Religious Discrimination
Definition – Treating a person, including a patient, employee, or applicant, unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs.
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Recommended Books
The Conscience Wars: Rethinking the Balance between Religion, Identity and Equality
Authors: Susanna Mancini (Editor), Michel Rosenfeld (Editor)
Published: July 5, 2018
ISBN: 1107173302
ISBN13: 9781107173309
Pages: 520
“In this work, Professors Rosenfeld and Mancini have brought together an impressive group of authors to provide a comprehensive analysis on the greater demand for religions exemptions to government mandates. Traditional religious conscientious objection cases, such as refusal to salute the flag or to serve in the military during war, had a diffused effect throughout society. In sharp contrast, these authors argue that today’s most notorious objections impinge on the rights of others, targeting practices like abortion, LGTBQ adoption, and same-sex marriage. The dramatic expansion of conscientious objection claims have revolutionized the battle between religious traditionalists and secular civil libertarians, raising novel political, legal, constitutional and philosophical challenges. Highlighting the intersection between conscientious objections, religious liberty, and the equality of women and sexual minorities, this volume showcases this political debate and the principal jurisprudence from different parts of the world and emphasizes the little known international social movements that compete globally to alter the debate’s terms.” – Cambridge University Press
The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty
Authors: Micah Schwartzman (Editor), Chad Flanders (Editor), Zoë Robinson (Editor)
Published: January 12, 2016
ISBN: 0190262532
ISBN13: 9780190262532
Pages: 520
“What are the rights of religious institutions? Should those rights extend to for-profit corporations? These questions are now the subject of significant controversy. In the United States, churches have long asserted claims to institutional autonomy, especially with respect to laws interferring with their internal governance. Faith-based nonprofits have claimed similar rights, and now for-profit corporations have as well, with the Supreme Court vindicating their rights in the landmark decision, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. This book explores the corporate turn in law and religion. ” – Oxford University Press
Nomad, From Islam to America – A Personal Journey through the clash of Civilization
Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Published: February 8, 2011
ISBN: 9781439157329
ISBN13: 9781439157329
Pages: 320
“Ayaan Hirsi Ali captured the world’s attention with Infidel, her compelling coming-of-age memoir, which spent thirty-one weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now, in Nomad, Hirsi Ali tells of coming to America to build a new life, an ocean away from the death threats made to her by European Islamists, the strife she witnessed, and the inner conflict she suffered. It is the story of her physical journey to freedom and, more crucially, her emotional journey to freedom—her transition from a tribal mind-set that restricts women’s every thought and action to a life as a free and equal citizen in an open society. Through stories of the challenges she has faced, she shows the difficulty of reconciling the contradictions of Islam with Western values. ” – Simon & Schuster
God is not Great How Religion Poisons Everything
Author: Christopher Hitchens
Published: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 0446579807
ISBN13: 9780446195348
Pages: 320
“Whether you’re a lifelong believer, a devout atheist, or someone who remains uncertain about the role of religion in our lives, this insightful manifesto will engage you with its provocative ideas. With a close and studied reading of the major religious texts, Christopher Hitchens documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion.”– Twelve Books
Letter to a Christian Nation
Author: Sam Harris
Published: January 8, 2008
ISBN: 0307265773
ISBN13: 9780307265777
Pages: 96
“In response to The End of Faith, Sam Harris received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God. Letter to A Christian Nation is his reply. Using rational argument, Harris offers a measured refutation of the beliefs that form the core of fundamentalist Christianity. In the course of his argument, he addresses current topics ranging from intelligent design and stem-cell research to the connections between religion and violence. In Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris boldly challenges the influence that faith has on public life in our nation.” – Sam Harris
Southernmost
Author: Silas House
Published: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 161620625X
ISBN13: 9781616206253
Pages: 352
“In this stunning novel about judgment, courage, heartbreak, and change, author Silas House wrestles with the limits of belief and the infinite ways to love.” – Workman
Recommended Videos
Let’s Teach Religion – All Religion – In Schools: Dan Dennett
“Philosopher Dan Dennett calls for religion – all religion – to be taught in schools, so we can understand its nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution. ” – TED 2006
World Religions: The Rise of Religious Intolerance
“Eugene McCarraher, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Humanities will be leading a lecture, titled “The Rise of Religious Intolerance.” – Villanova University
Letting Go of God: Julia Sweeney
“When two young Mormon missionaries knock on Julia Sweeney’s door one day, it touches off a quest to completely rethink her own beliefs, in this excerpt from Sweeney’s solo show “Letting Go of God.”” – TED 2006
The Black Church & Black Struggle: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Legacy Video
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“SNCC 50th Anniversary Conference Volume 23 – The Black Church and Black Struggle FEATURED SPEAKERS Rev. Bernard Lafayette (SNCC Field Secretary) Rev. Nelson Johnson (Student Organization for Black Unity) Rev. David Forbes (Raleigh Student Movement) The Black church was born in struggle in the midst of slavery, and despite laws and vigilante actions targeting it for destruction the church has not only survived, but has played a sustained and central role over more than 300 years of Black struggle in America. This panel of Black churchmen, with very active audience participation, reflects and examines the historical role of the church, its specific role in the Movement of the 1960s, and the lessons of that struggle for today.” – Alexander Street, A ProQuest Company
The Limits of Religious Tolerance: Scott Appleby
“University of Notre Dame history professor Scott Appleby assesses the present moment and analyzes the anxiety, fear, and conflict currently in evidence on the American religious scene.” – PBS
Evangelical Christianity and the Problem of Whiteness: Brian McLaren
“Best-selling author Brian McLaren grew up as a Christian fundamentalist where rock and roll was the devil. His religious journey led him to confront issues of social and racial justice. Brian talks about the corrupting force of racism in evangelical orthodoxy and how white privilege has led to a theology that focuses on personal sin rather than racial inequality.” – PBS
Recommended Podcasts
Details of each podcast were taken directly for each podcast’s respective website.
Podcast: Everything Happens
Episode: The Insight of Outsiders
Created: January 24, 2018
Duration: 35 minutes, 37 seconds
Overview: Before Nadia Bolz-Weber became famous as a foul-mouthed pastor and bestselling author, she was an alcoholic and stand-up comedian. This episode is devoted to the insight of outsiders, and how Nadia learned to confront her own demons with hard truths, good company and a delightfully inappropriate sense of humor.
Listen: Click here
Podcast: Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
Episode: The Reverend Ed Bacon: Do You Recognize Grace?
Created: March 27, 2018
Duration: 36 minutes
Overview: Oprah sits down with the Rev. Ed Bacon, a retired priest from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the author of the book “8 Habits of Love.” Saying that we often obscure our ability to identify grace in our lives, the Rev. Bacon reveals how to recognize grace in your life, especially during the toughest times. He tells Oprah that people operate from a place of either fear or love when it comes to their relationship with God, and explains why he believes there is a bit of God in all of us and why we should embrace it. Plus, the Rev. Bacon offers a surprising and enlightening answer to the question of whether religion and spirituality can work together.
Listen: Click here
Podcast: Out Loud Podcast
Episode: Malcolm Gladwell on the Limits of American Religious Tolerance
Created: March 25, 2014
Duration: 21 minutes and 55 seconds
Overview: Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of American religious tolerance.
Listen: Click here
Podcast: University of Oxford Podcasts – Asian Studies Centre
Episode: Why I am Hindu
Created: June 20, 2018
Duration: 43 minutes and 06 seconds
Overview: Shashi Tharoor speaks at St Antony’s College
Listen: Click here
Podcast: Interfaith Voices
Episode: Racism & Religion
Created: January 17, 2019
Duration: 50 minutes and 25 seconds
Overview: As we commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we learn about the role American religion has played in both reinforcing and combating racism.
Listen: Click here
Podcast: Buddhist Geeks
Episode: The Present, Past, & Future of Mindfulness
Created: September 5, 2018
Duration: 72 minutes and 14 seconds
Overview: In this conversation we talk about the importance of making mindfulness accessible, about the discontinuous changes that have happened to mindfulness as it enters a capitalist-based system, two different ways to scale mindfulness, Rohan’s Designing Mindfulness manifesto, buddhify’s new social meditation feature Transmission, and “the missing middle” of mindfulness between the for- and non-profit sectors.
Listen: Click here
Peer Reviewed Articles
- Predictors of Delayed Healthcare Seeking Among American Muslim Women
- Mandatory Influenza Vaccination and Religious Accommodation for Healthcare Workers: Lessons from Recent Legal Challenges
- HIV Stigma and Its Relation to Mental, Physical and Social Health Among Black Women Living with HIV/AIDS
- Determining the Appropriate Definition of Religion and Obligation to Accommodate the Religious Employee under Title VII: a Comparison of Religious
- “Religious Freedom” as a tool to Oppress: The Explosion in Religion-Based Attacks on Civil Rights in Litigation
- Evangelical Protestants & the Affordable Care Act: An Opening for Community-Based Primary Care?