#religiousfreedom — Public Fediverse posts

#Iran: ad agosto 2026 almeno 14 bahá’í sono stati arrestati e altri 14 condannati complessivamente a oltre 34 anni di carcere. Le forze di sicurezza hanno inoltre perquisito almeno 5 abitazioni con sequestri di beni personali. Kamyar Malaki, è stato espulso dall’università e gli è stato vietato di proseguire gli studi a causa della sua fede.
#Bahai #ReligiousFreedom #StopPersecution #HumanRightsViolations
https://hengaw.net/en/reports-and-statistics-1/2026/09/article-5

A Visit From Fish Stark
On September 13, 2026, we had a visit by Fish Stark, the Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, our parent organization. He was a speaking tour of Ohio and Michigan
https://humanistswle.org/2026/a-visit-from-fish-stark.html
#1stAmendment #AmericanHumanistAssociation #CivilRights #FishStark #Humanism #ReligiousFreedom #SocialJustice

A quotation from Felix Frankfurter

If nowhere else, in the relation between Church and State, “good fences make good neighbors.”

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 232 (1948)
[concurring]

More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/11…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #churchandstate #Constitution #establishment #firstamendment #freedomofreligion #religion #religiousfreedom #SCOTUS

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

It is, I am afraid, true that frequently various religious groups endeavor to exert pressures and control over different legislative and educational fields. It is the job of all of us to be alert for such infringement of our prerogatives and prevent any such attempts from being successful. Like all our freedoms, this freedom from religious-group pressure must be constantly defended.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Memoir (1961), The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Part 4, ch. 43 “Unfinished Business”

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/85…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #churchandstate #freedomofreligion #religion #religiousfreedom

Texas: Faith, Freedom, and Mind Your Damn Business

By Cliff Potts, CSO
Editor-in-Chief, WPS News

Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — September 4, 2026, 9:15 p.m. PHT

Texas talks about faith constantly and practices freedom inconsistently. Religion is waved like a banner while personal liberty is quietly narrowed, regulated, or punished when it doesn’t line up with political fashion. This contradiction has become so normal that many Texans barely notice it anymore.

Faith is not the problem. Power is.

Faith Is Personal, Not Administrative

Texas is home to churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, meeting houses, and people who believe quietly or not at all. That pluralism is not a flaw. It is a fact. Faith has always been part of Texas life, but it has never belonged to the state.

When government begins enforcing one version of belief, it stops protecting faith and starts weaponizing it. That does not strengthen religion. It cheapens it. Faith that requires government backing is not faith—it is insecurity dressed up as authority.

People believe deeply without being coerced. The state does not need to supervise that.

Freedom Means Leaving People Alone

Texas politicians love to invoke freedom while inserting themselves into private decisions about bodies, families, education, and belief. That is not freedom. It is control wrapped in familiar language.

True freedom is not loud. It is boring. It is the quiet confidence that your neighbor’s life choices are none of your business unless they cause real harm. A free society tolerates disagreement without demanding conformity.

If a belief system is strong, it does not need the force of law to survive.

Religion in Schools Without Indoctrination

Teaching about religion is not the same thing as preaching it. Students benefit from understanding the beliefs that shape history, culture, and global affairs. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Indigenous traditions, and secular ethics all belong in a serious education.

Teaching one belief as truth while excluding others is not education. It is indoctrination. Texas should be confident enough to teach broadly without fear.

Knowledge does not weaken faith. It strengthens discernment.

The Myth of Moral Decline

Texas politics often leans on claims of moral collapse to justify intrusion into private life. These claims rarely hold up under scrutiny. Crime trends, family structures, and social behavior are influenced far more by economics, education, and stability than by religious enforcement.

Blaming social problems on belief differences avoids addressing harder causes like poverty, healthcare access, housing, and education. Moral panic is easier than policy work.

A serious state solves problems instead of sermonizing about them.

Faith Communities Do Real Work

Faith-based organizations are often the first to respond when communities struggle. They feed people, shelter families, provide counseling, and show up quietly without demanding credit. That work matters. It deserves respect and support.

What it does not require is political dominance. Faith communities are strongest when they act voluntarily, not when they are fused to state power.

Service speaks louder than slogans.

Freedom of Conscience Cuts Both Ways

Freedom of religion includes the freedom not to believe. It includes the freedom to change beliefs. It includes the freedom to practice quietly without public approval. Protecting conscience means accepting outcomes you may personally dislike.

That is the price of liberty. It is also its strength.

Texas cannot claim to honor freedom while punishing people for living differently.

When Government Picks Winners

History offers no shortage of warnings about governments that decide which beliefs are acceptable. Even when intentions begin as sincere, outcomes tend toward exclusion, resentment, and abuse. Texas is not immune to that pattern.

Keeping church and state separate does not weaken either. It protects both from corruption.

Personal Faith, Public Restraint

Leaders are allowed their faith. They are allowed to be guided by conscience. What they are not allowed to do is impose that conscience as law when it infringes on the rights of others.

Restraint is not betrayal. It is maturity.

What a Confident Texas Would Do

A confident Texas would protect freedom of worship for everyone and freedom from coercion for everyone else. It would teach religion academically, not devotionally. It would trust families and individuals to handle belief without supervision.

Most of all, it would stop confusing moral authority with legal power.

Why This Matters Going Forward

Faith will continue to shape Texas culture. That is not in question. The question is whether it will be used to inspire service and compassion—or to justify intrusion and control.

Freedom survives only when people mind their own damn business.

Texas is strong enough to do that.

This essay will be archived as part of the ongoing WPS News Monthly Brief Series available through Amazon.

References (APA)
Pew Research Center. (2025). Religious diversity and belief in the United States.
First Amendment Center. (2025). Religion, government, and constitutional boundaries.
National Council of State Legislatures. (2025). Religious freedom and public policy analysis.
Gallup. (2025). Public attitudes toward religion and government.
American Academy of Religion. (2025). Teaching religion in public education.

A quotation from Twain

I could have given my own sect the preference and made everybody a Presbyterian without any trouble, but that would have been to affront a law of human nature: spiritual wants and instincts are as various in the human family as are physical appetites, complexions, and features, and a man is only at his best, morally, when he is equipped with the religious garment whose color and shape and size most nicely accommodate themselves to the spiritual complexion, angularities, and stature of the individual who wears it.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 10 “Beginnings of Civilization”

More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/85582/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marktwain #twain #connecticutyankee #sectarianism #establishment #freedomofreligion #morality #personalreligion #religion #religiousdiversity #religiousfreedom #religioustolerance #spiritualdevelopment #spirituality

Later that day, #DFW announced it had scrapped plans to add additional washing stations in men’s & women’s restrooms that are available to passersby outside the security perimeter.

Airport spox Heath Montgomery wrote in an email that ofcls “determined the originally anticipated benefit may not be achieved” if the stations were built.

#law #racism #discrimination #bigotry #hate #WhiteChristianNationalism #Islamophobia #US #Constitution #ReligiousFreedom

#GregAbbott sent a letter Friday to the heads of the Houston airport & Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport that said facilities aimed at serving one religious group are discriminatory against everyone else.

Abbott said he has asked the US Dept of Transportation to investigate both airports & warned that his office is “reviewing all grants to any local governmental entities involved in these schemes.”

#law #racism #WhiteChristianNationalism #Islamophobia #US #Constitution #ReligiousFreedom

…Public #wudu stations are also open at places including the University of Minnesota, the University of Michigan, LaGuardia Airport in New York & O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Now, amid rising attacks on #Muslims by #Republican elected officials, #Texas Gov #GregAbbott is making the stations a target.

#law #racism #discrimination #bigotry #hate #WhiteChristianNationalism #Islamophobia #US #Constitution #ReligiousFreedom

For years, travelers passing through Texas’s airports have had access to small washing stations for a ritual called #wudu, in which #Muslims clean their hands, arms, head & feet before the 5 daily #prayers.

Such facilities have become more common in states with large #Muslim populations, including #Texas, where travelers & others pop in & out of washing stations at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

#law #WhiteChristianNationalism #Islamophobia #US #Constitution #ReligiousFreedom

#Islamophobic #racist #Texas Gov #GregAbbott takes aim at #Muslim washing stations in airports

Legal experts dispute Abbott’s claims that the ritual washing stations are discriminatory, saying his attack fits a pattern of anti-Muslim actions & rhetoric.

#law #discrimination #bigotry #hate #WhiteChristianNationalism #Islamophobia #US #Constitution #ReligiousFreedom
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/08/20/fight-over-airport-washing-stations-is-latest-anti-muslim-salvo-gop/

The Problem of False Preacher Teacher Clerical Ministering Within Modern Day Churches

*

The Problem of False Preacher Teacher Clerical Ministering Within Modern Day Churches

The table of the Lord is Holy.

The food we receive must come from the Priest-King Himself—pure, undefiled, and flowing from the Holiest of All.

Yet in our time, that table has been defiled.

The church has become a place where food offered to idols is served. These idols are not of wood and stone but of political causes, cultural trends, social programmes, and false moral appearances. They are the idols of the age, and they have been brought into the sanctuary.

The Social Gospel, with all its political causes and cultural trends, is such an idol.

It sounds compassionate to the natural ear, but it sacrifices the true Gospel on the altar of this world. It offers earthly reform where the Priest-King Jesus Christ offers heavenly reconciliation.

It speaks of systems and power where He speaks of the cross and the throne of grace. It rearranges deck chairs on a sinking ship. It offers programs where it should offer presence. It offers politics where it should offer peace. It offers activism where it should offer adoration.

This is not the Gospel. It is a counterfeit—a substitute that speaks of earthly kingdoms while ignoring the heavenly. It is food wrapped in pretty paper, but inside is rotting meat. It is a deception, a snare, and a trap.

Congregations that consume this food are not being heart-fed; they are being mind-fed. Their souls are starved while their minds are filled with the philosophies of men. Those who serve this food as if it were the Gospel are not acting as faithful shepherds of the flock; they are leading souls away from the true pasture.

We make it very clear, we do not seek merely to promote our own theology within COFE-CYEM by pointing the finger at (any) other theologies, denominations or faiths. COFE-CYEM itself makes many claims around our theology, our belief system and our faith.

We do not expect or ask everybody to just blindly believe our way of seeing and believing. All we seek is to call attention to the issue of the church and faith itself being used as a Trojan Horse for (worldly) purposes in order to further the interests of man and not God Himself.

We implore our followers respectfully – if you ever feel, suspect or see anything whatsoever within our own theology or posts here on COFE-CYEM that you believe is pushing (worldly) purposes or schemes, then please call us out and expose us.

We are no different or more righteous than any other brother or sister in Christ. But if we were to be found (using) the true Gospel as a Trojan Horse to push a false Gospel for our own purposes – then we are truly lost indeed.

The Nature of the Deception

The danger arises whenever social action, political programmes, or cultural causes become substitutes for the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, rather than fruits flowing from communion with Him.

The New Testament consistently presents love for neighbour and care for the poor as genuine expressions of faith, not as alternatives to it.

The error is not in caring for the needy or seeking justice. The error is in presenting such activities as the Gospel itself, or as a sufficient substitute for repentance, faith in Christ, and the new birth.

Those who preach this substitute gospel speak of power where the Priest-King spoke of weakness. They speak of victory where He spoke of the cross. They speak of this world as if it were the only world. They have departed from the faith and given themselves over to the spirit of the age.

They have exchanged the Gospel of the finished work for a gospel of social reform. They have exchanged the cross for a political platform. They have exchanged the throne of grace for a seat of power. They have exchanged the rest that remains for the restless striving of the world. They have exchanged the Holiest of All for the outer courts of carnal religion.

This is not a judgment on persons but a discernment of teaching. We do not know the hearts of those who preach these things, and we leave their final judgment to God.

We are called to test the spirits and to distinguish between the pure food of the Gospel and the poisoned food that has been offered to idols. The warning is not against individuals but against the teaching itself, which, however attractively packaged, leads away from Christ.

The Rot Beneath the Wrapping

False teaching often comes wrapped in the language of the Bible, the imagery of the cross, and the emotions of the congregation. It speaks of love, justice, and compassion, but it hollows out their meaning. It is like the fig tree that had leaves but no fruit—a show of life without the reality of life.

Congregations that consume this food are being fed a diet of politics, activism, and social reform, but they are not being fed the pure Word of God.

They are being told to fight for earthly causes, but they are not being told to enter the Holiest of All. They are being told to change the world, but they are not being told to rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

They are being told to be activists, but they are not being told to be worshippers. They are being told to build the kingdom of God on earth, but they are not being told that the Kingdom of God is within them.

The food that is being served is a gospel of the flesh, a gospel of the world, a gospel of the age. It has no power to save, no power to transform, and no power to bring the soul into the presence of God.

It leads to exhaustion, burnout, and disillusionment. It leads away from the Priest-King, not toward Him. It leads to the outer court, not the Holiest of All. The invitation to serve God in the world becomes a substitute for the invitation to abide in Christ.

The True Gospel and the Mind of Christ

The real Gospel is not a gospel of prosperity, politics, or social reform disguised as salvation. It is not a gospel of emotional experience without transformation.

The real Gospel is this: Jesus Christ, the Priest-King has entered the Holiest of All through His own blood.

The veil is torn.

The way is open.

Every soul who draws near through Him receives mercy, finds grace, and enters the rest that remains.

He ever lives to make intercession.

He brings God to us and us to God. In Him, we are accepted. In Him, we are kept. In Him, the endless life of God flows freely to all who will come. That is the Gospel. Not a portion of it. Not a version of it. It.

The mind of Christ is not the mind of carnal man, which seeks power, recognition, and earthly comfort. The mind of Christ empties itself, takes the form of a servant, becomes obedient unto death, and is exalted by the Father. The mind of Christ builds the church on the rock of revelation, and the gates of hell do not prevail against it.

The mind of Christ measures faithfulness by abiding in the Father’s presence. Those who preach the substitute gospel do not have the mind of Christ. They have the mind of the flesh, the mind of the world, the mind of the age.

They have not entered the Holiest of All. They have not passed through the veil. They have not been cleansed by the blood. They have not received the endless life. They remain in the outer courts, serving the idols of the age.

The Call of This Hour: Wake Up and Return

The call of this hour is clear. The pews empty because souls are hungry for reality—not programs, not politics, not noise, but the living presence of God in truth. Congregations must wake up. They must open their eyes to the deception of false teaching.

They must stop eating the food that has been sacrificed to idols. They must return to the table of the Lord, where pure food is served—the finished work of the Priest-King, the open way into the Holiest of All, the rest that remains, and the endless life that flows from His intercession.

The table of the Lord has been turned into a place where food offered to idols is served. The Gospel of the finished work has been exchanged for a gospel of social reform. The cross has been exchanged for a political platform. The throne of grace has been exchanged for a seat of power.

The rest that remains has been exchanged for the restless striving of the world. The Holiest of All has been exchanged for the outer courts of carnal religion. The church has been used as a Trojan Horse for political purposes, hiding its true agenda behind the language of compassion, justice, and love.

The congregations that continue to consume this food are being poisoned. They are being led astray. They are being robbed of their inheritance. They are being kept from the Holiest of All, from the rest that remains, from the endless life, from the Priest-King.

The time has come for them to wake up. The time has come for them to return. The time has come for them to stop eating the rotting meat and to come to the table of the Lord, where pure food is served.

The true church of the real Gospel is often small, overlooked, and ridiculed. But it knows the voice of the Shepherd. It does not follow the stranger. It abides in the Word. It dwells in the Holiest. The true church does not eat food sacrificed to idols. It does not bow to the false gods of the age.

It does not compromise the table of the Lord. It preaches the real Gospel—Christ and Him crucified. It preaches the finished work. It preaches the endless life. It preaches the open way into the Holiest of All. It calls every soul to draw near. It calls every church to open the doors. It calls every believer to cease from striving and rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

The Contrast: The Olive Tree and the Wicked

Psalm 52 powerfully contrasts the man who trusts in his own strength and deceit with the one who trusts in God’s unfailing love and flourishes in His house. The Psalm speaks of the wicked man who boasts of evil, whose tongue plots destruction, who loves evil rather than good, and who trusts in his great wealth and grows strong by destroying others.

This is the image of the one who trusts in his own strength, his own position, his own power. The Psalm declares that God will bring him down to everlasting ruin, snatch him up, tear him from his tent, and uproot him from the land of the living.

But the righteous is like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God, trusting in God’s unfailing love forever and ever. The righteous praises God forever and hopes in His name.

This is the image of the true believer—the one who trusts in the finished work of the Priest-King, who abides in the Holiest of All, who is sustained by the unfailing love of God through Jesus Christ who ever lives to make intercession.

The true believer does not boast in evil or trust in human schemes, false popular moral sounding social constructs or political power. The true believer trusts in the finished work of the Priest-King Yeshua Emet Melchizedek Salem—Christ Jesus—and abides in Him who has opened the way.

The Final Exhortation

The modern church stands at a critical hour. Many have turned the table of the Lord into a place where food offered to idols is served. The Social Gospel, with its political causes, cultural trends, and false moral appearances, has become the dominant offering.

It sounds compassionate to the natural ear, but it sacrifices the true Gospel on the altar of this world. It offers earthly reform where the Priest-King offers heavenly reconciliation. It speaks of systems and power where He speaks of the cross and the throne of grace.

We must not eat of any spiritual food that has been offered in sacrifice to an idol. The table of the Lord is holy. The food we receive must come from the Priest-King Himself—pure, undefiled, and flowing from the Holiest of All.

Those who preach the substitute gospel have turned the church into a platform for their political agendas. They have exchanged the Gospel of the finished work for a gospel of social reform. They have exchanged the cross for a political platform. They have exchanged the throne of grace for a seat of power.

They have exchanged the rest that remains for the restless striving of the world. They have exchanged the Holiest of All for the outer courts of carnal religion. They are not shepherds of the flock; they are servants of the spirit of the age, offering food that cannot satisfy the soul.

The true church of the real Gospel is often small, overlooked, and ridiculed. But it knows the voice of the Shepherd. It does not follow the stranger. It abides in the Word. It dwells in the Holiest. The true church does not eat food sacrificed to idols. It does not bow to the false gods of the age.

It does not compromise the table of the Lord. It preaches the real Gospel—Christ and Him crucified. It preaches the finished work.

It preaches the endless life. It preaches the open way into the Holiest of All. It calls every soul to draw near. It calls every church to open the doors. It calls every believer to cease from striving and rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

The Fourth Truth stands. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

Please follow COFE-CYEM and share our website.

Thank you for visiting us today, we value you beyond mere words.

COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
Circle One Fellowship Exeter

Québec’s Bill 9 doesn’t just ban symbols — it bans obligations
#Quebec #Canada #Bill9 #Bill21 #ReligiousFreedom #Law #HumanRights #Islam #CharterRights #Secularism #Faith #SupremeCourt #Politics #QuebecPolitics #CivilLiberties #FreedomOfReligion #Politics
https://the-14.com/quebecs-bill-9-doesnt-just-ban-symbols-it-bans-obligations/

Trump's Religious Liberty Commission says it's defending religious freedom, but its final report reads like a roadmap for Christian Nationalism

This agenda threatens the religious freedom of everyone who doesn't share the commission's theology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDQtvSilfo

#FriendlyAtheist #FreedomOfReligion #USfascism #uspol #secularism #theology #ChurchTax #christian #religiousfreedom #FuckTrump #ChristinaNationalism #TrumpRegime #ReligiousLibertyCommission

“We’re Going to Monitor Nigerian Election”: U.S. Republican Congressman Riley Moore Opens Up to Media.

https://watchmanreporterscom.wordpress.com/2026/07/05/were-going-to-monitor-nigerian-election-u-s-republican-congressman-riley-moore-opens-up-to-media/

Faith and the Founding: The Religious Roots of the Original Thirteen Colonies

https://polymathchristian.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/faith-and-the-founding-the-religious-roots-of-the-original-thirteen-colonies/

Faith and the Founding: The Religious Roots of the Original Thirteen Colonies

https://polymathchristian.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/faith-and-the-founding-the-religious-roots-of-the-original-thirteen-colonies/

Faith and the Founding: The Religious Roots of the Original Thirteen Colonies

https://polymathchristian.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/faith-and-the-founding-the-religious-roots-of-the-original-thirteen-colonies/

Faith and the Founding: The Religious Roots of the Original Thirteen Colonies

https://polymathchristian.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/faith-and-the-founding-the-religious-roots-of-the-original-thirteen-colonies/

Faith and the Founding: The Religious Roots of the Original Thirteen Colonies

https://polymathchristian.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/faith-and-the-founding-the-religious-roots-of-the-original-thirteen-colonies/

Texas Bible Reading Mandate Pushes Public Schools Toward an Establishment Clause Showdown

https://thedemocracyadvocate.com/news-to-know/education/texas-bible-reading-mandate/

Texas Bible Reading Mandate Pushes Public Schools Toward an Establishment Clause Showdown

https://thedemocracyadvocate.com/news-to-know/education/texas-bible-reading-mandate/

A quotation from Henry Commager

Who are those who are really disloyal? Those who inflame racial hatreds, who sow religious and class dissensions. Those who subvert the Constitution by violating the freedom of the ballot box. Those who make a mockery of majority rule by the use of the filibuster. Those who impair democracy by denying equal educational facilities. Those who frustrate justice by lynch law or by making a farce of jury trials. Those who deny freedom of speech and of the press and of assembly. Those who press for special favors against the interest of the commonwealth. Those who regard public office as a source of private gain. Those who would exalt the military over the civil. Those who for selfish and private purposes stir up national antagonisms and expose the world to the ruin of war.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #civilliberties #civilrights #corruption #demagoguery #democracy #disloyalty #division #firstamendment #freepress #freespeech #freedomofreligion #freedomofspeech #freedomofthepress #injustice #jingoism #justice #loyalty #loyaltyoath #military #patriotism #publicoffice #religiousfreedom #unAmerican #usvsthem #votersuppression #votingrights #war #warmongering

The Supreme Court of India observed that excessive litigation over religious practices could overwhelm courts while hearing petitions linked to Sabarimala and religious freedom. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/supreme-court-religious-practices-sabarimala-hearing-jxjzrpzr?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #SupremeCourt #Sabarimala #ReligiousFreedom #IndianConstitution

The Supreme Court of India observed that excessive litigation over religious practices could overwhelm courts while hearing petitions linked to Sabarimala and religious freedom. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/supreme-court-religious-practices-sabarimala-hearing-jxjzrpzr?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #SupremeCourt #Sabarimala #ReligiousFreedom #IndianConstitution

The Supreme Court of India observed that excessive litigation over religious practices could overwhelm courts while hearing petitions linked to Sabarimala and religious freedom. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/supreme-court-religious-practices-sabarimala-hearing-jxjzrpzr?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #SupremeCourt #Sabarimala #ReligiousFreedom #IndianConstitution

The Supreme Court of India observed that excessive litigation over religious practices could overwhelm courts while hearing petitions linked to Sabarimala and religious freedom. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/supreme-court-religious-practices-sabarimala-hearing-jxjzrpzr?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #SupremeCourt #Sabarimala #ReligiousFreedom #IndianConstitution

Between two cultures: an Afghan Christian in the Netherlands

(Photo: Getty/iStock) Esther*, who was born in Afghanistan and raised in the Netherlands after her family fled the…
#Netherlands #Nederland #NL #Europe #Europa #EU #Afghanistan #Christianity #Culture #intercultural #Islam #Muslims #netherlands #Nieuws #persecution #religiousfreedom #religiousliberty #women
https://www.europesays.com/2797120/

Between two cultures: an Afghan Christian in the Netherlands https://www.byteseu.com/1819620/ #Afghanistan #Christianity #culture #Europe #intercultural #Islam #Muslims #Netherlands #persecution #ReligiousFreedom #ReligiousLiberty #women

A quotation from John Adams

I am happy to find myself perfectly agreed with you, that we should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions consistent with morals and property, shall enjoy equal liberty, property, or rather security of property, and an equal chance for honor and power, and when government shall be considered as having in it nothing more mysterious or divine than other arts or sciences, we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.

John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1785-04-08) to Dr. Price

More info about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/29323/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #churchandstate #equality #freedomofreligion #government #religiousfreedom #religioustolerance #seculargovernment #secularism #sovereignty #tolerance #divineright

As a new school year begins in Houston and across the state, a new law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in all Texas public-school classrooms is set to take effect Sept. 1. The law is being challenged in court.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/religion/2025/08/11/528429/opponents-of-ten-commandments-display-law-seek-to-block-its-enforcement-as-houston-isd-begins-school-year/

#Court #Education #EducationNews #HISD #News #Politics #Religion #Texas #2025TexasLegislature #ACLUOfTexas #FirstAmendment #ReligiousFreedom #TenCommandments #TenCommandmentsInSchools

Top 5 places to visit after Maha Kumbh for Hindu religious tourism

https://www.indiaweekly.biz/best-places-to-visit-after-maha-kumbh/

#MahaKumbhMela2025 #Mahakumbh #Prayagraj #TravelSmart #ReligiousFreedom #Tourism #TravelIndia

#EqualProtectionoftheLaw? #FreeSpeech? #ReligiousFreedom? These rights don't exist for non-Christians, because despite the Constitution's explicit exclusion of the establishment of religion, religious freedoms have come to override every other constitutional right.

‘After Muslims, It’s The Turn Of Christians:’ With Little Evidence, UP Govt Prosecutes 4 Christian Institutions, Arrests Employees

Four Christian-run institutions in the Uttar Pradesh town of Fatehpur face criminal cases for alleged forcible conversion of Hindus, with over 200 accused, many arrested and imprisoned, under UP’s three-year-old anti-conversion law. Article 14 investigation reveals similar statements in four FIRs over nine months, police cases or raids on Christian institutions, based on illegal third-party or anonymous complaints. Simultaneously, the union government acted against the finances of one of these four institutions.

#UttarPradesh #prayagraj #AntiConversionLaw #conversions #VHP #IndianChristians #HinduMobs #UnionGovt #EvangelicalChurch #ReligiousFreedom #ConspiracyTheories #india

https://article-14.com/post/-after-muslims-it-s-the-turn-of-christians-with-little-evidence-up-govt-prosecutes-4-christian-institutions-arrests-employees-65de9daea40dc

How Procedure Upended Personal Liberty In Allahabad High Court’s Refusal To Protect Interfaith Couples

In January 2024, the Allahabad High Court turned down appeals of nine interfaith couples for protection from their families on the grounds that they did not solemnise their marriages according to Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law. In doing so, the High Court opted for procedure over liberty, even as challenges to the law are pending in the Supreme Court, which last heard the case in April 2023.

#UttarPradesh #AllahabadHC #InterfaithMarriages #InterfaithLove #conversions #AntiConversionLaw #ReligiousFreedom #hindutva #BJPStates #rights #india

https://article-14.com/post/how-procedure-upended-personal-liberty-in-allahabad-high-court-s-refusal-to-protect-interfaith-couples-65cc3a68346e2

Covert Indian operation seeks to discredit Modi’s critics in the U.S.

The Disinfo Lab’s activities show how the online propaganda campaigns waged by the BJP and its allies have been expanding beyond their traditional, domestic aims of shoring up popular support and denigrating opposition parties — and now seek to influence attitudes far beyond India’s borders.

#DisinfoLab #disinformation #BJP #IndianGovt #IndianIntelligence #hindutva #propaganda #SocialMedia #islamophobia #dissent #HateCrime #FarmersProtests #UnitedStates #HumanRights #ReligiousFreedom #india

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/10/india-the-disinfo-lab-discredit-critics/

How Justice DY Chandrachud ensured radical equality for women with the Sabarimala judgment

An excerpt from ‘Unsealed Covers: A Decade of the Constitution, the Courts and the State’, by Gautam Bhatia.

https://scroll.in/article/1055012/how-justice-dy-chandrachud-ensured-radical-equality-for-women-with-the-sabarimala-judgment

#BookExcerpt #GautamBhatia #DYChandrachud #sabarimala #kerala #justice #law #WomensRights #gender #ReligiousFreedom #india #books #bookstodon

In conclusion, the interaction between the #1stAmendment and #14thAmendments, along with the changes instigated by the #RFRA, forms a multifaceted legal landscape requiring meticulous #JudicialScrutiny. The #principles of #religiousfreedom and #equalprotection unequivocally #reject the #granting of #exemptions from #antidiscrimination #laws, preserving the #integrity and #coherence of the #Constitution. (7/8)

The Rise of a Hindu Vigilante in the Age of WhatsApp and Modi

India, the world's largest democracy, has also become the world's largest experiment in social-media-fueled terror.

#HinduMobs #CowVigilantism #SocialMedia #hindutva #BJP #BajrangDal #RSS #whatsapp #facebook #twitter #muslims #islamophobia #HumanRights #ReligiousFreedom #InterfaithMarriages #radicalisation #CowLynchings #GrahamStaines #GauriLankesh #india

https://www.wired.com/story/indias-frightening-descent-social-media-terror/

Speaking of whining: try asking a #yeshiva to meet basic standards for #teaching #math, #English, and #science.

They'll whine about "religious freedom". #ReligiousFreedom is not implicated here: teach whatever you want, as long as you also teach math, science, #history. (If anything, forbearance would offend religious freedom by privileging religion over all other compelling state interests, a violation of the #EstablishmentClause.)

They'll whine that those subjects are adequately addressed in their #Jewish studies. Nonsense. Kids graduating these "#schools" have been shown to be severely deficient in English and other subjects.

The schools and their supporters are lying; and what's more: they know it.

https://www.jta.org/2023/07/03/ny/18-nyc-yeshivas-do-not-adequately-teach-secular-studies-investigation-finds

#NY #NYC #education

No Religious Events Obstructing Roads, Traffic: UP Government Order Ahead Of Eid

There should be adequate arrangements for the security of religious places and additional police forces should be deployed in sensitive areas, DGP Vishwakarma said.

#UttarPradesh #ramzan #ramadan #eid #ReligiousFreedom #BJP #UPgovt #islamophobia #majoritarianism #hindutva #muslims #AjayBisht #YogiAdityanath #india

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/no-religious-events-obstructing-roads-traffic-up-government-order-ahead-of-eid-akshay-tritiya-3961709

India’s Anti-Conversion Laws Violate International Human Rights Law: USCIRF

As per the latest USCIRF report, the anti-conversion legislation promulgated in 12 states “violate international human rights law’s protections for the right to freedom of religion or belief”.

#USCIRF #UnitedStates #ReligiousFreedom #law #conversions #InterfaithLove #InterfaithMarriages #christians #muslims #BJP #RSS #HumanRights #gujarat #UttarPradesh #haryana #karnataka #HimachalPradesh #MadhyaPradesh #uttarakhand #india

https://thewire.in/communalism/indias-anti-conversion-laws-violate-international-human-rights-law-uscirf

India Tries to Police Religious Conversions

In some states, if you want to change faiths, you have to inform a magistrate in advance.

#conversions #ReligiousFreedom #InterfaithMarriages #InterfaithLove #islam #christianity #minorities #CivilRights #HumanRights #fascism #hindutva #UnionGovt #BJP #muslims #christians #india

https://www.wsj.com/articles/india-police-religious-conversion-law-hindu-nationalism-bjp-supreme-court-love-jihad-islam-christianity-89384a97

Clash breaks out over Dalits offering prayers at Madhya Pradesh Shiva temple

The brawl was allegedly triggered by upper castes using casteist slurs and chasing away a group of Dalit women offering prayers in the temple where they had been denied entry a few days ago.

#MadhyaPradesh #khargone #dalits #balai #TempleEntry #untouchability #shivratri #casteism #brahminism #caste #dalit #gurjars #marathas #HumanRights #ReligiousFreedom #hinduism #CasteViolence #india

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/clash-over-dalits-offering-prayers-at-madhya-pradesh-shiva-temple/article66529337.ece