AUTHOR
Jeffrey Murphy
Paralegal, researcher & amateur historian.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Maintaining religious freedom in prisons isn’t simply a matter of law, or principle, but of humanity and hope.
TOLERANCE
But is the situation really hopeless? The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians was not created by an impersonal force of nature. It was created by the conflicting ideas of different human beings and is kept alive by current generations on both sides who have not figured out how to get along.
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
Those three events may have been more dramatic and grabbed more headlines than most instances of violent persecution, but they were by no means isolated. Open Doors, an organization which advocates for persecuted Christians, estimated that between October 2019 and September 2020, over 4,700 Christians were killed around the world for their faith. There were also close to 6,000 incidents of arrests or abduction of Christians due to their religion. By their estimation, 340 million Christians live in countries where they are subject to persecution.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
Behind the impersonal statistics are tragic stories of businesses being vandalized, people being denigrated, assaulted, and in some cases killed, such as the tragedy which befell an 84-year-old Thai man in San Francisco, targeted solely because of his ethnicity, who was shoved to the ground and died.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
As we confront a 10-year high in hate crimes, the 1921 destruction of a vibrant and prosperous Black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma by a white mob has important lessons for today.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The New York State decision is not going to be the end of the discussion. Other cases are pending. Legislative bodies have become involved, such as a bill introduced into the Oklahoma State Senate to prevent government bodies from restricting lawful religious activities and recognizing the essential nature of churches.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
A federal judge dismissed a suit by Libby Hilsenrath, a New Jersey mother who claimed that a seventh-grade social studies course entitled “World Cultures and Geography,” which includes information on all of the world’s religions, attempted to indoctrinate students in the Islamic faith.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
Groups or individuals on the receiving end of such attacks have a duty, not just a right, to make the truth about themselves known. And most importantly, we are all responsible for doing our part to build a society based on mutual understanding and respect in which we can live securely and in peace.
TOLERANCE
While there is no rote answer to that question, I believe that upholding free expression has two sides. One side, of course, is keeping it free. The other, perhaps not as obvious, is insisting that expression contribute positively to society or at least not weaken the social bonds that make freedom possible.
