News from the Week April 11 – April 15, 2022

Friend:

There’s nothing that gives me hope for the future of church-state separation and our democracy like interacting with young people who are engaged in our issue. This past Wednesday, I enjoyed speaking with the students in a religious liberty class at Georgetown University…wait for it…IN PERSON!

The professor invited me to speak about the relationship between religious freedom and LGBTQ equality—something we’re all too familiar with. Religious freedom isn’t at odds with LGBTQ equality, but it’s too often presented that way. As you know, Americans United has been battling a wave of emboldened religious extremists and their lawmaker allies who are misusing religious freedom as a license to discriminate. To illustrate that religious freedom requires limits to the free exercise of religion, I opened with one of my favorite quotes from the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which she included in her brilliant dissent in the Hobby Lobby case: “[W]ith respect to free exercise claims … your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man’s nose begins.”

I also explained how it isn’t just LGBTQ people who are harmed when religious freedom is weaponized. Unfortunately, our current docket of legal cases does a great job of explaining how religious minorities, the nonreligious, people of color, women—and all of us—are at risk when religious freedom turns into religious privilege.

These students “got it”—as did the Rutgers Law School students I spoke with along with Congressman Jamie Raskin two weeks ago. And so do our talented Youth Organizing Fellows—emerging activists who have joined AU’s program to help youth organizers grow as leaders, building power for our movement into the future. We have now had two successful classes of Fellows, and applications for the 2022-23 cohort of Youth Fellows are open again as of this week. If you know an 18-25 year old who would be interested in this exciting (and paid!) opportunity, please encourage them to apply here: [link removed]

At a time when we’re facing attacks from so many directions on a core tenet of our democracy, it’s more important than ever that AU continues to invest in a new generation of leaders to hold our country to its promise of freedom without favor and equality without exception.

With hope and gratitude,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO


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Plan To Honor Pioneering Black Judge Collapses Over School-Prayer Ruling:
Given his distinguished background, a proposal to name a federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla., for the late Judge Joseph W. Hatchett should have been non-controversial. It wasn’t.
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Christian Nationalists Fawn Over Putin’s Russia. How Did This Happen?
Within the space of a few years, Russia went from being evangelicals’ nightmare state to a kind of model society.
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Six Years Later, A Creationist Theme Park Is Not Paying Off For Kentucky:
Americans United never opposed Ken Ham’s building of Ark Encounter, but we did stand against taxpayers being compelled to support what is clearly an evangelistic enterprise.
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If You Want Equality Among Belief Systems, Support Church-State Separation:
When the government uses its awesome power to favor one system over all others, it not only violates the fundamental right of conscience, it creates winners and losers on the basis of belief.
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Get Involved—Check Out AU’s Upcoming Events:
Find additional details and a full list of events at [link removed]

April 16, 7 p.m. ET (Virtual & In Person): “Resisting the Religious Right’s Efforts to Privatize Public Schools,” with public education advocate Teri Sorey. Presented by AU’s Orange County Chapter. RSVP here: [link removed]

April 26, 7:30 p.m. ET (Virtual): “Post-Argument Town Hall: Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (SCOTUS).” Presented by AU. RSVP here: [link removed]


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Americans United for Separation of Church and State
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