Several state legislatures are pushing Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bills, which many have dubbed “licenses to discriminate.” These bills could allow people to disregard non-discrimination, public safety, and public health laws in the name of religion. Here are some recent updates from on state RFRA bills:
Indiana Read more
The Mississippi House of Representatives recently passed a bill that lawmakers claim will help smaller churches with their transportation costs – but these misguided politicians may be putting lives at risk. Read more
All families are equal, but some families are more equal than others. That’s the gist of a new proposal by Kansas state senator Forrest Knox (R-Dist. 14) that would create a special class of foster families, called “CARE families.” Read more
A group of misguided Oklahoma lawmakers is out to whitewash Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History courses – and if they succeed the state’s students will pay the price. Read more
A legislator in Tennessee has proposed naming the Bible the state’s official book.
State Rep. Jerry Sexton says the proposal would simply acknowledge the Bible’s “historically important role.” Read more
Editor's Note: Today's blog is a re-publication of an item that originally appeared on Presidents' Day 2012.
Today is Presidents’ Day. Celebrate by reading some great presidential classics of religious liberty!
Start with George Washington’s letter to Touro Synagogue, one of the most succinct statements ever issued about religious liberty.
Keith Ingram has fallen in love, and he wants to get married. It's a familiar story.
But this one has a twist. Because the person he loves is a man, there are obstacles to his happiness: Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore, and the probate judges who followed his order not to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Read more
Today is Darwin Day, which some people observe in order to celebrate Charles Darwin’s contributions to science. So this seems like a good opportunity to remind everyone that even 156 years after the publication of On the Origin of Species, some politicians are still struggling with the concept of evolution – and trying to force creationism into public schools. Read more
Same-sex marriage should have been legal in the state of Alabama on Monday. But at the behest of far-right state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, many probate judges have refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. A few have stopped issuing licenses for straight couples, too, until the legal confusion is resolved. Read more
The Religious Right’s favorite doctor, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, has a well-documented history of making hateful statements. As a result, he finds himself listed in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) “Extremist Files.” Read more
