Religion
Are We Experiencing a Nationwide 'Anti-Semitism Crisis'?
Hate crime data suggest that claim is overblown.
Sex Offender Tries to Change Name to "Better Off Dead"
No, says the trial court, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals agrees.
Espinoza School Choice Case and Discrimination Against Religion
A response to a query of mine, from David Hodges of the Institute for Justice (who are plaintiff's lawyers).
The Likely Outcome of the Methodist Schism
An interesting analysis from Prof. Mark Movsesian (St. John's).
Civil Court Can't Order Wife to Accept an Orthodox Jewish Husband's "Get" (Divorce Document)
"It would be a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution for the Court to order the Wife to participate in a religious ritual when she did not agree to do so nor may the Court impose a financial penalty against her."
Thank You, Ram Dass!
The pioneering psychedelic researcher, Timothy Leary collaborator, and New Age seeker exemplified America's postwar turn to individualism.
New York Charged Grafton Thomas With Attempted Murder for Assaulting Jews With a Machete. Why Are the Feds Prosecuting Him for the Same Attack?
A crime in Monsey leads to a redundant prosecution that hinges on the defendant's anti-Semitism.
Indian Prime Minister Modi's Useful Idiots in America Should Now Condemn Him
His brutal response to the protests against his anti-Muslim initiative reveal him as a Hindu nationalist, not a reformer.
Like China, India's Modi Is Engaged in a Massive Faith Cleansing of Its Muslim Minority
He is yanking their rights and building detention camps.
Will These Palestinian Christians Be Reunited With Their Families for Christmas?
The human cost of border enforcement
Trump's Order Aimed at Fighting Anti-Semitism Is Constitutionally Problematic, but It's Not Anti-Semitic
Erroneous reporting set off a bizarre backlash that obscured the real problem.
An LGBT Discrimination Compromise Bill Is Proposed in an Uncompromising Culture
The “Fairness for All Act” would add federal protections against discrimination for gay and trans people. But its exemptions go too far or not far enough, depending on who you ask.
Everyone Is Confused About Trump's Executive Order on Judaism
Plus: the foundations bankrolling bad tech policy, they is the word of the year, and more...
Regulation and 'the Right Ordering of Economic Life'
What libertarians can learn from Catholic social doctrine
Authoritarianism Is Winning on Every Front in India
Instead of its economy becoming more liberal, its polity is growing more illiberal.
Hearing Examiner Recommends Approval of Women-Staffed Volunteer Ambulance Service for Orthodox Jewish Women,
but the New York City Regional Emergency Medical Services Council denied the application, by a 12-7 vote.
N.Y. Prosecution and Lawsuit Over Sending Baptist Anti-Catholic Leaflet + E-Mail
Criminal charges were eventually dropped, and the civil lawsuit has just been thrown out.
Was Church Excluded from Maryland School Choice Program Because of "Problematic" Views on Marriage?
That's the question in a First Amendment lawsuit, which a federal judge has allowed to go forward.
Court Strikes Down Kentucky's Rejection of IM GOD Vanity Plate
Vanity plates are private speech in a nonpublic forum, the court holds; restrictions on such speech must be viewpoint-neutral and reasonable.
Monty Python Meets the Bishop
Friday A/V Club: The 40th anniversary of Life of Brian's British debut—and of a legendary TV debate
Kentucky Printer Wins Fight To Refuse To Print Pro-LGBT Shirts
But the technical nature of the decision might not stop future lawsuits.
The First Amendment and Courts Interpreting Religious Terms
Prof. Michael Broyde (Emory) responds to my post from a few weeks ago.
EEOC: Employers Can't Require a Note from Your Rabbi …
... as a condition of giving you a reasonable religious accommodation; quite right, I think, under Title VII religious accommodation principles.
Occult Features of Anarchism
An anthropologist examines secret societies, revolutionary movements, and esoteric ideas.
Short Circuit Podcast on the First Amendment and Student Newspaper Funding,
religious organizations' right to discriminate in some employment decisions, and federal funding conditions preferring local agencies that help federal immigration enforcement.
The Babylon Bee Satirizes the Absurdities of American Politics
Snopes doesn’t seem to get the joke.
"Islam Is RIGHT About Women"
That's what flyers posted in Winchester (Massachusetts) say.
The Supreme Court's Next Big School Choice Case
What’s at stake in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue.
Arizona's Supreme Court Rules Christian Calligraphers Can't Be Forced to Make Gay Wedding Invitations
Justices rule that invitations are expressive speech and businesses cannot be compelled to write messages they oppose.
Catholic School Pastor Thinks Harry Potter's Spells Are Real, Bans the Books
Harry Potter and the Baffling Return of Religious Panic
Neal Stephenson Wants To Tell Big Stories
An economist and a science fiction author discuss cryogenics, mythology, philanthropy, fragmentation, and simulation.
No Qualified Immunity for Kim Davis
Government officials fail to follow Supreme Court decisions at their own risk.
China's Mass Internment of Uighurs Is a 'Modern Cultural Genocide'
Activist Nury Turkel discusses the vast network of camps that may hold over a million Uighurs in western China.
Videographers' Free Exercise Clause Objections to Having to Create Same-Sex Wedding Videos
The mysterious "hybrid rights" doctrine comes up again—but might not matter.
Christian Satire Site The Babylon Bee Is So Good Snopes.com Treated It Like Real News
Editor in Chief Kyle Mann talks about being taken literally by fact checkers, whether any subject (even a mass shooting) is off limits, and the libertarian sensibility of his humor.
Video of Rep. Ilhan Omar Allegedly Calling for People to 'Be More Fearful of White Men' Is Fake News
The viral clip was misleadingly edited, and stripped of important context
Marianne Williamson Wants To Win the Presidency With the Power of Love and Miracles
The long American spiritual tradition that gave us Marianne Williamson—and Donald Trump
If Children "Will Be Enrolled and Be Participants in the Catholic Religion," Does This Require Taking Them to Mass?
The enrolled/participants requirement was part of a divorcing couple's custody agreement -- may a court interpret this as requiring the parent with Sunday custody to take the children to mass, or give up the relevant part of her parenting time?
