Overheard (November 2024)
What I experienced, there is tremendous psychological pressure to conform. You have to either leave or you have to be willing to abandon your reason, because you can’t hold onto both.
David Fiedler, who taught violin at Dragon Springs from 2013 to 2016 on behalf of the performance troupe Shen Yun Performing Arts. The Chinese dancing troupe has ticket sales on five continents and holdings of more than $265 million and is operated by the religious cult Falun Gong. It faces allegations that its largely teenage performers are manipulated, underpaid, denied routine medical care and subjected to emotional abuse and grueling hours.
New York Times, 8-18-24
Some people worship in a church, others in a temple or mosque. I attend the cathedral of the wilderness, for among wildflowers in an alpine meadow we can all connect to something grander than ourselves. . . . Wilderness still fills me with semireligious awe.
Nicolas Kristof, in his column, “The best travel is on foot . . . through the wilderness.”
New York Times, 9-8-24
These plans spelled out in Project 2025 are sinister, and they have very real consequences, which is why it’s so important that we gather tonight to shine a light on this extreme plan. . . It’s time Republicans abandon their obsession with controlling women’s bodies.
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., in a speech on the House floor. Balint earned the FFRF Action Fund’s “Secularist of the Week” honor for her remarks.
9-19-24
We educate everybody that shows up. [Religious instruction should be] up to the family, up to the parents and up to the church, whatever that looks like for them. That’s none of our business.
Chuck McCauley, superintendent of Bartlesville (Okla.) Public Schools, who opposes state schools Supt. Ryan Walters’ mandate to put a bible in every class and teach from it.
New York Times, 9-16-24
We don’t just have the Free Exercise, but we have the Establishment Clause. So, we don’t want to coerce anybody toward any religion at all. We are a secular nation. We’re not a sectarian nation. We’re not a theocracy.
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty, speaking at Colorado Christian University for a Constitution Day event.
Colorado Springs Gazette, 9-18-24
Today in Kabul, a female cat has more freedom than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face, she may chase a squirrel in the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not in public. This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. The way that this culture, this society has been upended, is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world.
Actress Meryl Streep, speaking at an event to raise awareness of Afghan women’s rights at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
BBC, 9-23-24
God doesn’t need these people. I mean, let’s talk about narcissism. For these men to think that they are so important to the mission, to God, to the nation. Give me a break.
Jules Woodson, who was abused as a teen by a pastor, speaking in the new short film about the connections between abuse and Christian nationalism, “For Our Daughters.” In the film, abuse survivors argue that if pastors can’t keep their own churches safe, they should not be running the country.
Religion News Service, 9-19-24
One of the gravest dangers isn’t spelled out, but can be discerned by reading between the lines: a dream to turn the United States into a religious monolith, where far-right interpretations of the bible dictate every aspect of our lives.
Wa’el Alzayat, in his column, “Project 2025 is a death sentence for religious freedom.”
Religion News Service, 9-23-24
Take the issue of abortion. In pro-choice states, the government does not compel anyone to have an abortion, whereas in anti-abortion states, everyone is prevented from having an abortion. That, my friends, is fascism, just as much as forcing people to attend a church.
S.T. Joshi, in the column, “The Torment of Samuel Alito.”
Free Inquiry, 9-23-24
Our nation was founded on the principle of the separation of church and state — a phrase that comes from Thomas Jefferson’s own explanation of the First Amendment — and it has defined our country ever since. Forcing our faith on others is theocracy, and such coercion is not what Christ-like love looks like.
Wording on a petition by Faithful America, an organization of Christians supporting social justice causes while opposing “Christian nationalism,” opposing a proposal from the Texas Education Agency for elementary school teachers to include the bible in their state reading and language arts lessons.
Newsweek, 9-28-24
Blasphemy codes are remnants of medieval thought, designed to enforce conformity to religious dogmas and suppress dissent. They stand in stark contrast to the values of tolerance, pluralism and critical thinking that modern Britain should be a standard bearer for.
Stephen Evans, CEO of Britain’s National Secular Society, in his column, “Blasphemy is a catalyst for progress. Let’s celebrate it.”
Secularism.org, 9-30-24
