Politics

By Sudarsan Raghavan The Egyptian government continues to target gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in a “systematic fashion” through arbitrary arrests, torture and other forms of abuse, including forced “virginity tests,” Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The watchdog group accused police personnel and officers of Egypt’s National Security Agency of routinely picking up suspected LGBT …

By Liz Theoharis On August 26th, during the Republican National Convention, Vice President Mike Pence closed out his acceptance speech with a biblical sleight of hand. Speaking before a crowd at the Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, he exclaimed, “Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on …

By Ariane de Vogue and Chandelis Duster Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, lashed out on Monday at the religious liberty implications of the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that cleared the way for same-sex marriage nationwide. Thomas wrote that the decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, “enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one …

By the Associated Press A lawsuit filed by the Satanic Temple alleges that an advertising company unfairly refused to display some billboards promoting a ritual offered by the group to help people bypass abortion rules in some states. The group, based in Salem, Massachusetts, announced Wednesday that it has sued Lamar Advertising in Arkansas state …

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey When he was pastor of a prominent megachurch in Orlando, Joel Hunter never told anyone how he voted, but like many White evangelical leaders, he picked Donald Trump in 2016. Trump was friendly with the conservative Christian community, and Hunter thought, “Well, let’s give it a shot.” “Hillary Clinton never did …

By the Associated Press A tiny religious organization tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, sought to erase all mentions and photos of her from its website before she meets with lawmakers and faces questions at her Senate confirmation hearings. Barrett, a federal appeals judge, has declined to publicly discuss her decades-long affiliation with …

By Mirna Alsharif A Christian conservative legal group has filed lawsuits on behalf of nonprofit ministries and a photographer, saying a new Virginia law offering LGBTQ protections forces them to “abandon” their beliefs. The Virginia Values Act offers sweeping protections to the state’s LGBTQ community in areas including housing, employment, public spaces and credit applications. …

By the Kansas City Star Editorial Board Two adult children of Rick Roeber, a candidate for the 34th District House seat in Missouri, say he abused them when they were young. Roeber has denied all allegations of abuse. But Anastasia Roeber of Lee’s Summit, Roeber’s adopted daughter, says he made improper sexual advances toward her …

By Hemant Mehta Too often, we hear stories about people sentenced to death in other countries for alleged blasphemy. It’s hard to keep track of the cases and it’s hard to follow up when accurate information is difficult to come by. Today, on the 15th anniversary of when a Danish newspaper published satirical cartoons of Muhammad, the group Ex-Muslims of …

By Humanists UK New coronavirus regulations coming into force in England today provide for religious and civil marriages to have up to 15 gathered in attendance, but make no such provision for humanist weddings. Instead it is specified that they ‘must be limited to 6 attendees’. This is in contrast to the previous regulations, which …

By Abram Van Engen On September 17, President Donald Trump announced he was establishing “the 1776 Commission,” a plan to “promote patriotic education” and a “pro-American curriculum.” Trump defined his commission against critical race theory and The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, which examines the legacy of slavery in the United States. He claimed that such projects “teach our …

By Aidan Connaughton Most people around the world identify with a religion or religious group. The rest, an estimated 16% of the global population in 2020, are religiously unaffiliated, meaning they identify as atheists, agnostics or describe their religion as “nothing in particular.” In many countries, being religiously unaffiliated is linked to certain social and political views. For …