Free Republic

Considering the list of human rights atrocities China has committed, namely the current genocide against the Muslim Uyghurs minorities, it was maddening to hear that they dared to lecture the United States in our handling of race and human rights in what was just a preview to the main event between Chinese and United States top officials. Remarks included: On human rights, we hope that the United States will do better on human rights. China has made steady progress in human rights, and the fact is that there are many problems within the United States regarding human rights, which is...

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has rejected a request from a Louisiana pastor who’d sought emergency relief from criminal charges he faces for the apparent crime of holding large church services in contravention of the state’s coronavirus rules. ... As the months passed, Spell wound up accruing three additional charges, making for a total of nine. Now fast-forward to last week, when he filed a motion with Justice Alito requesting an injunction against the charges he faces. ... For reasons that remain unclear, Alito outright rejected the request — meaning it won’t receive a full hearing in the Supreme Court...

Alas, we have a victory for religious freedom in the COVID lockdown era. The Supreme Court recently ruled that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo illegally targeted churches in his COVID lockdown order—and Justice Amy Coney Barrett was the deciding vote. In the 5-4 decision, the Court ruled Cuomo’s edict violated First Amendment rights (via NYT): The Supreme Court late Wednesday night barred restrictions on religious services in New York that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had imposed to combat the coronavirus. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the court’s three liberal members in...

During the course of the COVID-19 crisis, an ongoing, and very legitimate, national debate has continued about the wisdom of lockdowns. The decision to shut down social and commercial activity in the name of health is itself arbitrary. Then, the decision to decide what to shut down and what not to shut down, what activities are more essential than others, adds more arbitrariness. These decisions reflect the values and priorities of those with power who are making them. In our increasingly secular society, this is posing enormous problems and challenges for religious freedom. Earlier this year, Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley...

"Staggering friendliness." That's how one reporter described his encounter with People of Praise, the apostolic community that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and her family belong to. I've always heard wonderful things about Barrett, knowing more than a few people who teach or have studied at the University of Notre Dame, where Barrett attended school. And yet, I just finished reading a piece that used the word "sinister" in association with People of Praise. Evidently because we no longer have the capacity as a people to recognize that there was a world before Margaret Atwood novels. The use of...

‘It’s great that dog grooming, gin, guns, and garden supplies are essential,’ says Pastor Kevin Martin, chuckling at the irony, ‘but the body and blood of Christ are not.’ It was a parishioner who called local news and possibly the police on Rev. Kevin Martin for continuing to hold services during coronavirus shutdowns, even though he had explicit state permission to do so while taking extra health precautions.Members of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Raleigh, N.C. were filmed by local television as they walked with their spouses and children into the church to worship and receive critical spiritual care at...