Senator Daniel Moynihan once wrote a scholarly paper in his spare time, the kind most Senators just don’t write, called “Defining Deviancy Down.” He was using the sociologist’s meaning of deviancy: different from societal norms. His point was that the nation had become so accustomed to gun violence that what was once front page news …
Heretic on the Hill: Defining Religious Freedom Down Read More »
What if you could start your own religion, get it sanctioned by the IRS, and bring some of your believers from overseas to work at your faith-based nonprofit? Well you can! There is a special visa program known as the R-1 Nonimmigrant Religious Workers Program. “Noncitizens working in the United States temporarily as a minister …
Heretic on the Hill: Visas for Religious Workers — Who Thought This Was A Good Idea? Read More »
The Supreme Court continues to accept cases that involve issues of religious freedom. In January the Court agreed to hear Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, in which it will decide whether the First Amendment protects a high school football coach who, joined by students, prayed after football games. The school district says he was acting …
Thomas Paine may finally be getting his due. He isn’t exactly a founding father, more like a founding thinker, and advocate for church-state separation. But he never got a statue in Washington DC, never got a Broadway musical. One of those should be changing soon. Congressman Jamie Raskin has introduced a bill that would authorize …
Viruses mutate for a living. They just keep producing new variants. So far we’ve had the original COVID (classic COVID?), the Delta Variant, and the Omicron Variant. Hospitals are overloaded again and there may be another serious variant sometime soon. The theory is that the problem goes away when enough people have had COVID and …
Heretic on the Hill: Religious Privilege is not Religious Freedom Read More »
When one branch of the federal government is twisted into a near constant case of gridlock and inaction, and another turns over every four to eight years and then reverses most everything that had just been accomplished, the third branch takes on outsized importance. The Supreme Court will always be able to reach a decision …
Heretic on the Hill: Religious Freedom Goes to Court Read More »
Sunday is National Religious Freedom Day. There’s a presidential statement as there has been annually since 1993, but officially it’s not really different from “National Cheeseburger Day” (September 18), just with more history and lately more controversy. January 16th was the day in 1786 that the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious …
Heretic on the Hill: National Religious Freedom Day 2022 Read More »
Today is the anniversary of the insurrection at the Capitol. Thousands of people marched there last January 6th to protest, as is their right. The Capitol Police had granted permits. Many of them also fought with police, broke into the building, defaced it, looked for and threatened members of Congress, and forced the delay of …
Christian Nationalism: A Clear and Present Danger Read More »
What is the atheist’s favorite Christmas movie? Coincidence on 34th Street. Thank you. I like to open with a joke, I just don’t usually have one. If you’re interested in a scholarly study on whether atheists and Christians have different senses of humor, you can find one here in the journal Humor. Read sentences like,”The …
As the sun sets on the shortest day of the year, we look back on 2021, a year of progress but also challenge, and look forward to the new light bringing a wonderful 2022. We at the Secular Coalition for America (SCA) wish you a happy winter solstice and new year. May it be spent …
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