Jews for a Secular Democracy Blog - Jews for a Secular Democracy

Florida Jews for a Secular Democracy Applauds the Filing of a Legal Suit Against the 15-Week Abortion Ban to Preserve Separation of Church and State

13 Jun 2022

Constitution, Discrimination, Organizing/Actions, Policy Issues, Reproductive Rights

June 10, 2022—The Jewish congregation L’Dor Va-Dor of Palm Beach County filed a legal suit today in the second circuit court in Leon County demanding declaratory relief and temporary and permanent injunction of HB5, the recently passed 15-week abortion ban law (formally entitled Fetal and Infant Mortality Reduction). The suit asked the court to declare the law invalid, unconstitutional and unenforceable. Florida Jews for a Secular Democracy, a pluralistic Jewish initiative committed to advancing the Constitutional principle of separation of...

The Ongoing Battle for a Secular America

29 Mar 2022

Paul Golin

Constitution, Discrimination

This is a guest post by Rabbi Jeffery Falick of the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit. To this day the biggest culture shock I ever experienced was my family’s move to Texas in 1978. From our fairly liberal and Jewish suburban Miami neighborhood (to which I’d return years later) I suddenly found myself in an overwhelmingly fundamentalist Christian world. The “buckle of the Bible belt,” they called it. Though I’d grown up around both Democrats and Republicans, I...

Welcoming Nomi Joyrich, Our New Michigan JFASD Organizer

01 Feb 2022

Paul Golin

Organizing/Actions

Nomi Joyrich is Michigan’s first organizer for Jews For a Secular Democracy (JFASD) and an organizer for Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network (MUUSJN.) Nomi’s work supporting interfaith concerns and social justice issues spans decades and includes political activism at all levels of government. Nomi’s current focus is on reproductive freedom, economic justice, and voting rights and protection. Nomi received her B.A. in Minority-Majority Group Relations, Political Philosophy and Psychology from James Madison College, Michigan State University. She received her...

Welcoming Nicole Klein Knight, Our New National Coordinator

02 Jan 2022

Paul Golin

Organizing/Actions

Besides coordinating the Jews for a Secular Democracy initiative nationally, Nicole Klein Knight is a second-term State Representative who serves on the Criminal Justice Committee in the State of New Hampshire. She is the Floor Leader for the Progressive Caucus and Secretary for the Young Democrats Caucus. Nicole co-founded the Never Again New Hampshire chapter in 2019. She centers her legislation and advocacy with the immigrant community, incarcerated community, minor’s protective rights, sex worker rights, substance user rehabilitation, and the houseless...

What it means to be a ‘Jew of No Religion’ — it’s not what you think

15 Jun 2021

Paul Golin

Uncategorized

This piece originally appeared in J. The Jewish News of Northern California on May 19, 2021 I’m thrilled that atheist/agnostic, nonreligious Jews like me seem to be growing in numbers. I’m concerned, though, that our full set of values is not made apparent by the new Pew Research survey of American Jews. Pew splits the community between “Jews by Religion” and “Jews of No Religion.” It suggests an increase among Jews of No Religion to 27 percent of all Jewish...

Trans Rights is Religious Freedom

18 Mar 2021

Paul Golin

Discrimination, Organizing/Actions

Two Bills in Congress Can Knock Down the Fundamentalist Privilege Still Too Often on Blatant Display Try as I might, I simply cannot wrap my mind around the stunning hypocrisy of those who would fly literal flags exhorting “Liberty!” and “Freedom!” yet who feel entitled to tell others how to express their sexuality or gender identity and seek to punish those who enact their own freedom differently. It’s obvious at this point in America’s divided society that anyone waving those...

As a Secular Jew, Here’s What “Jews for a Secular Democracy” Means to Me

12 Jan 2021

Herb Silverman

Constitution, Fundamentalism, US History

What is special about Jews wanting a secular democracy? I wish there were also organizations like “Christians for a Secular Democracy” and “Muslims for a Secular Democracy.” Or better yet, there should be no need for such organizations because all Americans should favor a secular democracy. The United States was founded as a secular democracy, and there should never be a need to defend that principle. Our framers established the first government in history to separate religion and government. They...

The Jewish Imperative to Defend Reproductive Rights

17 Dec 2020

Lincoln Dow

Fundamentalism, Judaism, Organizing/Actions, Policy Issues, Reproductive Rights

On October 26, the week before the 2020 presidential election, Senate Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, filling the vacancy created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Besides the remarkable hypocrisy of the confirmation, rushed through just before an election only four years after Senate Republicans refused to consider President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Court precisely because of the proximity to the 2016 election, the confirmation of Justice Barrett has renewed fears among...

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