News from the Week Jan. 16- Jan. 20, 2023
Friend:
You know that feeling of exhilaration when something you and your colleagues have been working toward for years finally comes to fruition? When you’ve been shouting from the rooftops and people finally hear you? When you’re surrounded by allies who are just as dedicated and passionate about the cause?
That’s how I felt this week standing in the sanctuary of the beautiful Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri, surrounded by faith leaders from diverse religious backgrounds to announce a new lawsuit that we and the National Women’s Law Center filed on the clergy members’ behalf to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans: [link removed]
Our groundbreaking lawsuit demonstrates that abortion bans are a direct attack on the separation of church and state because extremist lawmakers are imposing their narrow religious beliefs on everyone else. Join me and NWLC CEO Fatima Goss Graves for a virtual briefing on our new lawsuit on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. EST. RSVP today: [link removed]
As our chants of “Separate Church & State” resonated in the church, these United Methodist and Episcopalian and Orthodox Jewish and United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist and Reform Jewish faith leaders powerfully dispelled common misconceptions to proclaim that the separation of church and state is not anti-religious and that religion does not mean anti-abortion.
This country is hungry for church-state lawsuits challenging abortion bans. In a huddle with the clergy before we launched the suit, one of them looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you for giving me something to say ‘yes’ to.” It was one of many times I got emotional that day.
Joining our chorus on Friday were Ruth Marcus with an on-point column in The Washington Post about our case ([link removed]), and more than a dozen celebrities who appeared in our new video to voice their support for church-state separation and abortion rights. Please check it out if you haven’t watched it yet – you’ll see a lot of famous faces: [link removed]
These actors with huge platforms want to help us reach exponentially more people with the message that we need a national recommitment to the separation of church and state if we’re to protect our democracy and the rights and freedoms we cherish.
Actress Amy Brenneman, perhaps best known from the TV show “Judging Amy,” gave us another signal boost yesterday as she and I chatted during an Instagram Live broadcast about AU’s new lawsuit and the connection between church-state separation and abortion rights – check it out here: [link removed]
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for the entire AU team as we prepared this lawsuit, organized local and national support and drummed up media attention. But we see our efforts paying off. People are hearing us. People are understanding us. And people are joining us. Thank you for being with us all along. I’m excited for all of us to head into this exciting new phase of Americans United and the fight for freedom without favor and equality without exception.
With hope and determination,
Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO
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Taking An Oath Of Office? Feel Free To Use Whatever Book You Like.
Nothing in the Constitution or laws of the United States requires taking an oath of office on a Christian Bible.
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Are Christian Nationalist Book Banners Violating Federal Law? The Biden Administration Wants To Find Out.
The situation unfolding in Granbury, Texas, is part of a nationwide push led by Christian Nationalist groups to purge public schools and libraries of material that offends their religious sensibilities.
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In Minnesota, A Dispute Over Devotional Art Has Cost A University Professor Her Job
Allowing religion-based objections to shut down certain forms of instruction is antithetical to the goals of higher education.
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Religious Freedom: What It Is – And What It Is Not
Monday, January 16, was Religious Freedom Day, which commemorates the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Religious freedom is the right for all of us to live as ourselves and believe as we choose. But it's also important to understand what religious freedom is not.
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Get Involved—Check Out AU’s Upcoming Events:
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Jan. 21, 7 p.m. ET (Virtual): Screening of “Church & State,” a film about the improbable partnership that toppled Utah's ban on same-sex marriage. Sponsored by AU's Orange County, Calif., Chapter. Sign up here: [link removed]
Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. ET (Virtual): "Abortion Bans Violate Church-State Separation," a joint briefing about our abortion ban lawsuit with AU President & CEO Rachel Laser, NWLC President and CEO Fatima Goss Graves and Rev. Dr. Teresa Danieley from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Sign up here: [link removed]
April 22 - April 24 (Virtual & In Person): The Summit for Religious Freedom (SRF) is a collaborative conference that will unify supporters, activists, organizers, policy and legal experts, academics, political and religious leaders, and committed people of faith and of no religion to fight for religious freedom. Sign up here: [link removed]
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