News From The Week Of November 2 – November 6, 2020

Friend:

More Americans voted in the 2020 presidential election than in any other election in our nation’s history. While several states remain too close to call, it appears that the country is on the verge of a major change in our leadership.

What’s important now is that every vote be counted, and that we all remain patient so that we can ensure that happens.

Religious freedom is a core American value, along with freedom of speech and the universal right to vote. Limiting any of these freedoms threatens all of these freedoms. Any public figures supporting voter suppression in the service of their own narrow political agendas are betraying our American values.

No matter the outcome of this election, Americans United will continue to lead the fight for church-state separation. Our work continued seamlessly this week as the U.S. Supreme Court heard Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case involving a taxpayer-funded foster care agency that wants to misuse religious freedom to discriminate against qualified families because they are LGBTQ or don’t follow the agency’s religious tenets.

In an op-ed published this week, AU client Aimee Maddonna told her story of being rejected by a foster care agency because she’s Catholic and how the Supreme Court verdict in Fulton could permit such religious discrimination nationwide. Read it here: [link removed]

Finally, I want to say thank you, sincerely, for your enduring support of our work and our mission at such a consequential moment in history. We have a crucial role to play in recommitting to our fundamental values so that America can be all it promises to be for our children, and our children’s children. I hope to reach out to you with another update soon.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

Election Day Featured Some Interesting Down-Ballot Races. Here’s A Roundup:
On the ballot were issues like LGBTQ rights, reproductive freedom and public education which are closely connected to religious freedom and church-state separation.
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Supreme Court Should Affirm That Taxpayer-Funded Child-Placement Agencies Can’t Use Religion To Discriminate:
Americans United agrees with Philadelphia officials that nondiscrimination is an important principle in government-sponsored programs.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Reclaiming The Symbols That Belong To Us All:
The fact that many who are not both white and Christian can feel less secure that America’s symbols include them is not evidence that they are less patriotic. It should, instead, motivate all who are committed to America’s foundational principles of equality and inclusion to work harder to make sure that everyone is, and feels, equally American, regardless of their race or religion.
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Americans United for Separation of Church and State
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