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Tag: Religious freedom

gay marriage

County Clerk To Do Time for Marriage

A federal judge ordered county court clerk Kim Davis to jail for contempt Thursday for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses on the grounds that to do so violated her religious beliefs.

Rick Perry

Rick Perry Delivers Fiery Religious Speech to 10,000 in South Carolina

Former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) delivered a fiery religious speech tying his beliefs to the anti-Washington message of his presidential campaign, and seeking to tap into some of the anger and unrest among Republican primary voters. He joined a crowd of over 10,000 in Columbia, South Carolina, this weekend for a religious liberty rally on the steps of the state capitol.

The entrance to El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma, July 16, 2015, as US President Barack Obama arrives for a visit. Obama is the first sitting US President to visit a federal prison, in a push to reform one of the most expensive and crowded prison systems in the world

Prisons Now Recognize ‘Humanism’ As Religion

The most recent example is the inclusion of “humanism” as a religion in federal prisons, with the corresponding rights to time and space for activities, visits by humanist chaplains and access to literature and study materials. Often used as a code word for atheism, humanism, or “secular humanism,” refers to a unifying philosophy of life that seeks meaning in human events without reference to spiritual or non-material realities.

Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters

USCIRF Sounds Alarm on Nigeria Crisis, Urges Obama to Take Action

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks by the jihadist group Boko Haram and in sectarian violence in the Middle Belt during the past two months, and emphasizes the intensification of Boko Haram attacks since the start of Ramadan. “The July 20 meeting in Washington D.C. between President Barack Obama and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari offers both nations the opportunity to reinvigorate their commitment to, and develop initiatives that would, help curb both types of violence,” the statement says.

Catholic Archbishop Charles J. Chaput answers questions following a news conference on July 20, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Chaput was announced Tuesday as the Archbishop-designate for the diocese of Philadelphia, one of the country's largest dioceses in the United States. The church in Philadelphia is still reeling from a sex abuse scandal which resulted in the indictment of four priests and a parochial school teacher. Chaput is due to take up his new post in September.

Philly Archbishop Defends School Decision to Fire Married Lesbian Teacher

In a statement Monday, the archbishop likened the decision to the principle of “truth in advertising,” saying that schools describing themselves as Catholic “take on the responsibility of teaching and witnessing the Catholic faith in a manner true to Catholic belief. There’s nothing complicated or controversial in this. It’s a simple matter of honesty.”