Texas Governor Greg Abbott asks US Department of Justice to investigate accommodations for Muslim foot washing at two major airports

Food for thought! When doe religious accommodations go too far?

Why does the airport have to provide this and not a Muslim organisation/mosque e.g. by renting a space on the airport for this purpose?

"Gov. Greg Abbott is escalating his fight against foot-washing stations used by Muslim passengers at Texas’ biggest airports, requesting on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the matter. ...

Abbott threatened last week to pull state funding from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston over their ablution stations, saying they amounted to religious discrimination. The stations are used by Muslim passengers who perform ritual washings before their daily prayers. ..."

Greg Abbott asks DOJ to investigate Muslim airport accommodations

How Scottish Dissent Built American Liberty

Recommendable, but a long essay! How religion influenced classical liberalism!

"June is the usual month for the convening of Presbyterian assemblies, but the jewel in the crown of Presbyterian reforms, replacing bishops with lengthy committee meetings, seems less impressive today than it did in 1560 when the Scots held their first General Assembly. In fact, the June assemblies have genuine significance for the history of the Americans, which can be seen in two national holidays separated by forty-eight hours.

Canada went first on July 1 with Canada Day.

America followed with the Fourth of July. ...

The case of Presbyterians in the United States is easier because of the familiar trope that the American Revolution was a “Presbyterian rebellion.” King George III used that phrase to complain about both Presbyterians and revolution, but it was a widely accepted way to make sense of American independence. George III was echoing James VI/I who had declared roughly 170 years prior, “No bishop, no king,” in response to Presbyterian efforts to reform the Church of Scotland. ...

Presbyterian church government, by challenging the rule of bishops, led inevitably to the repudiation of the monarchy. Presbyterians’ long history of complaining (from at least 1560 to 1690) partly explains the British interpretation of the American Revolution as a Presbyterian rebellion. ...

That description actually fails to capture the work of Presbyterian clerics in the American Founding. John Witherspoon, a Scottish Presbyterian who came to America in 1768 to lead the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), was a political moderate who saw political independence as a means to preserve the advantages colonists already enjoyed. Some Scots brought to the colonies convictions forged by the likes of John Knox or Samuel Rutherford. Witherspoon’s politics ran instead in grooves cut by Scottish philosophers like Francis Hutcheson and Thomas Reid.  ..."

How Scottish Dissent Built American Liberty – D. G. Hart

Nuns sue New York for requiring them to share 'benefits' of suicide with patients, as Department of Justice watches

Headline of the day! Bravo! Don't mess with the nuns!

"Democratic administrations and deep-blue states have repeatedly threatened nuns for following the dictates of their Catholic faith, such as by excluding contraception from their healthcare plans and segregating male and female patients in long-term care facilities.

Perhaps the most active antagonist to religious sisters will now impose "crippling fines, professional sanctions, and criminal penalties" on them for refusing to goad terminally ill patients into killing themselves, according to their lawyers.

Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, Little Sisters of the Poor, Diocese of Rockville Centre and its Bishop John Barres, and the orders whose hospitals became Catholic Health are seeking a preliminary injunction against New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act, scheduled to take effect Aug. 5. ..."

Nuns sue New York for requiring them to share 'benefits' of suicide with patients, as DOJ watches | Just The News "Medical Aid in Dying Act goes even further than assisted suicide regimes on West Coast, Australia and New Zealand, drastically limits exemptions, could require medical professionals to falsify death certificates, nuns tell court."

Catholic nuns sue New York to block law forcing them to assist in patient suicides "New mandate threatens fines & jail time for healthcare providers who refuse to help patients kill themselves."

Religious Liberty in the States 2026: 50-State Rankings

Recommendable!

"All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”

George Washington (August 18, 1790)

Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island

"Here are the top five states: 

Arkansas (89%) 

Tennessee (85%) 

Florida (77%) 

Montana (71%) 

Illinois (70%) 

On the flip side, the five states with the lowest scores are: 

California (30%) 

West Virginia (30%) 

Michigan (27%) 

Vermont (27%) 

New York (26%)

..."

Religious Liberty in the States 2026: 50-State Rankings

Voltaire's Crusade Against Religious Tyranny in France

Recommendable!

(484) Voltaire's Crusade Against Religious Tyranny in France - YouTube

On the persecution of female Baha'i believer in Iran

Make no mistakes about Iran under the theocratic dictatorship!

"... She was jailed because she is a Baháʼí.

The Baháʼí Faith is a global monotheistic religion founded in 19th-century Persia by Baháʼu’lláh. It teaches the essential worth of all major religions, the unity of humanity, and the harmony of science and religion. Baháʼís are persecuted in Iran because the Islamic Republic views the religion as a “deviant cult” and a political threat. ..."

The Woman Iran Could Not Break - by Iram Ramzan "Mahvash Sabet spent a decade in Iran's prisons because she is a Baháʼí. Her memoir offers a rare firsthand account of faith, survival, and the Islamic Republic's persecution of a religious minority."

Book cover Source

Underground church figure Jin Mingri freed from prison by China after intervention by President Trump

Good news! Bravo President Trump! How many political prisoners are there in China?

Why are these kind of news so rare coming out of China? Does the Communist Party of China release political prisoners so seldom or does it not publish these releases?

"Underground church leader Jin Mingri has been released from prison in China and has travelled to the US, less than two months after his incarceration was raised directly by Donald Trump.

The pastor and founder of the Zion Church had been imprisoned following overnight raids across China in October, described by Christian groups as one of the strictest crackdowns on religious activity in the country's modern history. ..."

Chinese underground church figure Jin Mingri freed from prison

Jin Mingri, founder of the Zion church, was detained in Beijing in October 2025

On Thomas Jefferson's Religious Beliefs

A fitting topic for 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence!

I think, I agree with Thomas Jefferson!

"Jefferson took the issue of religion very seriously. A man of the Enlightenment, he certainly applied to himself the advice which he gave to his nephew Peter Carr in 1787: "Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."

 Jefferson read broadly on the topic, including studying different religions, and while he often claimed that religion was a private matter “between Man & his God,” he frequently discussed religion. ...

Jefferson was deeply committed to core beliefs - for example, the existence of a benevolent and just God. Yet, as with any human, some of Jefferson’s beliefs shifted over time and were marked by uncertainty, and he accepted that some of his less central beliefs might be wrong; e.g. his belief that everything in the universe had a wholly material existence rather than there being both material and spiritual worlds. Jefferson insisted that such matters of dogma were not critical; telling one correspondent that on these “I … reposed my head on that pillow of ignorance which a benevolent creator has made so soft for us, knowing how much we should be forced to use it.” ...

Jefferson was a devout theist, believing in a benevolent creator God to whom humans owed praise. In an early political text, he wrote that “The god who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time;…”

He often referred to his or “our” God but did so in the language of an eighteenth century natural philosophy: “our creator,” the “Infinite Power, which rules the destinies of the universe,” “overruling providence,” “benevolent governor,” etc. In 1823, he wrote to John Adams referring to “the God whom you and I acknowledge and adore” while denouncing atheism. ...

As he aged, Jefferson spoke passionately about the prospect of meeting loved ones in heaven, assuring a bereaved John Adams after the death of his wife Abigail, that “it is of some comfort to us both that the term is not very distant at which we are to deposit, in the same cerement, our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved & lost and whom we shall still love and never lose again.” ..."

Jefferson's Religious Beliefs | Monticello "A Christian, a deist, or an atheist? Thomas Jefferson’s religious beliefs have long been a subject of public discussion and controversy,"

China: When Buddhist monks are presented with the flag of the communist party of China

Very disturbing! 

As seen on a board posted inside one of the oldest, largest and still in operation Buddhist temples in China, i.e. Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng, Henan province.

Religious Freedom long Before John Locke's famous treatise: Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius

Recommendable!

"... More than a millennium before Locke, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (ca. 250 – ca. 325 AD) had already articulated a clearer and more coherent rejection of religious coercion. Writing in the early fourth century, during the final phase of Roman persecution and on the cusp of Christianity’s legalization, Lactantius was a rhetorician steeped in classical philosophy. With the support of Emperor Diocletian, he became a professor of rhetoric in Nicomedia, which also facilitated his entrance into the orbit of the imperial elite. We do not know precisely when Lactantius became a Christian, but his conversion almost certainly preceded Diocletian’s persecution of the Church. His career suffered as a result. Saint Jerome, who later praised his literary abilities, attests that Lactantius lived in poverty for years. However, his fortunes reversed when he came to the attention of Constantine, who appointed Lactantius as tutor to his son Crispus. He likely enjoyed imperial favor until the end of his life.

Lactantius draws a sharp contrast between two fundamentally different modes of engagement. Violence belongs to the realm of brute compulsion, whereas religion belongs to the realm of reasoned assent.

Lactantius’s major work, Divine Institutes, is a bold defense of Christian truth addressed to the Roman elite. He likely began writing it after losing his teaching post in Nicomedia. Although it does not reveal deep knowledge of Holy Scripture or particularly original theology, Divine Institutes was regarded by later Christian writers as a masterwork of Latin style. More importantly, it reveals a broad familiarity with Christian apologetics up to the point of Lactantius in history. What matters for us specifically is his argument for religious freedom.

Lactantius is widely regarded as having developed the first principled argument for liberty in matters of conscience. Given his later associations with Constantine, it is likely these ideas influenced the climate of opinion leading up to the Edict of Milan (313), which established toleration for Christianity. Ultimately, Lactantius’s condemnation of coercion in Divine Institutes is both more striking and philosophically serious than Locke’s.

Lactantius argues that coercion is inherently opposed to the nature of religion and to the dignity of the human person. “Religion cannot be imposed by force; the matter must be carried on by words rather than by blows.” But he goes even further. Coercion is not merely ineffective; it is irrational and degrading. “For religion is to be defended, not by putting to death, but by dying; not by cruelty, but by patient endurance; not by guilt, but by good faith.” ..."

Religious Freedom Before Locke – Alexander William Salter

Lactantius

Fourth-century mural possibly depicting Lactantius (or possibly Apuleius)

Beginning of Lactantius' Divinae institutiones in a Renaissance manuscript written in Florence ca. 1420–1430 by Guglielmino Tanaglia

US Supreme Court said “No” to the State of New York’s attempt to force an Amish community to vaccinate their school-age children.

Good news! Bravo!

The Amish and Mennonite communities of America are one of the reasons for American Exceptionalism!

"... For religious reasons, the Amish educate their children in private Amish schools and have done so for hundreds of years without vaccinations.

And for over 50 years, New York accommodated their religious belief by granting religious exemptions from the State’s school vaccination requirements. But in 2019, the State repealed its religious exemption for vaccine mandates for school children.

In 2022, the State imposed catastrophic penalties on the Amish community in its attempt to force them to comply.

This Supreme Court decision sends a clear message to the government that it can no longer force parents to comply with policies that substantially interfere with their ability to raise their children according to their religious beliefs. ..."

First Liberty Institute

Colonial America: The Great Awakening | PragerU

Very recommendable!

President Trump: One Nation Under God

Recommendable! Bravo! Freedom of religion is as important as freedom of speech!

Trump to speak on religious liberty in education at Museum of the Bible

Good news! Freedom of religion is as important as freedom of speech! Maybe this important equivalence has been ignored, minimized or even ridiculed in the 21st century!

Faith can move mountains. Love heals alls. The Ten Commandments are recognized by all Abrahamic religions, similar principles can be found in basically all major religions.

Trump to speak on religious liberty in education at Museum of the Bible | Fox News "President Donald Trump to address Religious Liberty Commission meeting at Museum of the Bible in Washington"

Credits: Liberty Flash News

The Amish Exception: The Story of Wisconsin v. Yoder (a famous US Supreme Court decision)

Recommendable! An example of American Exceptionalism!

Strange, this video did not even mention conscientious objector in the context of the Amish people! Nor did it mention the Quakers nor the Mennonites.

Dalai Lama Says his Successor Will be Born Outside China with Palki Sharma

Recommendable!

Understanding the Trump Administration’s Religious Liberty Initiatives

Faith can move mountains! In God we trust! Hope springs eternal! The Golden Rule is universal and more than 4000 years old!

Freedom without freedom of religion is impossible!

The leftists constant attacks on Christianity are abhorrent!

Phony, pseudo and Dark Ages religions like climate change or DEI, BLM, CRT are a disaster! 

Caveat: I did not read the article!

"At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump announced the creation of a religious liberty task force, a religious liberty commission and the establishment of the White House Faith Office. ...

The order establishes a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias that will be chaired by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and include cabinet members, high-level government officials and leaders of other executive agencies. In other words, the top leaders in the country will be involved in the protection of religious freedom. ..."

Understanding the Trump Administration’s Religious Liberty Initiatives - News - First Liberty

Eine islamische Frau, die Vollschleier trägt, darf nicht Auto fahren – das Grundrecht auf Religionsfreiheit muss zurücktreten. Wirklich!

Neues aus der Bananenrepublik D! Ein vollschleierte Frau in D. ist sicherlich immer noch gewohnheitsbedürftig.

Aber duerfen z.B. orthodoxe Juden nicht auch Vollbärte, Hüte und lange Zöpfe tragen etc.

Etwas schleierhaft! Warum nicht Autofahren mit Vollschleier? Wer braucht die Nase zum Autofahren, oder den Mund?

Ist das alles nicht mehr Aufregung als alles andere? Man sollte vielleicht die Kirche im Dorf lassen.

"Schon um den Gerichtssaal als Klägerin vollverschleiert zu betreten, brauchte Nancy A. eine besondere Erlaubnis des Gerichts. ..."

Gesichtsverhüllung beim Fahren: keine Ausnahme für Islam wegen Religionsfreiheit "Eine junge Ostdeutsche, die zum Islam übergetreten ist, klagte gegen das Land Berlin auf eine Ausnahmegenehmigung und unterlag. Der Prozess wird von einem Islamverein finanziert, der bis zum Bundesverfassungsgericht gehen will."

Die Klägerin Nancy A. ist vor acht Jahren zum Islam übergetreten und kämpft nun vor Gericht dafür, vollverschleiert Auto fahren zu dürfen – hier am Montag vor dem Verwaltungsgericht Berlin.

Ein orthodoxer Jude

Here's when sleeveless LDS temple garments will be coming to the U.S.

Mormons worship in style! 😊 Just kidding!

Here's when sleeveless LDS temple garments will be coming to the U.S.

Huge victory for Christian cake baker after 14 years of LGBTQ harassment in the Supreme Court of Colorado

Good news! Kudos to this hero of freedom of religion and freedom of doing business! We should thank this man!

This was a nasty and long lasting lawfare by the LGBTQ sect! It was despicable!

"The Colorado supreme court on Tuesday dismissed the latest lawsuit against Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, who was accused in the most recent suit of discriminating against a transgender attorney by refusing to bake a gender-transition cake. ..."

Huge victory for Christian cake baker after more than a decade of LGBTQ harassment in court | Blaze Media "Jack Phillips has been targeted for refusing to make cakes celebrating same-sex marriage and transgender transitions."

Colorado Supreme Court Dismisses Transgender-Cake Lawsuit against Christian Baker Jack Phillips

What a hero!