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Thoughts from volunteer leaders and supporters of Jews for a Secular Democracy. If you have something to share, please be in touch, we would welcome your contributions to the blog!

Reclaiming Real Religious Freedom: The 1st Amendment’s Significance for Jewish Women

We believe “religious freedom” as defined by the U.S. Constitution means the right for all to live free from discrimination based on religious belief or identity. Unfortunately, the term has been dangerously flipped on its head by those using it to strip freedoms from other people. Women and LGBTQ+ folks are being disproportionately targeted and, as a minority religion, Jews have a unique voice in defending the separation of religion and government. Please join us for this webinar and our...
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Religious Privilege and the Freedom to Oppress: A Conversation with Author Kate Cohen

Kate Cohen is a Washington Post contributing columnist and author of “We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too),” forthcoming from Godine. She joined Paul Golin, executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism and lead staff of its pluralistic social justice initiative, Jews for a Secular Democracy, to discuss her journey “from pretending Jew to admitting atheist” and how it relates to her understanding of religious privilege in America today. Kate Cohen...
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Celebrating Harvey Milk’s Legacy and Continuing the Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Rights

With Stuart Milk of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Jaimie Krass of Keshet, and Paul Golin of Society for Humanistic Judaism/Jews for a Secular Democracy Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the history of California when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Tragically, Milk was assassinated along with mayor of San Francisco George Moscone on November 27, 1978. A close friend remembered him as “very much a cultural Jew…. proud of being both...
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The Detroit Jewish News: “Keeping Religion and Government Separate”

“The audience was startled to hear the voice of a pastor bragging about helping even “witches find Christ” as part of his invocation (prayer) to the Michigan State Legislature in Lansing. State Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-District 7), president pro tempore of the Senate, played the tape “to bring a sense of how it feels to belong to a minority religion” during his participation on a panel discussing “Religion-Government Separation in Michigan Today.” He was joined by State Sen. Rosemary Bayer...
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Minnesota humanists take out billboards to spread the secular word

“This month, Humanists MN returned to the State Capitol along with the humanist congregation First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis and Or Emet Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism as part of an annual event they call the National Day of Reason. They gathered in the basement for croissants and coffee and invited other groups of nonbelievers, including the Central Minnesota Freethinkers, Jews for a Secular Democracy and Minnesota Atheists.” Read the full article here.

Religion-Government Separation in Michigan Today with State Senators Moss and Bayer

Hosted by the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit, Jews for a Secular Democracy facilitated a lively conversation with State Senator Rosemary Bayer and President Pro Tempore of the Michigan Senate Jeremy Moss, moderated by JFASD Michigan Director Nomi Joyrich and introduced by Society for Humanistic Judaism Executive Director Paul Golin. It was a wide-ranging conversation covering white Christian Nationalism, abortion access, LGBTQ rights, and many other timely church-state separation issues. Many thanks to our cosponsors: Congregation for Humanistic...
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Book Banning and Our Freedom to Read: Censorship in Our Libraries and Schools

Book banning and censorship in the United States has a sordid and persistent history. Often based on white Christian Nationalistic values, books dealing with slavery, gender identity, sexuality, disabilities, the Holocaust, mental illness, racism, and non-Christian religions including Judaism are continually challenged and banned from our libraries and schools. And unfortunately, this type of censorship is on the rise. According to the American Library Association, individual book challenges increased markedly in the last few years, from approximately 300 book challenges...
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