Lauren Nelson is an advocate and aspiring ally focused on intersectional justice. When she's not gabbing on social media or chasing after her precocious seven year old, you'll find her researching and writing extensively on the subjects of politics, policy, culture, neurodiversity, and faith for The Friendly Atheist and Rethink the Rant.
When you think about politicians mixing government and religion, you usually think about the Republicans. To be fair, their side has more zealots and they’re far more vocal. But the Democratic Party isn’t exactly perfect when it comes to keeping church and state separate either, as a recent comment from their heir apparent demonstrates: Read more
The U.S. is no stranger to religious extremist politicians. For goodness’ sake — a full third of the remaining GOP candidates for President could easily fit the bill. But every once in a while, a faithful candidate will come along who’s a special kind of special. Such is the case with Florida’s Augustus Sol Invictus. The Libertarian candidate for the Senate is certainly a colorful figure — a pagan practitioner described on his own website as a “radical philosopher and infamous social critic.” Others within his party disagree with that characterization. In fact, the Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Florida disagrees so much that he has now tendered his resignation. Read more
In a world where Congress is trying to defund the largest provider of women’s healthcare in the nation over debunked propaganda, and restrictions on access to reproductive healthcare are reaching perilous highs, it’s always nice to see a group standing up for a woman’s right to choose, even if that support is coming from unlikely corners. How unlikely? Well, how about a group of religious leaders in Ohio? Read more
Extremism disruption orders (EDOs) are not a new thing in Britain. The orders are meant to do what the name implies: disrupt extremist behavior through legal action in order to tamper down on those who promote hatred or violence. The concept was introduced as a means of combating religious extremists, primarily by going after Islamic extremists in a climate where terrorism has people whipped into a state of near constant fear about Muslims. But Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron (below) continues to push the envelope. Read more
