Tag: religious freedom

Is religious liberty ‘hanging by a thread’?

Rev. Robert J. Pacienza – August 8, 2022

Several years ago, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby sparked a significant public debate when he said that our “religious liberties are hanging by a thread.”

Are they? Well, U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and the late Antonin Scalia have issued similar warnings – and for good reason.

As the president and CEO of D. James Kennedy Ministries, and the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in South Florida, I’m concerned about the curtailing of religious liberty and the negative effects of this trend on all citizens – religious and non-religious alike.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution declares that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Constitution is clear: Religious freedom extends not only to beliefs, but also public actions based on those beliefs.When religious freedom is upheld, the conditions are set for all of society to flourish. Yet, when religious freedom – the freedom to be Christian, atheist, Buddhist, or otherwise – is threatened, every other freedom is threatened as well.

Yet, in spite of religious liberty’s enshrinement in the Constitution, a number of political trends and Supreme Court rulings have diminished its legal stature. Chief among these threats is the effort to redefine religious liberty itself. Progressives have made a concerted effort to reduce the “free exercise” of religion either to private piety or the semi-public worship that takes place within the four walls of a church building.

https://www.wnd.com

Troops accuse Pentagon of ‘religious purge’

RT – April 29, 2022

The US government is still mandating all members of the military to get a Covid-19 vaccine and discharging those who refuse – even on religious grounds – in what amounts to a deliberate purge of troops with beliefs the current Pentagon considers wrong, a sergeant and two officers told the podcast hosted by Republican congressman Matt Gaetz on Thursday.

Gaetz (R-Florida), who hosts a podcast called ‘Firebrand,’ said he wants to propose an amendment that would ban mandates for experimental vaccines and restore rank and pay to those forced to leave the military, but admitted that some of his Republican colleagues might not support it, not to mention the majority Democrats.

“If you are a believer and you are listening to this podcast, you need to understand that God-fearing service members are being intentionally purged from the services,” said one of his guests, Air Force Captain Jordan Karr.

“It’s a purposeful purge,” argued Army Major Samuel Sigoloff. “Anyone who would disobey an unlawful order is being purged out of the military,” he added, alleging there is a “shadow policy” in place to protect the leadership doing this.

Karr, Sigoloff and Air Force Master Sergeant Nickolas Krupper made their case against the mandate by bringing up religious freedom, natural immunity, and the discrepancy between the jabs used under emergency authorization and the one officially approved, which technically isn’t available in the US.

Though they are legally distinct, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance says that Pfizer’s emergency-use vaccine and the officially approved Comirnaty “can be used interchangeably… without presenting any safety or effectiveness concerns.”

All three service members face “involuntary separation” over their refusal to get the jab, but have sued the Defense Department on religious exemption grounds. They technically remain on active duty until the lawsuits are resolved. Sergeant Krupper pointed out he is two years away from retirement and would lose his pension and family medical benefits if the USAF kicks him out.

https://www.rt.com

Biden Admin. Slammed for Removing Nigeria from Religious Persecution List: Thousands of Christians Have Been Killed

Michael Foust – November 24, 2021

Religious liberty watchdogs are criticizing the Biden administration for removing Nigeria from an annual list of religious freedom violators, charging that it denies reality and is motivated solely by foreign policy interests.

At issue is an annual list released by the State Department that examines the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designates the worst violators as a “Country of Particular Concern,” which means they are guilty of “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

Nigeria was considered a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in the State Department reports of 2020 and 2019.

Yet Nigeria was missing in the State Department’s 2021 report, which was released last week.

The annual report is required under a 1998 law.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan panel that makes recommendations to the State Department, had urged since 2009 the inclusion of Nigeria as a CPC.

Christian groups and religious liberty watchdogs criticized the exclusion of Nigeria, saying thousands of Christians have been killed while the country’s security forces have refused to protect them.

“Removing this largely symbolic sign of concern is a brazen denial of reality and indicates that the U.S. intends to pursue its interests in western Africa through an alliance with Nigeria’s security elite, at the expense of Christians and other victims of widespread sectarian violence, especially in the country’s predominantly Christian Middle Belt region,” said John Eibner, president of Christian Solidarity International (CSI).

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Report: 5.2 Billion People Face ‘Very Severe Violations of Religious Freedom’

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. –  April 20,2021

Nearly one third of the world’s countries, where two thirds of the world’s population live, violate religious freedom, the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported Tuesday.

Christians are the most persecuted group in the world, according to ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021, an 818-page compendium of the state of religious freedom and persecution in the world today.

Persecution on the grounds of religious belief is a growing global phenomenon, the biennial report declares, and religious freedom violations have accelerated and expanded to the point where “systematic and egregious attacks are coming from governments, lynching mobs, as well as international terror groups,” such as Boko Haram or the Islamic State.

The report found the populations of 62 countries out of a total of 196 face “very severe violations of religious freedom,” adding that the number of people living in these countries “is close to 5.2 billion, as the worst offenders include some of the most populous nations in the world (China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria).”

Moreover, during the past two years since the publication of ACN’s last report, “there has been a significant increase in the severity of religiously motivated persecution and oppression which is the principal category of concern,” the report noted.

https://www.breitbart.com

Secularists Urge Biden to Unravel Trump’s Religious Freedom Protections

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Many Americans celebrate President Trump as the most significant champion for religious freedom in a lifetime. His actions gave Christians a sense of security, but now secularists, humanists, and others feel empowered to begin unraveling Trump-era protections.

“It all goes back to the May 2017 executive order by President Trump,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, tells CBN News.

That day in the Rose Garden, the president used his executive pen to ensure Christians and other people of faith don’t have to check their beliefs when entering the halls of government and prevented the federal government from going after pastors who speak about political issues from a moral perspective.

“We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore,” the President said that day.

Now that order tops a long list of Trump administration actions that Secular Democrats of America want President-elect Joe Biden to erase.

Represented by the Congressional Freethought Caucus, the group paints Christians as extremists and urges the incoming administration to marginalize people of faith – relegating them to the back pew of the public square.

Part of their to-do list?

  • Ensure Humanist and Nontheist chaplains serve in each branch of the military.
  • Refrain from using the national motto “In God We Trust.”
  • And reframe patriotism by avoiding phrases like “God and country.”

These attempts to marginalize believers come as the media and even elected officials increasingly push the narrative that people of faith are unfit.

“Unfortunately we see that senators are increasingly treating religious beliefs with great suspicion and even hostility,” Kao said.

https://www.faithwire.com

Goverment Restrictions on Religion Hit Highest Level Since 2007

Milton Quintanilla – December 16, 2020

Faith leaders are addressing the recent Pew Research study that shows record-high levels of restrictions on religious freedom.

According to CBN News, Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback says that in order for other human rights to flourish, the right of religious freedom must also be protected.

“We look at this religious freedom foundational right that if you can get it right as a nation other human rights will flourish. If you get it wrong other human rights will diminish,” Brownback asserted.

Last month, Pew Research revealed that in 2018, government restrictions on religion hit an all-time high since 2007. The study also showed that high or very high government restrictions peaked in 56 countries, with the highest restrictions being in Africa and the Middle East.

We’ve never been more institutionalized, but we’ve never seen more persecution. The new Pew reports are out and there has never been more persecution, so we are getting our act together on how this gets institutionalized but obviously, we have to go to another level here as a civil society, as a government,” Chris Seiple of Templeton Religion Trust said.

In 2018, the White House intervened to free pastor Andrew Brunson, a missionary who was arrested in Turkey after he was falsely arrested for partaking in an alleged coup with Kurdish terrorists against Turkish president Erdogan.

Last week, Christian Headlines reported that Brunson predicted increasing persecution against U.S Christians in the future.

Brunson, who shared his remarks at the “Global Prayer for US Election Integrity” event on Facebook earlier this month, explained how Christians across the nation are unprepared for the forthcoming hostility that will be made against them.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Congressman urges DOJ to investigate ‘disturbing trend’ of attacks on churches across the country

Carlos Garcia – August 6, 2020

A congressman urged the Department of Justice to investigate what he called a “disturbing trend” of attacks and vandalism on churches across the nation.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) made the request in a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday after a rash of attacks on Catholic churches in his district.

“Since June, there have been nearly a dozen reported attacks on Catholic churches around the nation. These disturbing attacks range from arson to the beheading of a statue of the Virgin Mary,” wrote Fleischmann, who is Catholic.

“I find these attacks to be a disturbing trend, happening in multiple areas across the nation, including within my own congressional district,” he added.

“In times of uncertainty we naturally turn to religion for comfort and peace, something many Americans are seeking as we combat COVID-19, but these attacks add another level of distress for many across our nation,” Fleischmann continued.

“I commend the Department of Justice’s commitment,” he concluded, “under your leadership, to combating religious discrimination and I look forward to our continued work together to uphold and protect religious freedom in the United States.”

Churches have been targeted for looting and arson across the United States in recent months. Some of the attacks have been a part of the rioting stemming from the protests over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody in late May.

Some of the rioting focused on statues meant to honor saints of the Catholic church. In San Francisco, California, a group of around 100 rioters toppled a statue of Catholic missionary St. Junipero Serra, despite historic evidence that he defended the rights of Native Americans.

In another recent case of vandalism against a church, someone wrote racist threats on the air conditioning unit of the Murph-Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Highlands, California.

https://www.theblaze.com

78 Members of Congress Support HHS Rule Protecting Healthcare Workers Who Decline to Perform Abortions

– June 1, 2020

WASHINGTON — Numerous state attorneys general and 78 members of Congress have signed on to amicus briefs supporting a new rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that aims to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals who have objections to assisting with abortions or physician-assisted suicides.

HHS was sued last year by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led a coalition of nearly two dozen other states, as she asserted that the “Conscience Rights in Health Care” rule is discriminatory and “a gross misrepresentation of religious freedom.” The abortion giant Planned Parenthood and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association sued to challenge the protections as well.

In November, a federal judge struck down the measure, opining that the rule is unnecessary and too rigidly places states at jeopardy of losing federal funding for non-compliance with the conscience protections.

“The Department’s regulations are a recent chapter in this country’s ‘long history of providing protections … on the basis of religious beliefs and moral convictions,’” wrote Ohio Attorney General David Yost in a recent amicus brief to defend the rules as the case now rests in the hands of a federal appeals court.

“That history actually begins with the states. By the time the federal Constitution was ratified, all but one of the original thirteen states already had constitutional protections for religious freedom,” he noted.

https://christiannews.net