Religious Liberty Under Threat

Continental Congress in 1776 — In the late eighteenth century, a group of upper class American white men got together and wrote something that they called the “Declaration of Independence.” It caused a war. Many people died.
I’m grateful for them beyond any capacity to express or to repay.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Hales Swift continues to produce useful materials and make them accessible on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

“Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees? A Video Supplement for Come, Follow Me Lesson 5: “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord””

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Here are three articles related by their focus on the matter of religious liberty and the increasing secularism of government power-elites:

“As Religious Separation Increases, Religious Bigotry Will Abound: Reversing the cultural decline of Christianity would do more to preserve religious freedom than any conceivable Supreme Court case.”

And now she wants to be president:

“Kamala Harris’s Outrageous Assault on the Knights of Columbus: No longer is the debate over Christianity in the public square. It is over Christians in the public square.”

Please, with regard to this next one, note the names of the author of the article and of the British home secretary to whom the article refers, and try to guess their likely religious backgrounds. They’re coming to the defense, in part, of a Jewish school:

“Amanda Spielman’s War on Religion in Great Britain: In the name of ‘British values,’ French-style secularism is being imposed on religious schools in England.”

Religious believers had better learn to cooperate despite their theological differences, because they have common enemies. As Benjamin Franklin is said to have quipped in the Continental Congress in 1776, just before signing the Declaration of Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

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Yet one more bit of evidence that, as the late Christopher Hitchens used to say, religion poisons everything:

“The science of Sabbath: How people are rediscovering rest—and claiming its benefits”

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“Church Obtains Official Recognition in Mali”

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The presiding officer was Elder Robert Gay, of the Presidency of the Seventy, whom I have known since long before his call to serve as a General Authority and for whom I have enormous respect:

“Church Leaders Break Ground for Temple in Bangkok”

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Over fifteen years ago, I had a rather unpleasant exchange with a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had since left it and, in her relatively old age, become a quite vocal atheist (although her husband evidently remained a believer until his death a few years back):

“Is Religion Irrational and Anti-Intellectual?”

These days, I probably wouldn’t waste my time on such an exchange.

In any event, though, I found out the other day that “SusieQ” — I know her actual name but won’t use it here — died a few days ago. I wish her family well, and genuinely hope that her recent experience has been a pleasant surprise for her.

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For those who might still be skeptical, there is evil in the world. Here’s another example:

“Fire at St. George stake center intentionally set, fire officials say: The building, which was expected to be finished in about a month, is now a total loss.”

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From Neil Rappleye, who is trying to be helpful for this year’s Sunday School curriculum:

“Engaging Come Follow Me: A Late Introduction (of Sorts)”