News From The Week Of November 9 – November 13, 2020

Friend:

Change is coming.

Whether or not President Trump will admit it, he and his entire administration’s attacks on the separation of religion and government, misuse of religious freedom as a tool to discriminate, and fueling of Christian nationalism in America have been voted out of office.

It will take an enormous amount of work – from all of us – to repair the damage done and protect our rights in the future. But I’m optimistic that we will have allies in the Biden-Harris administration, and Americans United is already working to ensure that religious freedom is a top priority for President-Elect Biden come 2021.

AU’s Agenda to Restore and Protect Religious Freedom highlights ten vitally important actions for the Biden-Harris administration to take to reverse Trump’s harmful policies and advance a religious freedom agenda that works for all of us, not just those whose views advance a politically conservative agenda.

Click here to read an overview of our entire Religious Freedom Agenda for Biden: [link removed]

Meanwhile, we continue our daily work to protect church-state separation against ongoing threats. In particular, as COVID-19 cases once again spike across the country and public health officials consider reinstating stricter limits on large gatherings, we're seeing more lawsuits filed as some houses of worship and religious organizations seek special religious exemptions from public health orders.

Since the pandemic began, Americans United has filed 38 briefs in these cases across the country, explaining how such exemptions are unconstitutional and risk people's lives. Here’s the good news: religious exemptions were granted in only three of these cases. AU will keep at it, especially given that the U.S. Supreme Court, with its new balance of power, is expected to weigh in again soon--and on the heels of Justice Alito’s inappropriate and disturbing remarks on this topic Thursday night; you can read my thoughts on his speech in this Bloomberg article: [link removed]

All of that work is powered by you, AU’s supporters across the country. We could not ask for a more committed and engaged group of people to help us repair church-state separation and reclaim religious freedom in America.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

Assessing The Religious (And Non-Religious) Vote In 2020:
One of the more interesting demographic groups is also among the fastest growing: Americans who say they have no particular religion. These “nones” broke heavily for Biden, with 72% voting for the former vice president.
READ MORE » [link removed]

A Fla. Woman Is On A Crusade To Bring Back School-Sponsored Prayer:
In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school-sponsored prayer is unconstitutional in public schools. A religious group in Jacksonville, Fla., is fighting to reverse that decision.
READ MORE » [link removed]

The American People Decided The Election. Religious Right Groups Are Ignoring Them:
Christian nationalist groups aren’t very happy that Joe Biden has been elected president. They’re pretending that it didn’t really happen, and that Trump will convince courts to throw out people’s ballots and award him a second term any day now.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Church-State Separation Has Taken A Beating Over The Past Four Years. Americans United Has A Plan To Fix That:
The past four years have been trying for many Americans, and they’ve been especially hard for those of us who defend church-state separation. But a new day is coming and we’re looking to the future with our “Agenda to Restore and Protect Religious Freedom,” a bold plan with the top 10 things the Biden-Harris administration can do to shore up the church-state wall.
READ MORE » [link removed]

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