News From The Week Of July12 – July 16, 2021

Friend:

Our team has spent a lot of time over the past few years anticipating and responding to the actions of the Supreme Court, mostly because the court has spent a lot of time chipping away at the separation of church and state.

When I sat down to write my July-August Church & State magazine column, what I wanted to do was draw back the curtain and share what it looks like when AU springs into action after a major Supreme Court ruling is announced. I tried to capture the process we go through, which starts months—and sometimes even years— before a decision and culminates in a few key hours of rapid-response efforts. I hope you’ll take a moment to read about it here: [link removed]

But even with so much at stake at the Supreme Court, we are still hard at work in our advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. The unique expertise of Americans United is always being put to work behind the scenes to protect church-state separation and religious freedom. This week we’ve been calling for a long-overdue end to the Washington, D.C., private school voucher program, the only federally funded voucher program in America.

AU VP of Public Policy Maggie Garrett, who also serves as co-chair of the National Coalition for Public Education, wrote in The Washington Post about how this program hurts students, strips them of their civil rights, and funds private religious schools that deny admission to students such as those with disabilities or who are LGBTQ. Read the letter to the editor here: [link removed]

A core part of AU’s mission since our founding has been that: Public funds should support public schools, where 90% of America’s students are educated, and where religion cannot be used as a license to discriminate.

We know that separation of religion and government affects every facet of life—from schools, to access to social services, to employment to health care. But too many Americans take church-state separation for granted and fail to see how it affects our daily lives. With your help, we can grow our ranks ([link removed]) so that we are bringing our strongest front to the critical legal and policy battles we are fighting and protect not just your and my—but everyone’s religious freedom.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

The Towering Falsehoods Of Ken Ham:
As creationist Ken Ham marks the fifth anniversary of Ark Encounter and unveils plans to build a Tower of Babel, a reminder that his Ark Park was built on the backs of Kentucky taxpayers.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Project Blitz’s Latest Playbook Emerges. It’s Bad, But It Could Be Much Worse:
Christian nationalist groups like Project Blitz and the National Association of Christian Lawmakers have had limited success in infusing their version of Christianity into our laws. But they're still a threat to everyone's freedom and equality.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Pew Poll: The Johnson Amendment Was Largely Followed During The 2020 Election:
It seems that the Johnson Amendment is holding strong in American religious life: Pew Research Center found that, while pastors in churches often discussed politics and the 2020 election last fall, very few religious leaders openly endorsed a political candidate.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Dissecting The Day Of Decision: How AU Responds To The Supreme Court:
It’s always a whirlwind when the Supreme Court releases an opinion on religious freedom. AU President and CEO Rachel Laser offers a peek behind the curtain on how AU prepares for and responds to such moments.
READ MORE » [link removed]

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