When Shrugging is Not an Option
- May/June 2025
- April 30, 2025
Sometimes it has to happen to a celebrity before the world pays attention. In 1993 acclaimed American Jazz pianist Chick Corea was disinvited from a concert in Stuttgart, Germany. The government of the German state of BadenWurttemberg canceled the concert because Mr. Corea is a Scientologist. For many, this was the first indication that all
READ MOREWhat does religious liberty mean to me? Does it have any kind of significance in my life? In Paradise, California, how does freedom of religion shape my life? On one hand, being able to choose my religion means everything to me; on the other, sadly, it means almost nothing. Because I live in the United
READ MOREIt was the most important and popular piece of religious liberty legislation since the First Amendment was ratified more than 200 years ago. It was suggested by the broadest coalition of religious groups ever assembled in the United States: Jews and Muslims, Buddhists and Baptists, Christian Scientists and Scientologists, Latter-day Saints and Seventh-day Adventists, and
READ MORE"Broken Wings," Broken Hearts I've just finished reading the article "Broken Wings" in the July/August issue of Liberty. Never before, in my 40 years, have I read anything so tragic as what was written regarding female genital mutilation. I cried till I thought my heart would break. I am the mother of an 18-year-old daughter,
READ MOREMan "is born without his own consent; his organization does in nowise depend upon himself; his ideas come to him involuntarily; his habits are in the power of those who cause him to contract them; he is unceasingly modified by causes, whether visible or concealed, over which he has no control. . . . He
READ MOREThe historical evidence casts doubt on the Court's current interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause. The record instead reveals that its drafters and ratifiers more likely viewed the Free Exercise Clause as a guarantee that government may not unnecessarily hinder believers from freely practicing their religion, a position consistent with our pre-Smith jurisprudence. . .
READ MORECULTURAL RELATIVISM A man in Egypt was arrested for beheading his 25-year-old daughter. According to news reports, Marzouk Ahmed Abdel-Rahim refused Ashrah Mohammed Ahmed's request for the hand of Marzouk's daughter Nora, so Ashrah and Nora ran off and tied the knot anyway. Seven days later Abdel-Rahim hunted down the honeymooners and chopped off Nora's
READ MOREWe held in Smith that the Constitution's Free Exercise Clause "does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a valid and neutral law of general applicability on the ground that the law proscribes (or prescribes) conduct that his religion prescribes (or proscribes)." The material that the dissent claims is at odds with
READ MOREIt was bitterly cold in Massachusetts on Christmas Day in 1992, with temperatures plunging below zero. But neither the ice nor the Christmas season kept the faithful away from betting on their favorite greyhounds at the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park. George Carney, the track owner, had received permission from the state racing commission to open on
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