Religious Freedom Lately: San Francisco Temples, Ousted Catholics And Holocaust Denialism
Recent days have seen a wide range of religious liberty issues brought to the forefront of American discussions. From college campuses to metropolitan archdioceses to one of the biggest social media platforms on earth, the role and appropriateness of religion and religious practice is being challenged daily.
San Francisco Finally Agrees Churches Are As Important As Hairdressers And Gyms
San Francisco has finally dropped the “one congregant” rule -- a coronavirus-related restriction on places of worship that allowed only one member of the faithful to enter a religious building at a time.
Mayor London Breed has repeatedly defended the restriction, claiming that it was a necessary measure to curb rising infection rates in the California city.
The rule was deemed unconstitutional by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which accused Breed’s policies of disproportionately targeting places of worship compared to other charities, businesses and institutions.
“While continuing to enforce the one-congregant rule, San Francisco allowed patrons at hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, and massage studios with no limit so long as 6-foot distancing is followed,” the DOJ wrote on their website in regards to the matter. “Gyms were allowed to open at 10 percent of capacity, daycares to operate with 10 to 12 children per class, and retail establishments generally could operate at 50 percent capacity.”
The First Amendment ensures the right of Americans to worship freely and explicitly prohibits unfair treatment based on religion.
The implications of a restriction implemented against religious gatherings and worship specifically raised the attention of Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband. The DOJ official called the policy “draconian” in a letter to Breed.
“San Francisco’s treatment of places of worship raises serious concerns about religious freedom,” said Dreiband in his letter to Breed. “In particular, the limitation of indoor worship to one congregant without regard to the size of the place of worship is draconian, out of step with the treatment afforded other similar indoor activities in San Francisco, wholly at odds with this Nation’s traditional understanding of religious liberty, and may violate the First Amendment to the Constitution.“
Places of worship in San Francisco can now open their doors to up to 25% capacity. However, there is a hard cap at 100 congregants, regardless of the size of the facility.
Student Senate President Back In His Seat Despite Outcry Over Religious Views
The student senate president of Florida State University, Jack Denton, has been reinstated after successfully suing the school for removing him from the position for his religious views.
Denton was ousted as president after remarks he made to the Catholic Student Union were deemed offensive and unsuitable to his office. The views in question concerned abortion, Black Lives Matter, transgenderism, and social movements to defund police forces nationwide.
“BlackLivesMatter.com fosters ‘a queer-affirming network’ and defends transgenderism,” Denton wrote in private messages with the Catholic Student Union. “The ACLU defends laws protecting abortion facilities and sued states that restrict access to abortion. Reclaim the Block claims less police will make our communities safer and advocates for cutting PDs’ budgets,” “This is a little less explicit, but I think it’s contrary to the Church’s teaching on the common good.”
The student senate president’s remarks were quickly screenshotted, sent to other students, and eventually posted on social media. A fellow senator presented these screenshots to the senate and moved for a vote of no-confidence in Denton.
While the initial vote of no-confidence failed, the fallout of his occupying the position was immense, and a petition was signed by thousands of students and faculty demanding his removal. A second vote was held at a later date, this time successfully removing Denton from his position.
The university’s court found that because Denton’s comments were made in private and not in his capacity as the president of the student senate, they were insufficient reason for his removal.
“In determining Plaintiff’s reinstatement, we found the long-term interest in protecting the values of the First Amendment to be undeniable,” the Student Supreme Court in and for the Florida State University wrote in its official decision.
The court found that to side with the senate and hold Denton culpable for his private views, specifically his religious convictions as a Catholic, would be playing favoritism with free speech and expression.
“If Plaintiff is not reinstated to his position by this Court, the message this sends on behalf of our Student Government Association, as well as our University, is that some views are okay to share, and some are not. We refuse to uphold this sentiment in our University’s SGA.”
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer praised the court’s decision, saying, “We commend the FSU Supreme Court for acting swiftly and decisively to reinstate Jack to his position as FSU’s Student Senate president while his federal lawsuit continues and for acknowledging the violations of his constitutionally protected right to free speech.”
Twitter: Hunter Biden Laptop Story Is Worth Banning For ‘Misinformation’ — But Holocaust Denialism Is Not
Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of social media giant Twitter, said that while his website has multiple flagging systems for deeming users’ posts as “misinformation,” denying the Holocaust fails to meet any of the criteria.
In a Wednesday hearing with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Dorsey was grilled by Republican Colorado Senator Cory Gardner on the criteria for a post to be targeted as misinformation.
Dorsey stated that the denial of the Holocaust perpetuated by the Nazi Party that killed over 6 million Jews failed to meet any of the three criteria for ‘misinformation’ accepted by the site.
Twitter continues to make headlines for its decision to ban the New York Post from its platform for spreading what Twitter calls “misinformation.”
The ban was put on the Post’s account after the newspaper published a story about a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden. Republicans claim the computer contains damning evidence of collusion and sexual misconduct by the Democratic presidential nominee’s son. However, many claims surrounding the laptop remain unconfirmed.
Twitter currently enforces misinformation restrictions using a set of three independent criteria: media manipulated to present false information or events, factually inaccurate statements or assertions related to public health, and misinformation related to political processes such as elections.
“We do not have policy or enforcement for any other types of misleading information that you’re mentioning,” Dorsey said to Gardner.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer and editor from northeastern Pennsylvania. He covers religious issues with a focus on the Catholic Church and Japanese society and culture.