Category: Religious Freedom

Captioned the pic, he wrote, ”For those who didn’t know, My unit has around 15 per cent Muslims. All auspicious functions are started by a Pooja in the Mandir and a Namaz/ Dua in the Masjid. Both the houses of worship are always under a single roof and called a *Sarv Dharma Sthal*. Though we are in an undisclosed location, I couldn’t resist sharing this great view of my two boys who are responsible for the respective temporary places of worship separated by a wall.”

“The British High Commission is proud to embrace Pakistan’s immense diversity, and to engage with and bring together members of all religious faiths. Inter-faith harmony and freedom of religion was at the centre of the vision of Pakistan’s founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Despite Sweden’s Marriage Code becoming gender neutral in 2009, only a handful of religious congregations marry gay couples. The Green Party, the ruling Social Democrats’ sidekicks, want to make it illegal to refuse same-sex marriage.

“When it comes to the actual exercise of authority around marriage, I do not think it should be possible to discriminate against same-sex couples”, Gender Equality Minister Åsa Lindhagen told the newspaper Aftonbladet.

According to a survey conducted by national broadcaster SVT, only five of the 34 surveyed religious congregations marry homosexuals. The vast majority of congregations, including several Orthodox, Muslim, Baptist, Catholic, and Nontrinitarian congregations, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, refuse to marry homosexuals.

Sen. Ted Cruz is no stranger to protecting religious liberty, though he’s been on a streak recently, hitting the Department of Defense for religious discrimination and introducing broad legislation protecting religious freedom…Between 2013 and 2017, First Liberty, a legal organization that specializes in First Amendment law, documented 70 instances of service members battling to preserve their religious liberties. For example, in 2016, decorated Air Force veteran Oscar Rodriguez delivered a flag-folding speech honoring Master Sgt. Chuck Roberson’s career in the Air Force, giving thanks to God in his comments. Two uniformed airmen forcibly removed Rodriguez from the ceremony and kicked him off Travis Air Force Base. It’s unfortunate to see members of our military, who have volunteered to sacrifice their lives on this country’s behalf, see their religious liberties threatened

official decision to uphold a ban on head coverings in Belgian higher education on June 4.

The decision has faced protests across social media through the hashtags #HijabisFightBack and #TouchePasAMesEtudes (Don’t touch my studies). It also sparked a demonstration in Brussels, the Belgian capital, consisting of thousands.

The prohibition covers all symbols which express religious or political opinions, with the Hijab being at the forefront of the campaign. The ban is already upheld in workplaces with a clear policy against the display of such symbols.

High school students at public schools, secular private schools, and those who are homeschooled can participate in Vermont’s dual enrollment program. This allows them to explore subjects they might be interested in pursuing in college and even to get ahead in their college course work.

But students at religious private schools are categorically excluded.

That means a student from a secular private school and a student from a religious private school could attend the exact same college course, but only the secular private school could be eligible to receive funding for that course.

Does that sound fair to you?

In the Jacobs home, Shabbat has become synonymous with two things: Facebook Live and Shira Averbuch, the ukulele-playing, golden-voiced singer who serves as the artist-in-residence at B’nai Jeshurun, a nearly 200-year-old synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

In footage of two instances that went viral on Thursday and Friday, Christians gathered in the government-approved venues of a Pennsylvania Wal-Mart and a Las Vegas casino to engage in the worship that authorities have deemed non-essential.

In pushing for religion to be given more prominence in U.S. foreign policy concerns, could Secretary of State Mike Pompeo be acting in bad faith?

That’s what many human rights groups believe. In a letter dated July 30, a coalition of faith-based and secular civil liberty groups and leaders accused Pompeo of acting out of “personal political and religious beliefs.” It coincided with the last day of public consultation on a draft report by the Pompeo-appointed Commission on Unalienable Rights that prioritizes religious freedom over other human rights.

Specifically, the ACLU wants to force the merged system to practice medicine in a secular fashion, meaning the Catholic hospital would be required to perform abortions, transgender surgeries, and assisted suicides — all legal in Washington, but all also prohibited in Catholic moral teaching.

A former master sergeant in the Army Band who claims service officials forced him into retirement because of expressions of his Christian faith and conservative opinions says he plans to appeal after an adverse ruling in his case.