Saturday, September 17, 2022

This Week in Religion - Supreme Court to revisit LGBTQ rights with a wedding website

Lead story

A black and white photograph shows the clasped hands of two people in suit jackets. One has a visible wedding ring.

Editor's note:

A SCOTUS case from Colorado about same-sex weddings? If that gives you a sense of deja vu, you’re not wrong.

Four years ago, the court sided with the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, a Denver baker who refused to design a cake for a gay couple. But it wasn’t the more sweeping ruling some of his supporters had wanted. The justices decided on narrow grounds, leaving the bigger questions about clashes between civil rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion for another day.

They’ll get their chance next term, when yet another Colorado case is argued. This time, it’s a website designer opposed to same-sex marriage. Under the state’s anti-discrimination act, businesses cannot refuse services based on sexual orientation. But she argues that making her create wedding sites for gay couples would be “compelled speech,” forcing her to speak against her views.

This week, a law professor unpacks how the Supreme Court may approach the case. Whether or not the justices set a new precedent on the key issues, the fundamental clashes at this case’s core – what happens when First Amendment freedoms for some mean discrimination against others – are not going anywhere soon.

A portrait of Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor at The Conversation U.S.
 

Religion News

Fewer than half of Americans may be Christian by 2070, according to new projections

A new report projects Americans' future — a future where Christianity, though diminished, persists, while non-Christian faiths grow amid rising secularization. By Bob Smietana/Religion News Service

Divisions over LGBTQ-related policies have flared recently at several religious colleges in the United States. There was a dramatic new turn at one of the most rancorous battlegrounds – Seattle Pacific University. By David Crary/The Associated Press

Pope Francis (center) meets with Metropolitan Anthony (right). There is another man to the left with his back to the camera.

How many must die? Pope blasts Russia war, appeals for peace

Pope Francis told the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and other faith leaders that religion must never be used to justify the “evil” of war. By Nicole Winfield/The Associated Press

How a small town in Wisconsin became home to four Dharmic houses of worship

The Midwest has offered the South Asian immigrant families what it has offered any immigrant group: Space to call their own. By Richa Karmarkar/Religion News Service

At 50, TV's ‘The Waltons’ still stirs fans’ love, nostalgia

Fifty years ago, “The Waltons” debuted at a time when networks generally avoided risky content. But observers say “The Waltons" was notable for tackling difficult topics, including religion. By Bobby Ross Jr./The Associated Press

 

Commentary and Analysis

A variety of cultural performances evoking intense emotions occur during the Islamic month of Muharram. A scholar observed the processions on Ashoura in northern Tanzania. By Mara Leichtman for The Conversation

Christians more than anyone else ought to have the most robust and healthiest understanding of friendship, including, or especially, those between men and women. By Karen Swallow Prior/Religion News Service

In Nevada, people create a makeshift city toward the end of summer and later burn it down. What's behind this event, and what makes it meaningful? By Dimitris Xygalatas for The Conversation

Four scholars of race, religion and immigration explain how US refugee and asylum policy has long been racially and religiously discriminatory in practice. By Laura E. Alexander, Jane Hong, Karen Hooge Michalka and Luis A. Romero for The Conversation

 
A black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth II leaving St. Michael and All Angels Church in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). There are Sunday school children on either side of the pathway where Queen Elizabeth II is walking.

Queen Elizabeth II is flanked by rows of Sunday school children as she leaves St. Michael and All Angels Church in Colombo, Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka, in 1954, during a tour of the British Commonwealth. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

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  • This Week in Religion is a publication of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, a collaboration among the Religion News Service, The Associated Press and The Conversation U.S.
  • The three news organizations work to improve general understanding and analyze the significance of developments in the world of faith.
 
 

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