When Religious Freedom Is a Recipe for Discrimination
Jack Phillips owns a bakery in Lakewood, Colorado. Phillips is a conservative evangelical Christian who opposes marriage equality. He insists that his beliefs give him the right to refuse to serve same-sex couples. Thus, when... Read More
Church, State, and Taxpayer Support Is America Moving Toward a European Model?
In my travels in the world of humanism, I’ve encountered lots of people who speak wistfully about the differences between the United States and European nations. Indeed, in some aspects European and Scandinavian countries are... Read More
What’s behind the New Attack on Birth Control?
IN 1961 an activist named Estelle Griswold joined forces with Dr. C. Lee Buxton of Yale School of Medicine to do something radical: open a center to distribute information about birth control in New Haven,... Read More
The Great “Persecution of Christians” Myth
EARLY IN THE FOURTH CENTURY, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict barring Christians from meeting for worship. Christian scriptures were ordered destroyed, and all citizens of the empire were compelled to sacrifice to traditional... Read More
Land of Confusion: The Religious Right, Trump, and “Post-Truth” America
IF WE LEARNED nothing else from the 2016 election cycle, we certainly learned this: the religious right is morally bankrupt—utterly and profoundly so. You don’t have to look far to see proof of this, but... Read More
Want to Survive the Next Four Years? First Step: Open Your Mouth
LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE, I spent election night filled with dread and anxiety. The country had just elected a thin-skinned, inexperienced, intellectually uncurious reality TV host as president of the United States and leader... Read More
No Moore: Alabama Is Finally Rid of the Worst Judge in America
ROY S. MOORE, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has lost his job—again. This is cause for celebration. It means that we may finally be rid of the fundamentalist fanatic some like to call... Read More