August 30, 2015

Congress Shall Make No Law: Religious Freedom, And The Absolutist Exercise Thereof

As of April of this year, some twenty states had enacted so-called “religious freedom” laws, with similar legislation pending in another half-dozen states. But why do states need such laws when the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion? The modern “religious freedom” movement, which took hold during the Clinton administration, was in response to a Supreme Court ruling in 1990 (“Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith“). The case “determined that the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote, even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual.”

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January 13, 2014

Talking Absolutes: The Language Of Free Market Conservatives

Free market conservatives say government cannot address the problem of poverty. They say government can’t create jobs. They assume all people who are not making a living wage must not be working, or working hard enough, and so that means they are undeserving of any government assistance. And they say government cannot give to someone unless it has taken from someone else.

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January 14, 2013

The Second Amendment Right To “Keep And Bear Arms” Is Not Absolute

Just as other constitutional rights are not absolute, like freedom of speech, the right to “keep and bear arms” is not unlimited. The idea of equally applied rights is not in question here. What is in question is the scope of each right. Where one person’s right infringes upon another person’s right, that is where the line is drawn. Just as there are reasonable limits on the reach of free speech, so too can there be reasonable limits on the arms one can bear.

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