141
votes
Accepted
Why does religion get a special treatment in anti-discrimination laws?
You are looking at this through the eyes of a modern. Time for some history:
One of the oldest European settlements on North America was made by Puritans, who were fleeing... government religious ...
- 8,706
85
votes
Accepted
What events led to the 2020 North East Delhi riots?
A bit of background is necessary. Recently India passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It allows only non-Muslim illegal immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to get citizenship ...
- 1,951
79
votes
Accepted
What is the conservative argument against modern contraception?
very few people – just 4% of all U.S. adults – think contraception is immoral. 5% Democrats and 4% of Republicans
- Pew poll, September 2016.
In other words,
There is no conservative argument ...
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70
votes
Isn't acknowledging the existence of God, as a state, a contradiction of the separation of Church and State?
No, it isn't a contradiction under US law. This has been tested in the Federal Courts, see for example O'Hair v. Blumenthal, and Aronow v. United States. The basic reasoning is summarized in this ...
- 8,081
69
votes
What does India gain nowadays by continuing to give asylum to the Dalai Lama?
India gains moral authority which enhances its "soft power". It also promotes goodwill with Buddhists of all kinds (not just Tibetan Buddhists) and other people who view the Dalai Lama as a ...
- 88.3k
67
votes
Accepted
Why is China regulating religion?
I would take a somewhat less cynical view than @JamesK, who frames the matter as a Machiavellian motivated action in his answer, rather than as a legitimate ideological stance and policy with ...
- 88.3k
63
votes
Accepted
Why is the US so religious compared to other Western democracies?
While the United States doesn't have a national religion, the US has fairly deep religious liberty roots, and it has lead to a few twists and turns in the religious sentiment
Religious Refugees
Every ...
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59
votes
Why is China regulating religion?
The Church is a source of authority other than the Communist Party of China. One of the basic principles of the PRC, even as it moves from war to peace and from Cultural Revolution to Xi Jinping ...
- 124k
54
votes
Why is the US so religious compared to other Western democracies?
Answering this question properly would require a broad discussion of the religious tensions and transformations in England during the 16th and 17th centuries, starting with the English Reformation ...
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51
votes
Why is China primarily targeting the Uyghurs with their internment camps?
The question you added in comments I think is more specifically interesting; We mostly know why the CCP does what it does in Xinjiang (GC Campbell comment), but following that logic, it would do the ...
- 924
49
votes
Prayer at the Presidential Inauguration
Is this customary?
Yes, there is a whole wiki on it. Obama had pastor Rick Warren at his inauguration.
How does this align with a secular government? Isn't it one?
The government is still ...
44
votes
Accepted
Prayer at the Presidential Inauguration
History
Since 1933, prayer has been a consistent part of presidential inaugurations in America [Source: Newdow v Bush, Civil Action. Pg.7] . Since 1933 the President-Elect has visited a church for ...
- 24k
42
votes
Accepted
Does the U.S. president have to disclose their religion to the public?
Legally, no. Article VI of the Constitution specifically says
no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
So the government ...
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41
votes
Accepted
Why is there a significant difference between religious makeup of the legislative body and that of adult population in US?
The main reason is game-theoretical asymmetry.
If you "identify" (officially, as per self-label) as a Christian - or any other religion - non-religious people would most likely not decide to avoid ...
- 93.3k
39
votes
Accepted
Germany's Ladenschlussgesetz in comparison to Israel's business laws about the Sabbath
Many Germans who have friends and family really enjoy the fact that there is one "common day off" in the week which is the same for all family members. Going to church together has become rather ...
- 116k
39
votes
Does the Taliban government of Afghanistan have a written legal code?
This Q is pretty narrow in its title, but then asks more generally
My question is really whether it is just that - that local officials make whatever decisions they think most aligns with their ...
37
votes
Accepted
Do any democracies with strong freedom of expression have laws against religious desecration?
Are you aware of the 'no true Scotsman' fallacy? Plenty of countries claim to be democracies and to uphold freedom of speech. But there is no country I'm aware of where one can say anything, anywhere ...
- 116k
31
votes
Accepted
How does the Pope influence politics in countries where there is a separation between Church and State?
Let's assume that the United States is one of the countries where church and state are separated. Politicians can still care about papal opinion because some of their voters do. According to ...
- 90.3k
31
votes
Isn't acknowledging the existence of God, as a state, a contradiction of the separation of Church and State?
"Separation of church and state" is not actually required by the US Constitution.
Wikipedia says that the phrase "separation of church and state" was first used by Thomas Jefferson in this letter in ...
- 2,061
30
votes
What events led to the 2020 North East Delhi riots?
The Citizenship Act of 2019 gives refugees who have fled persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan a path to Indian citizenship, but it only applies to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, ...
- 1,459
28
votes
Why does religion get a special treatment in anti-discrimination laws?
This is a Canada-specific answer, but one that is likely applicable to the US as well.
Anti-discrimination laws (or more generally in Canada, human rights laws, although are some other examples of ...
- 381
28
votes
Accepted
What does India gain nowadays by continuing to give asylum to the Dalai Lama?
Additionally, according to a 2008 article in the Times of India, in more recent times, the current Dalai Lama seems to back India's sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh (a state of the size of Scotland),...
27
votes
Why does religion get a special treatment in anti-discrimination laws?
Regarding your example of discriminating against a Jew, I think that is a uniquely bad example because there is an ambiguity in that Jews are both a religion and an ethnic group, moreover they have ...
- 1,020
26
votes
Accepted
Can an incoming President take power slightly earlier or later to avoid conflict with a Sabbath?
There is no provision for delaying the outgoing president's departure.
It would be possible for the outgoing vice president to resign and allow the incoming president to become vice president prior ...
- 90.3k
26
votes
Isn't acknowledging the existence of God, as a state, a contradiction of the separation of Church and State?
This is a rather principialist question, and politics is a much more pragmatic field.
Philosophically, yes, a State should not acknowledge a god, there are religions without gods, agnosticism and ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible