Written by David Harsanyi
I’ve been writing about Denver-area baker Jack Phillips for over a decade now. It’s clear to me he’s going to be badgered into the grave by authoritarians intent on punishing him for thought crimes. From the first time his name appeared in the news until this day, the media have misled the public about him, about the case and about the law.
The latest chapter in Phillips’ Kafkaesque saga involves a transgender lawyer named Autumn Scardina, who demanded Phillips create a pink cake with blue frosting to help celebrate a gender transition.… Continue Reading
Tags: A. Bruce Jones, Autumn Scardina, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Colorado Supreme Court, David Harsanyi, First Amendment, Jack Phillips, Masterpiece Cakeshop, religious liberty, Rights of Conscience, SCOTUS, U.S. Supreme Court
LGBTQ Agenda, Religious Liberty | David E. Smith | October 13, 2023 7:00 AM | Comments Off on Authoritarian Thugs Continue Their Persecution of Jack Phillips
Written by David Harsanyi
If recklessly lying to voters were a crime, most everyone in D.C. would be serving life in solitary confinement at Supermax. But in a liberal democracy, as frustrating as it often is, political misconduct is settled by voters and elections, not partisan prosecutors or rioters.
Feel free to campaign and vote against Donald Trump if you like. I’m certainly no fan. If Trump wins in 2024, Congress can impeach and remove him if they choose.… Continue Reading
Tags: Adam Schiff, Al Gore, Barbara Lee, Bennie Thompson, Black Lives Matter, Bob McDonnell, David Harsanyi, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, Ed Markey, First Amendment, Hillary Clinton, Jack Smith, James Clyburn, January 6th Riots, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Mar-a-Lago, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Raul Grijalva, Ron Klain, SCOTUS, Stacey Abrams, U.S. Supreme Court
Executive Branch, Federal Issues, Judicial Branch | David E. Smith | August 7, 2023 7:00 AM | Comments Off on Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 Indictments Are an Attack on Political Speech
Written by Tim Graham
Anyone who thinks the First Amendment is best represented by the “news” media is not paying attention to the way they wage war on freedom of speech for the conservative “rabble” on social media platforms.
Imagine if the media had attacked new media owners Jeff Bezos or David Zaslav with the kind of venom that they’re using on Twitter owner Elon Musk. No one would suggest it’s important for the government to monitor The Washington Post or CNN as potential sources of misinformation.… Continue Reading
Tags: Andrea Shalal, Center for Countering Digital Hate, CNN, David Zaslav, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, First Amendment, GLAAD, Hunter Biden, Jeff Bezos, Karine Jean-Pierre, Rupert Murdoch, The Washington Post, Twitter
Media Watch | David E. Smith | November 30, 2022 8:00 AM | Comments Off on The Media vs. Free Speech on Twitter
Written by Laurie Higgins
Listen to this article:
Never-Trumpers in a de facto alliance with leftist Trump-loathers of various stripes have apparently succeeded in their effort to elect a cognitively impaired man who claims to be Catholic while heartily endorsing a legal right to slaughter the unborn and making the public pay for their deaths.… Continue Reading
Tags: abortion, Amy Coney Barrett, Antifa, Antonin Scalia, Big Tech, BLM, Brett Kavanaugh, Catholic, Christ, Christians, Clarence Thomas, CNN, COVID, Equality Act, First Amendment, George Bush, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, John Roberts, Leftists, MSNBC, Neil Gorsuch, Never-Trumpers, New York Times, Planned Parenthood, Samuel Alito, Scripture, Trump, United States Supreme Court, Washington Post, Women
Faith & Religion, Federal Elections, Political | Benjamin D. Smith | December 2, 2020 4:00 AM | Comments Off on The Disastrous Co-Belligerence of Never-Trumpers and Leftists
Written by Dr. Everett Piper
On May 10, 1933, students in 34 university towns across Germany gathered to burn more than 25,000 books. The works of authors like Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway and Helen Keller went up in flames.
At the same time, 40,000 people gathered to hear the German Minister of Public Enlightenment, Joseph Goebbels, give a speech applauding those who were “commit[ting] to the flames the evil spirit of the past.” The unwanted ideas of Western civilization fueled the bonfires of Berlin.… Continue Reading
Tags: Albert Einstein, AOC, Big League Politics, Book Burning, Chris Coons, Dana Nessel, Dianne Feinstein, Ernest Hemingway, Facebook, First Amendment, George Santayana, Heinrich Heine, Helen Keller, Jack Dorsey, Joseph Goebbels, Khmer Rouge, Mark Zuckerberg, Mazie Hirono, Nazi, Pol Pot, Twitter
Media Watch, Political | David E. Smith | November 23, 2020 5:00 AM | Comments Off on Pandering Democrats Protect Own Ideology But Say Nothing to Defend Free Speech
Written by John A. Sparks
Sometimes, the facts of a case have an emotional appeal in addition to a strong constitutional basis. Espinoza v. Montana certainly qualifies.
Kendra Espinoza, a hard working (three jobs) and determined single mom, decided to take her two daughters out of the local public schools and enroll them in Stillwater Christian School in Kalispell, Montana. She explained that she “wanted them to be able to read the Bible and be taught how to pray, and taught from that faith-based perspective.”… Continue Reading
Tags: Anti Christian Hate, Brett Kavanaugh, Christian school, Christian schools, Clarence Thomas, Constitution, Espinoza v. Montana, First Amendment, government mandated religion, John Roberts, Kendra Espinoza, Montana, Neil Gorsuch, religious liberty, Samuel Alito, School vouchers, SCOTUS, Stillwater Christian School, the Bible, Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial Branch, Religious Liberty | Benjamin D. Smith | July 11, 2020 4:00 AM | Comments Off on An Important Win for Religious Liberty: Espinoza v. Montana
Written by David E. Smith
Give me your young, your old, your faithful masses yearning to worship freely. This revision of The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus could well be the rallying cry of Pastor Steve Cassell of The Beloved Church in Lena, Illinois. On this edition of Spotlight, Pastor Steve joins me for a timely discussion regarding the perilous intersection of COVID-19, governmental “authority,” and Constitutionally-guaranteed personal liberties.
Pastor Steve and I consider how churches and people of faith should respond to Illinois’ lockdown and examine the dangerous precedent that could be established by our governor’s abuse of his executive power.… Continue Reading
Tags: COVID–19, First Amendment, JB Pritker, lock-down, Peter Breen, religious liberty, shelter-at-home, Steve Cassell, The Beloved Church, Thomas More Society
Religious Liberty | David E. Smith | May 12, 2020 5:57 AM | Comments Off on SPOTLIGHT: Pastor Cassell Discusses His Lawsuit Against Gov. Pritzker
Written by Jorge Gomez
Let’s start by giving credit where it’s due.
It’s admirable that houses of worship can adapt so quickly in times of crisis. Millions of Americans are staying spiritually engaged thanks to the incredible effort of churches and faith leaders who harnessed the power of technology, social media and the Internet. Even more remarkable is that churches surpassed virtual attendance records even though the quarantine forced them to transition overnight to online services.… Continue Reading
Written by Daniel Horowitz
“Separation of church and state.” There may be no reference to, inference of, insinuation of, or display of religion anywhere in any government operation or public school, even if there is no coercion to participate in any Christian event or prayer. That is enshrined in every clause of the U.S. Constitution.
That is essentially what the Left has been telling us for years, and those principles have been enforced to varying degrees in many lower courts and, intermittently, even by the U.S.… Continue Reading
Tags: Allah, Barbara Milano Keenan, Bladensburg Cross, Brett Kavanaugh, Caleigh Wood, Clarence Thomas, Daniel Horowitz, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, Free Exercise Clause, James Madison, John Roberts, La Plata High School, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Muhammad, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, shahada, The Muslim World, Town of Greece v. Galloway, Wood v. Arnold
Religious Liberty | David E. Smith | October 30, 2019 4:45 AM | Comments Off on NO to Voluntary Christian Prayer in Schools. YES to Mandatory Muslim Prayer
Written by L. Brent Bosell III
Freedom of speech is in the First Amendment for a reason. Freedom begins with the ability to speak your opinion without fear of censorship or violent reprisal or imprisonment. This is a precious human right, not something that most countries in the world revere like we have. But here in America, free speech is most dangerously under attack in the one place you would not expect: the universities.
Dennis Prager and Adam Carolla have created a new documentary on the subject called “No Safe Spaces.”… Continue Reading
Tags: Adam Carolla, Alan Dershowitz, Barack Obama, Bret Weinstein, Day of Absence, Dennis Prager, Erika Christakis, Evergreen State College, First Amendment, L. Brent Bosell III, Nicholas Christakis, No Safe Spaces, Pew Research Center, Van Jones, Yale
Marriage, Family & Culture, Religious Liberty | David E. Smith | October 25, 2019 8:00 AM | Comments Off on Speech Police and ‘Safe Spaces’