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

Secular Education in America: An Increasing Urgency

In the age of Coronavirus, it’s never been more obvious than right now how important an understanding of science is, both to policy decision-making and to the very way we live our lives as individuals. Yet too many children in America lack a basic education in secular subjects like science, despite it being mandated by law! Join Naftuli Moster, Executive Director of YAFFED: Young Advocates for Fair Education, to discuss the current efforts underway to improve educational curricula within ultra-Orthodox...

Reviewing Denominational Stances on the Separation of Religion & State

10 Mar 2020

Lincoln Dow

Jewish History, Judaism

Jews for a Secular Democracy is a pluralistic initiative of the Society for Humanistic Judaism to mobilize all Jews to work to keep religion and government separate. Many Jewish denominations have issued statements calling for the separation of religion & state. Take a look! Humanistic Judaism: “The Society for Humanistic Judaism (SHJ) vigorously supports the Johnson Amendment as fundamental to American democracy and the separation of church and state. The Johnson Amendment prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt organizations, including churches and...

Welcome Sarah Levin to the JFASD Team!

09 Mar 2020

Paul Golin

Media, News and Press

NOTE: In October 2021, Sarah took on the role of JFASD Strategy Director. This post is from March 2020. Jews for a Secular Democracy (JFASD) is excited to welcome Sarah Levin to our team as Program Coordinator. Sarah is the founder of Secular Strategies, a consulting firm that is pioneering the mobilization of secularist voters and leveraging interfaith coalitions to counter the religious right with a pluralist left. Sarah worked for the Secular Coalition for America from 2013 through 2019...

A Helpful Primer on Secular Government

27 Feb 2020

Paul Golin

Science, Secular Democracy, Supreme Court, US History

An article in the latest edition of The Humanist Magazine, “American Jurisprudence on Trial,” by Gordon Gamm, provides a concise and helpful history of the separation of religion and government and the key issues currently being litigated around the notion of a secular government. Gamm is a longtime leader in both the Humanist and Humanistic Judaism movements. As a retired attorney, his involvement has included providing extensive legal expertise to help ensure that humanists – along with all other Americans...

Supporting the Goals of the Women’s March

16 Jan 2020

Paul Golin

Reproductive Rights

Saturday January 18, 2020, is the third annual Women’s March, with events taking place in Washington DC, New York, and elsewhere. Activists from Jews for a Secular Democracy will be participating, and if you would like to march with our sign, you can download and print the PDF here. (The dimensions match 11”x17” but can be printed larger or smaller at that ratio.) We’re participating because the goals of the Women’s March align with our own Jewish values, and there...

Become a JFASD Volunteer Leader!

10 Jan 2020

Lincoln Dow

Media, News and Press

Are you concerned about threats from religious fundamentalists to reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, science-based policy, and secular education in America? Do you want to mobilize your community, congregation, and/or fellow Jews to protect the First Amendment and KEEP RELIGION OUT OF GOVERNMENT? We’re looking for Volunteer Leaders to help organize and shape our grassroots advocacy initiatives, focused on defending secular values at the local, state, and federal government levels, to keep our government neutral on religious matters, and to counter...

Should The Public Fund Religious Schools?

27 Dec 2019

Lincoln Dow

Education, Secular Democracy

The upcoming Supreme Court case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue In January, the United States Supreme Court will hear a case that could erode the separation of church and state and allow for state governments to increase support for religious private schools using public funding programs. The Montana State Legislature in 2015 enacted a law creating a tax credit for citizens and businesses who donate to fund scholarships for K-12 students in private schools. The credit is equal...

Contextualizing Trump’s Executive Order on Judaism

13 Dec 2019

Lincoln Dow

Judaism

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was preparing to sign an executive order redefining Judaism in the eyes of the federal government as a race or a nationality, not just an religion, with the intent of providing additional ammunition for the Department of Education to withhold funding from colleges and universities that do not act sufficiently to combat anti-Semitism and critics of Israel, including the BDS movement. The text of the executive order, leaked on...

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