Video: The State of Religious Liberty in the U.S.

From the proposed 2011 circumcision ban in San Francisco to clashes between religion and advocates for same-gender marriage, recent legal developments have raised serious questions about how U.S. law will continue to protect religious custom, law, and practice. As a result, the Jewish community now must consider the trajectory of religious liberty in the United States—and how the constitutional protections afforded religion will meet its communal aspirations.


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8 Comments

  • Izzy Clapman

    Protect Jewish religious liberty
    End Muslim religious liberty

    • Meir

      And of course, better dead than “unjust,” right?

      Gee, who knew: all the Nazis, for example, would have had to do was declare their ideology a religion, and then people like you would be defending their rights to their religious rituals involving the sacred substance Zyklon-B…

      One has to ask who’s the idiot here. Hint: it ain’t #1.

  • Worried in Wisconsin

    Maybe I misunderstood, but wasn’t the point of his speech about the need to protect the religious rights of ALL religious groups? Whether we agree with the views or actions of another religion isn’t the point – if the government is allowed to discriminate against one religion then they are allowed to do so against all.

    • Izzy Clapman

      no…Jews should get special treatment under the law and Muslims should get the opposite.

  • Worried in Wisconsin

    Izzy – are you purposefully making statements that you know to be incendiary to make a point?

    If not, then I’d seriously suggest that you do just a bit of reading of US history. The US Constitution is designed to protect the minority against the majority, not to grant any group rights above and beyond any other group.

    The ONLY reason that Jews have rights in the US is because ALL religious groups have rights and are granted the freedom to practice religion as they see fit. Not sure if you noticed, but the majority of people in the US are Christians. Many of them would like nothing more than to be given preferential treatment and special rights. If that happens Jews (and every other religious minority) only get what they decide we should get – nothing more – and we’d have non rights.

  • Moishe pipek

    No need freedom of this or that; Everybody should do whatever he wants, as long as he does not do it in the street and scare the horses