The early reviews of Rage and the Republic are in! In a few days, books (including an audiobook) will be shipped out and on the shelves of bookstores by February 3. Simon & Schuster is releasing the book to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Category: Religion
The City College of New York campus began the latest example of anti-Semitic and extremist speech this week after Abdullah Mady, a student and self-proclaimed Imam, refused to sit next to a Jewish speaker and called for the tips of the fingers of “the filthy rich” to be cut off in accordance with Sharia law. Continue reading “Imam at CUNY Reportedly Calls for the Fingertips of the “Filthy Rich” to be Cut Off Under Sharia Law”
High School senior Sabrina Steffans is taking on Grand Island High School in New York for her parking space. The school said that graduating students could do their own designs for their parking spaces for a $50 fee so Steffans did a religious theme. However, Assistant Principals Adam Hernandez and Jaime Peld hit the brakes on the effort as unacceptable religious imagery in a public school. Continue reading ““Jesus Take the Wheel”: Student Fights New York High School Over Religious Parking Space Design”
Below is my column in The Hill on the ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor in favor of parents who want to withdraw their children from LGBTQ lessons in public schools. I agreed with the majority, but it was Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent (joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson) that was the most striking in its apocalyptic take on allowing parents to remove their children from these classes. Despite the fact that various opt-outs have been allowed for parents, this one is deemed a threat to the very essence of public education.
Here is the column:
We recently discussed how the United Kingdom has continued its erosion of free speech by pushing an effective blasphemy law. Now, a London man has been convicted of a “religiously aggravated public order offence.” Hamit Coskun, 50, a Turkish-born Armenian-Kurdish atheist was arrested after burning a Qur’an. Continue reading “British Blasphemy Prosecution: London Man Convicted After Burning Qur’an”
We previously discussed the legislation passed by Washington State democrats that requires priests to violate the sanctity of the confessional to report child abuse. I described the law as “blatantly unconstitutional” in eviscerating the right to the free exercise of religion. The state is moving to create an effective system of sacramental snitches and the Catholic Church is declaring “enough.” It has announced that any priest who complies with the law will be promptly excommunicated. Continue reading “Sacramental Snitches: Church to Excommunicate any Priests Complying with Washington State Law”
Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a major parental rights case in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a challenge to Montgomery County (Md.) requiring their children to participate in instruction that includes LGBTQ+ themes. It is a case that could produce sweeping changes across the county as parents object to the use of public schools to advance social and political agendas. These books are being required for children 3-10 years old. The parents have the stronger argument in my view. A ruling in their favor could prove one of the most important victories for parental rights in decades.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Hears Major Parental Rights Case Over LGBT Readings”
Parental rights are emerging as one of the major civil liberties movements of this generation — and one of the greatest conflicts between the right and the left in this country. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled schools can hide a change of gender in young children from their parents. Now, Colorado is poised to pass a law that would threaten the custody rights of parents who “deadname” or “misgender” their own children. If a parent does not adopt a child’s new pronouns or name, they could be found to have exercised “coercive control” and lose custody in divorce proceedings in favor of a more enlightened parent. Continue reading ““Coercive Control”: Parents Could Lose Custody Under Proposed Colorado Law for “Misgendering””
Recently, after the speech of Vice President J.D. Vance in Munich, various European leaders went public to express their shock and disbelief that they would be accused of rolling back on free speech. For many of us, it was a laughable display of denial, particularly from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In a country that has eviscerated free speech, Starmer told Bret Baier that the UK “guards” free speech and “we don’t believe in censoring speech.” Now, the government is continuing this month with its effort to regulate and criminalize speech. The effort to crack down on “Islamophobia” could create a type of blasphemy standard if it encompasses criticism of the faith or its practices.
Clearly, Dr. Steve Caudle of Greater Second Missionary Baptist Church in Chattanooga is not the “turn-the-other-cheek” type of minister. Caudle called upon his flock to choose violence in responding to the policy changes in progress in Washington with the new Administration. It is a further escalation of the rage rhetoric from Democratic politicians and pundits. Continue reading ““Get Violent and Fight”: Tennessee Minister Defends Violence to Stop Trump”
Washington Democrats are adding a fifth stage for confessions under a new law. If passed, examination, confession, absolution, and penance will be followed by arrest. The blatantly unconstitutional legislation would target priests who learn of any “reasonable” basis to believe that a child “has suffered abuse or neglect.” Putting aside the obvious violation of the sanctity of the confessional, it presents a novel problem for priests if they both encourage the faithful to unburden themselves while at the same time reminding them anything that they say can and will be used against them in a court of law. Continue reading “A Ministerial Miranda? Washington State Democrats Target Priests in Latest Attack on Religion”
There is an interesting defamation case out of New York in which the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit by Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI) against the Anti-Defamation League (“ADL”) and individual defendants Jonathan Greenblatt, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper. Not only did the court reject the claim that canceled speeches resulted from alleged defamatory statements, but it also noted that the statements about NOI are protected opinions. Continue reading “Farrakhan and Nation of Islam Lose Major Defamation Case”
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is under fire today for seemingly dismissing medical concerns over the risks of puberty blockers and gender surgeries for minors with a comparison to taking Aspirin. In the oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, Sotomayor pointed out that there are risks to any medical procedure or drug. However, the analogy belittled the concerns of many parents and groups over the research on the dangers of these treatments. It also highlighted how the Biden Administration and liberal justices were discarding countervailing research inconveniently at odds with their preferred legal conclusion.
International Judo Federation (IJF) has suspended a Serbian judo champion for five months from any international competitions for making the sign of the cross after his match in the Paris Olympic games this year. It is another bizarre controversy from the games, including France barring French Muslim athletes from wearing hijabs in competition. Continue reading “Fall from Grace: Olympian Suspended for Making Sign of the Cross”
France’s Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, has announced that French Muslim athletes will be barred from wearing hijabs at the Olympics. The decision is a gross violation of the religious freedom of Muslim athletes and should be condemned throughout the world.
Continue reading “France Bans Muslim Hijabs from the Olympics for French Athletes”