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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Marriage Equality Fight Still Not Over After Supreme Court Ruling

Would you say the fight for reproductive rights is over in 2015? I didn’t think so. Much the same can be said for marriage equality, even after yesterday’s landmark Supreme Court ruling. Because no matter how much we may perceive a “rights issue” as finally reaching its pinnacle, in this case, capped by a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling making marriage equality the law in all 50 states, it doesn’t automatically change the minds of the regressive opposition.

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A Convenient Posture By White Anti-Government Conservatives

The ability to agitate a white anti-government conservative is highly dependent on who is victimized. If it is a black person getting the shaft by government, or a local police department, or anyone really, the level of concern from this white anti-government conservative rests somewhere between their concern for global warming and equal access to the voting booth.

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Yes, It Is Legal To Photograph And Record Police Actions

Because the police in Ferguson, Missouri have obstructed the free flow of information, asking and then forcing people to stop recording events, I felt it was necessary to make it clear that photography or videography are not criminal activities. Yeah, that should be obvious, but in 2014 America, unfortunately it is not.

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Can’t We All Just Get Along?

How many times have we heard those of power and privilege tell the people they’re walking all over to stop complaining because they don’t like hearing such hostility? It’s like whites in the 1960s reading about the latest race riot in the newspaper, sighing, and asking their black maid, “Why we can’t just all get along?” When the maid tries to calmly explain a few points that the protesters are making, then the whites make her and her comrades out to be rabble-rousers who can’t just be happy living in peace with their neighbors. Then the whites reply with something like, “Why can’t you just go back to being like you were 20 years ago in the 1940s when I was a kid? Growing up I never heard blacks complaining all the time like this. Why are you suddenly trying to make things so difficult for everyone?”

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