When Shrugging is Not an Option
- May/June 2025
- April 30, 2025
When the Obama administration announced in July that Rabbi David Nathan Saperstein had been nominated as the State Department’s religious freedom ambassador, American religious leaders hailed the selection, given the rabbi’s sterling résumé and past accomplishments. Among other highlights, Saperstein has served as director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, a
READ MOREFreedom of religion is at the core of who we are as Americans. It's been at the center of our very identity since the Pilgrims fled religious persecution and landed in my home state of Massachusetts. And many settled in the city of Salem, which takes its name from the words “salam,” “shalom,” meaning peace. But
READ MOREMaecenas mauris elementum, est morbi interdum cursus at elite imperdiet libero. Proin odios dapibus integer an nulla augue pharetra cursus.
READ MORE“We live in an era of uncertainty and anxiety about jobs. Workers who require religious accommodations are particularly vulnerable in this environment. With the abundance of people eager for employment, workers needing an accommodation face a perilous choice: ask for an accommodation that might precipitate loss of the position or compromise their religious belief in
READ MORESecular orthodoxy maintains that courts are the founts of justice. This belief is so ingrained in the political and cultural psyche that our judicial system is often referred to colloquially as the “justice system.” Within courts’ hallowed halls civil disputes are equitably resolved; the criminally guilty are so adjudged and punished appropriately; the innocent vindicated;
READ MOREEvery promoter and defender of religious freedom should once in a while visit a few historical sites related to the struggle. It will inspire them. This is what two dozen curious “pilgrims” transported on a big black tour bus did for for two weeks throughout Italy, France, and Switzerland. We began the tour with a three-day
READ MOREOn the last day of June the Supreme Court handed down one of the most anticipated results of this year, affirming that business and corporate owners do possess rights of religious freedom under federal law. Running a business or filing as a corporation does not mean that one must set aside one’s basic religious convictions.
READ MOREThe late Christopher Hitchens got a lot of mileage out of laying blame for most of the world's atrocities at the door of religion. I know he expected to vanish into the cosmos at death, but recent images out of Iraq would surely conjure up more of his ire if nothing else. It does seem
READ MOREABOVE: Claude Morgan, Associate Director of Church State Council (left) and John V. Stevens, Sr., Director of Church State Council observe the signing of conscience-exemption legislation by California governor, Jerry Brown. The Church State Council has worked tirelessly for 50 years to maintain religious freedom, despite relentless efforts by others to minimize that freedom and
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