith and Freedom
We LOVE football in our house. Everybody has a different favorite team they’re passionate about which makes holiday shopping...
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Religious Freedom
June 26, 2017
Debunking the “Atheists are Smarter” Myth
Several researchers in the field of psychology descended from the ultra-recirculated, purified air of academia to address...
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Religious Freedom
June 16, 2017
Freedom in Prison
If a man breaks the law, does he then lose his right to be treated as a human being? It’s got to be said that here we’re...
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Religious Freedom
June 12, 2017
Intolerance Takes Center Stage in Austria
The Austrian Parliament recently passed a law banning women from wearing garments that cover their face s. As is the norm...
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Religious Freedom
June 8, 2017
It’s Your Right, But Is It Right?
I believe in the power of speech. I believe in freedom of speech. I believe in my First Amendment rights. I believe in our...
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Religious Freedom
June 7, 2017
Pray-o-mat: Humble Photo Booth Becomes a Place of Worship
So now you can sit in a booth at Stuttgart airport and access 300 audio prayers from a variety of world religions. The seed...
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Religious Freedom
June 3, 2017
Humanity vs. a Higher Power and the Arizona Invocation
An atheist member of the Arizona legislature caused a small stir recently when she offered up a humanist invocation calling...
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Religious Freedom
May 22, 2017
That Joke Ain’t Funny
There are times I feel like complaining and this is one of those times. I was looking through Facebook the other day and saw...
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Religious Freedom
May 20, 2017
The Only Ones That Can Save Us
Time and again, whole peoples have put their trust and hope in their leaders, to their lasting regret. An individual from...
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Religious Freedom
May 17, 2017
Tell Someone. And Get Them to Tell Someone Else.
It has been said that if one person told someone about something, and then the next day that second person told someone else,...
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Religious Freedom
May 11, 2017
The Good, the Bad and the Judgment
I was told many times growing up that I needed to use a little judgment. This was usually after I had brought about a disaster...
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Religious Freedom
May 3, 2017
How I Judge
Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Buddhist, Lama, Muslim, Baptist, Scientologist and on and on and on the list goes. I...
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Religious Freedom
April 27, 2017
Remembering the Holocaust, and a Remarkable Story of Survival
Joe was a brilliant, hard-working man who, because he was Jewish, found himself a prisoner in a concentration camp in Poland...
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Religious Freedom
April 27, 2017
What the News Media Will Never Tell You About Scientology
I have been in Scientology since 1980. At the age of 24 my life had become consumed by alcohol and drug abuse. I was on the...
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Religious Freedom
April 15, 2017
Dress for “Religious Freedom” Success
When you hear the name Norfolk, you’re likely to think of the sprawling Virginia metropolis fronting the vast Chesapeake...
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Religious Freedom
April 14, 2017
Freedom is Just Freedom
Historically, the human race has excelled in the fields of prejudice and discrimination. Historically, the human race has...
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Religious Freedom
April 14, 2017
Leave “Islamic” Out of It
I have friends, associates and employees of Muslim faith. Not a single one has ever demonstrated signs of wanting “Jihad.”...
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Religious Freedom
April 12, 2017
Religion Communicators Council Annual Convention–A Member’s View
The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) is the oldest organization of its kind. Founded in 1929, its primary purpose is to...
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Religious Freedom
April 11, 2017
Truth Is the Anvil That Wears Out All the Hammers
I live in a small town. Very few members of my faith live nearby. I’m pretty much alone here. Some might worry that I am...
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Religious Freedom
April 11, 2017
What it Means to Be an American
I’ve studied the Constitution of the United States more than once and I love what our founders put in place for future generations.
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Religious Freedom
April 7, 2017
Talk Versus Action
Dr. Ganoune Diop, director of public affairs and religious freedom for the worldwide Seventh-Day Adventist Church, recently...
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Religious Freedom
April 6, 2017
Why Valarie Kaur is Right
After the September 11th attacks I remember hearing from a college friend whose family members were practicing Sikhs. She...
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Religious Freedom
April 6, 2017
Why “I Believe in Interfaith” Too
The Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., is running a great video campaign under the banner of “I Believe...
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Religious Freedom
April 6, 2017
Know What You Fear
One of the most troubling emotions we deal with as a society is fear. Fear of the unknown, the undiscovered or the not understood...
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Religious Freedom
March 28, 2017
What Color are Your Eyes?
Discriminate: to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit. If you have ever been discriminated...
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Religious Freedom
March 27, 2017
The EU Court’s Decision—What Equality?
When I read about the European Court’s decision to uphold the firing of a Muslim woman for wearing a headscarf, what came...
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Religious Freedom
March 25, 2017
Confession, Religion and Peace
Have you ever gotten something off your chest and felt the relief? I'm talking about an act you committed, large or small,...
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Religious Freedom
March 13, 2017
Religion, Understanding and the Meaning of a Word
To say we’re living in turbulent times would be understating it. We’re all drowning in a sea of information that comes...
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Religious Freedom
March 12, 2017
Don’t Joke, Look!
By Evan Wecksell I live in Los Angeles, a city with the highest concentration of Scientologists in the world.
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Religious Freedom
March 12, 2017
Intolerance in Hollywood—A Word of Caution
Hollywood, my hometown, is all about tolerance… as long as it fits “their” agenda. Pro-choice, green initiatives, gay...
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Religious Freedom
March 8, 2017
Fact or Fiction?
There are some people who think they know what Scientology is because they read a book “about” Scientology or saw a special...
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Religious Freedom
March 8, 2017
Shining a Light Into the Darkness
One of the most uplifting things about the human experience is when people suffering unimaginable loss choose to channel their...
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Religious Freedom
March 8, 2017
Verbal Vandals
By Stacy Sass I was standing in front of my Church with my family and some friends, lingering and chatting after a particularly...
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Religious Freedom
March 6, 2017
Scientology Taught Me Human Rights
Just recently I was scrolling idly through some Internet news when I came across a statement uttered by some C-list actress...
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Religious Freedom
March 5, 2017
Dying to Believe
Most of us will never have to die for our convictions. The question of whether we would be strong enough to stand up to a...
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Religious Freedom
March 4, 2017
Three Universes
Rather than using the third universe—the one we all share—to dominate others and impose our own sense of what is true...
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Religious Freedom
February 28, 2017
Is Hate Speech Free Speech?
It is then up to the rest of us, the majority of people, the decent folk who choose to live in harmony with our fellow human...
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Religious Freedom
February 22, 2017
STAND Joins with Jewish Community to Declare: It’s Time to End the Bigotry
I was saddened and outraged to learn of the depraved act of vandalism that left 170 Jewish gravestones toppled in Missouri’s...
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Religious Freedom
February 19, 2017
Starting at Home
To discriminate against a minority religion is to discriminate against any and all religion. Think about it for a moment—every...
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Religious Freedom
February 17, 2017
The State of Religious Freedom in America
Freedom of religion is under attack in our country, where more so than any other it should be protected. I am appalled.
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Religious Freedom
February 10, 2017
My Scientology
I don’t need to know much about the guy who threatened Scientologists in a recent post on Facebook.
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Religious Freedom
February 2, 2017
Meet Me Halfway
When it comes to understanding the religious beliefs of others, there is often some inherent unwillingness to meet the other...
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Religious Freedom
November 11, 2016
A Top Sociologist Warns: How Intolerance Leads to Violence
For an in-your-face discussion of the effects of religious extremism and intolerance, log in to the series of talks given...
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Religious Freedom
November 7, 2016
U.S. Department of Education Acts to Quell Religion-based Bullying in the Nation’s Schools
“Few issues in American public life engender more controversy than religion and public education,” says Americans United...
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Religious Freedom
November 4, 2016
Let’s Do Talk About Religion
The Alarming Reality of Religious Discrimination “Talk about anything but religion or politics.” This old saw arose from...
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