Happy Election Day! We’ve traveled more than 1,600 miles on The Vote is Sacred Tour and arrived at our final destination: Philadelphia. From the minute we arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, 9 days ago, we’ve felt a powerful energy resonating across diverse religious communities.
We wrapped up the tour with a block party in Philadelphia in partnership with Episcopal Community Services. We had face painting, food, and music at the corner of 60th st and Girard Ave to make one final push to get out the vote.
In addition to the tour stops, we’ve had the opportunity to share important messages from the road. Our president and CEO Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush recorded a message about the need to vote for reproductive freedom as an expression of religious freedom. And we got some help from Academy Award-winning actress Laura Dern. She shared our message about reproductive freedom with her more than 1 million Instagram followers.
Do No Harm: Resisting the Misuse of Religious Exemptions
When does the right to religious freedom become a justification for harm? This question is at the heart of the misuse of religious exemption laws. These laws – protections granted under the First Amendment and utilized for centuries by individuals of all faiths – have been exploited by Christian Nationalists to undermine other fundamental rights, including equality and non-discrimination.
The Moral and Financial Harm of Conversion Therapy: Why Chiles v. Salazar Matters for All of Us
One of the most harmful manifestations of discrimination is so-called “conversion therapy,” which is a debunked and dangerous practice that falsely claims to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear Chiles v. Salazar, a case challenging Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” and the constitutionality of Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law (MCTL), we face a pivotal moment. The central legal issue concerns whether Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors infringes upon the First Amendment rights of licensed mental health professionals.