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

Why Do Religious Fundamentalists Believe That Their Religious Culture and the Political State Are One and the Same?

05 Dec 2018

Constitution, Democracy, Fundamentalism, US History

At root, all fundamentalists of all religions find the modern world and its cosmopolitanism, diversity, and globalism extremely dislocating and threatens them with the loss of their world. This is because all fundamentalists live within nations that occupy geography that at one time was all about them and their kind, at least in their prevailing founding narrative. In the case of the United States, Christian fundamentalists have lived in a world where their kind have not only appeared the majority,...

Political Religion, Not Religion Itself, is the Problem

26 Oct 2018

Steven Jonas

Constitution, Fundamentalism

As a Secular Humanist and a Jew, I have much to fear from religious fundamentalists in this country, especially as their political power is advanced by their current influence on all three branches of the Federal government. As I have said in my previous column on these pages, the assault on legal abortion goes well beyond the matter of the woman’s right to choose (a right in which I firmly believe). It goes to the criminalization of certain beliefs/values of both religious...

On the Authoritarianism of the Religious Right in the Matter of Abortion Rights: A Clear and Present Danger

11 Sep 2018

Steven Jonas

Fundamentalism, Reproductive Rights, Science

For some decades now, the work of the Religious Right in the United States has had a major focus on certain human activities which they wish to limit, according to their particular religious views on these matters. As is well-known, the two principal ones are of course abortion rights and LGBTQ rights. As is also well-known, the Religious Right campaigns vigorously — in the political and other realms of activity — not to persuade people of the correctness of their...

Why Do Religious Fundamentalists Believe That Their Religious Culture and the Political State Should Be One and the Same?

24 May 2018

Richard Logan

Democracy, Fundamentalism, US History

At root, all fundamentalists of all religions find the modern world and its cosmopolitanism, diversity, and globalism extremely dislocating, as it threatens the loss of their world. In the case of the United States, Christian fundamentalists have lived in a world where “their kind” — Christians — have not only been the majority but also, in their worldview, “the founders.” Dislocating too are the secular governance institutions throughout the West that are essential to the governing of modern pluralistic states....

Are Christians Being Disadvantaged?

11 May 2018

Richard Logan

Policy Issues, So-called "Judeo-Christian"

A segment on PBS NewsHour, “Evangelicals Keep Faith in Trump to Advance Religious Agenda,” included an interview with Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. He speaks to why Evangelical Christians support Donald Trump. In two words, he says it is “Public policy.” He goes on to say this: “Evangelicals experienced or felt that, in the past number of years, the past 10 years, issues of religious liberty, issues of advancing their Judeo-Christian value systems stood...

How the States Got Their Secular Government

19 Apr 2018

Richard Logan

Constitution, Democracy, Jewish History, US History

An important point related to why this page is called Jews for a Secular Democracy: look at Jewish history in America, and it becomes acutely clear that no one has had a greater interest in secular democracy than Jews, whether observant or not. That is true both on the side of benefiting from the freedom of belief guaranteed by the Constitution, but also on the championing side, where Jews have fought to see that others experience the same freedom. Many...

Launching a Jewish First-Amendment Initiative

11 Apr 2018

Paul Golin

Constitution, Democracy, Judaism, Policy Issues

Today marks the public launch of Jews for a Secular Democracy, a pluralistic advocacy and education initiative that we hope will mobilize a wide diversity of Jews and our friends and family members toward strengthening what is commonly referred to as “the separation of church and state”: the secular imperative of our U.S. government. Viewing public policy through the lens of First-Amendment rights, it becomes clear that decision-making on so many of the important issues we care deeply about is...

A Statement on the “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment

10 Apr 2018

Richard Logan

Constitution, Democracy, US History

The Establishment Clause, along with the “Free Exercise” Clause, are the bases for the mission of Jews for a Secular Democracy. It is important to understand that the Establishment Clause does not just say that “Congress shall make no law establishing a [state/national] religion”, although its meaning clearly includes that. It says instead that “Congress shall make no law RESPECTING an establishment of religion”. That is a much broader statement than if it had said “Congress shall not establish a...

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