https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to religious exemptions en https://religiondispatches.org/2019/09/11/refusal-interracial-couple-shows-how-slippery-slope-lgbtq-refusal-really After the owner of a wedding hall was caught on tape refusing an interracial couple “because of our Christian race,” questions are resurfacing about the possibility that anti-LGBTQ “religious exemptions” might be paving the way for legalized racial discrimination. Wed, 11 Sep 2019 12:30:02 EDT Heron Greenesmith 21bc0b04-fbe4-41f3-b2f7-7a6e5b8e36eb https://religiondispatches.org/2018/03/26/tragedy-religious-freedom There has been a lot of talk lately about religious exemptions—legal arrangements that excuse individuals and groups on faith-based grounds from laws and regulations that would otherwise apply to them. One law professor, Marc DeGirolami, has claimed these disputes highlight… Mon, 26 Mar 2018 12:24:35 EDT Patrick Hornbeck 6765699b-a9df-4def-83a0-a214139255ce https://religiondispatches.org/2017/06/06/can-i-get-some-birth-control-pills-slushie-unpacking-contraceptive-mandate-rollback A roundtable discussion with RD’s Sunnivie Brydum, Patricia Miller, and Anita Little. Tue, 06 Jun 2017 05:22:27 EDT Sunnivie Brydum 92ec58ea-4813-4f68-964d-757b800faacf https://religiondispatches.org/2017/03/01/npr-largely-misses-critical-distinction-religious-freedom-vs-lgbtq-rights This post has been edited and a correction has been added. — eds However well-intentioned, NPR’s latest foray into “religious freedom” falls victim to several false equivalencies and ends up leaving the reader/listener vulnerable to the problematic arguments of those… Wed, 01 Mar 2017 03:16:23 EST Sunnivie Brydum a37278f3-796d-459b-a46e-27950da4264e https://religiondispatches.org/2017/02/22/wa-supreme-court-lgbt-discrimination-no-more-about-flowers-civil-rights-were-about Court guarantees equality, not roses. Wed, 22 Feb 2017 02:08:00 EST Elizabeth Platt 7180ee6d-34f9-4374-a3bc-d6d2e83f047a https://religiondispatches.org/2016/08/01/will-sb-1146-end-lgbt-discrimination-californias-religious-schools A new religious freedom battle has been brewing in California, but you probably haven’t heard of it yet. The Golden State’s Christian colleges and universities are up in arms over SB 1146, a Senate bill they argue would effectively end… Mon, 01 Aug 2016 02:24:44 EDT Stephanie Russell-Kraft d3155e4e-9206-40ea-a9ce-06d03f9dd91b https://religiondispatches.org/2016/05/27/who-defines-religious-freedom In the United States, who defines religious freedom? The First Amendment? The courts? The legislature? Religious groups and individuals themselves? What happens when it’s both, and the lines get blurred? In a newly released video meant to showcase the “unique… Fri, 27 May 2016 02:39:20 EDT Stephanie Russell-Kraft f750aa58-587b-438c-9380-1e17990b668a https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/13/why-we-must-reclaim-religious-freedom-christian-conservatives An interview with journalist and activist Frederick Clarkson Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:40:35 EST Bill Berkowitz 4bd0f436-5eff-494e-b27c-47ae8256bc43 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/16/did-religious-universities-just-get-license-discriminate The news that more than two dozen religiously affiliated colleges and universities had received exemptions from the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX demonstrates how the “religious liberty” argument continues to morph and spread. The Column reports that 36 religiously-affiliated institutions… Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:26:27 EST Patricia Miller ac74ae09-3420-45a3-a9a0-230a04212c8c https://religiondispatches.org/2015/10/20/its-not-thought-counts-tragic-case-highlights-flaws-religious-liberty-debate We hear a lot about the ways that religious exemptions impact the divisive cultural issues of our day—like abortion, marriage equality, and increasingly basic vaccinations. But the resistance to science of some fundamentalist religious sects is not limited to these… Tue, 20 Oct 2015 02:17:37 EDT Kara Loewentheil 3ab8c83a-8826-40a1-a716-876e84ad9f7d https://religiondispatches.org/2015/07/07/uncertain-post-obergefell-world-religious-exemptions Today Americans United for the Separation of Church and State launched a new project, Protect Thy Neighbor, aimed, organizers said, at the overuse of religious exemptions in legislatures and the courts. The most immediate concerns of the project, launched less… Tue, 07 Jul 2015 02:43:06 EDT Sarah Posner 757d9362-173e-4d44-a244-5c092029fe92 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/03/30/how-indianas-new-rfra-expands-federal-rfra Over the weekend, Indiana’s Republican Governor, Mike Pence, insisted that the new Religious Freedom Restoration Act he signed into law week is just like the federal RFRA, enacted in 1993, and doesn’t permit discrimination cloaked in religion. This same claim—that… Mon, 30 Mar 2015 04:04:49 EDT Sarah Posner 39bdb441-9ab2-4abc-a6cc-5495da4574d5 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/03/18/religious-exemptions-and-new-non-culture-wars I’ve been writing over the past couple of weeks about a split between Republican evangelicals (and, it must be added, other conservative Christians) over whether to wage culture war battles over restoration of a “Christian nation” or to shift tactics… Wed, 18 Mar 2015 06:43:40 EDT Sarah Posner 7804f3bd-1088-4f27-bc04-881bf624b069 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/12/25/5-silliest-religious-exemptions-cases-2014 2014 was the year that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) made a comeback, and now religious exemptions are the talk of the (policy wonk) town. As Hobby Lobby emboldened those seeking religious exemptions, we saw more and more outlandish… Thu, 25 Dec 2014 01:59:12 EST Kara Loewentheil 007edaff-cb36-43e1-af10-e8d567edec68 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/10/02/no-gay-means-no-aa-why-sandbox-argument-misleading In a story that hasn’t yet been widely picked up in the national media, a Baptist Church in Louisiana has evicted an AA group from its meeting space for fear that because it allows AA to meet there, it could… Thu, 02 Oct 2014 04:56:30 EDT Kara Loewentheil 4ef2bfa1-9728-40b6-885e-e2ee9d31e351 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/08/25/obama-caves-another-contraception-exemption On Friday the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would capitulate to demands of Catholic and conservative Christian non-profit organizations that claimed that filling out a form would make them complicit in the provision of contraception. The… Mon, 25 Aug 2014 11:12:18 EDT Patricia Miller 257f73a9-8f41-4013-8ffe-77da748e9d49 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/24/obamas-next-contraception-coverage-accommodation-wont-satisfy-litigants The Obama administration plans to tweak its accommodation under the Affordable Care Act for religious non-profits who object to providing their employees with health insurance that covers contraceptives with no co-pay. The current accommodation, being challenged by Wheaton College and… Thu, 24 Jul 2014 03:53:58 EDT Sarah Posner f69211fa-bd30-4404-801e-58dc76bf48a0 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/17/real-strategy-behind-hobby-lobby-well-see-going-forward In the following clip from The Posner Show, Sarah and Columbia Law School’s Kara Loewentheil discuss how a letter urging Obama not to include a religious exemption in a forthcoming executive order barring federal contractors from discrimination based on sexual… Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:30:36 EDT Sarah Posner f1e10c43-43d2-49e4-b8c4-94b97a2975ad https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/14/hobby-lobby-does-not-compel-anti-lgbt-religious-exemption-legal-scholars-tell-obama Over 50 legal scholars have signed a letter organized by the Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law Public Rights/Private Conscience Project, urging President Obama not to include a religious exemption in his planned executive order barring anti-LGBT… Mon, 14 Jul 2014 04:07:21 EDT Sarah Posner 4ae229d9-04ce-4d70-9be2-0e3546d1e8f9 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/09/douthat-dionne-push-wrong-lesson-religious-exemptions As the Obama administration is beseeched from both sides about a potential religious exemption to its expected executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT individuals in hiring, Catholic commentators continue to hold up the administration’s botched handling of… Wed, 09 Jul 2014 05:26:09 EDT Patricia Miller 9f182147-6978-455e-b85b-a85e9f59d611 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/08/aclu-lgbt-rights-groups-drop-enda-support-over-religious-exemption The American Civil Liberties Union, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Transgender Law Center this afternoon announced their withdrawal of support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), because of the… Tue, 08 Jul 2014 04:48:02 EDT Sarah Posner 010633fa-923d-4344-bdd0-ac8f3db7e287 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/08/100-religious-leaders-obama-no-religious-exemption-enda-executive-order One hundred religious leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and interfaith organizations have signed a letter to President Obama, asking that he not include a religious exemption in a forthcoming executive order barring hiring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation… Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:41:07 EDT Sarah Posner a38bcb6d-60db-4d16-8d71-e43431565ad4 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/07/05/hobby-lobby-aftermath-christian-college-demands-exemptionfrom-exemption On Monday, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, the Supreme Court relied heavily on “less restrictive alternatives” when it exempted closely-held corporations from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. Justice Alito stressed that such alternatives would have “zero” effect on… Sat, 05 Jul 2014 09:04:01 EDT Nomi Stolzenberg f1fbdb68-68e7-477e-811e-2f2572121ddc https://religiondispatches.org/2014/03/24/hobby-lobby-case-isnt-really-about-contraception This “religious freedom” battle headed to the Supreme Court is largely about abortion, though it’s based on the US Catholic Bishops’ efforts to exploit a small gap in the science that’s long past. Mon, 24 Mar 2014 02:31:29 EDT Patricia Miller 53ab3d44-9a3b-4b19-8d28-236f0ae2f078 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/03/24/can-you-be-liberal-and-catholic And if you are, can you get some media love? Mon, 24 Mar 2014 01:04:20 EDT Patricia Miller 04436038-1473-46ba-ac8f-7dd1b7ffa3e3