Update on Judge Wendell Gfiffen of Little Rock: Judge Griffen Files Suit vs. Arkansas Supreme Court for Violating His Religious Liberty

In May, I told you of a move to impeach Arkansas judge (and my friend) Wendell Griffen after he took part in a public demonstration against the death penalty organized on Good Friday by the church he pastors in Little Rock, New Millennium Baptist church. In response to his involvement in this protest, the Arkansas Supreme Court and Arkansas Attorney General restricted the kinds of cases at which Judge Griffen might preside, claiming that he was too biased to hear some cases, such as ones in which the death penalty might be an appropriate sentence in their view.

My Statement in Support of Religious Liberty and Judge Wendell Griffen at Today's Rally in Little Rock

I was asked (along with a number of other guests) to make a brief statement at the religious liberty rally held in Little Rock today on the steps of the state capitol in support of Judge Wendell Griffen. As I have reported, the Arkansas state government, which is now totally controlled by right-wing Republicans most of whom strongly wish to impose their right-wing religious views on everyone in my state, is seeking to have Wendell impeached after he took part in a protest against capital punishment on Good Friday along with members of the Baptist church he pastors. The purpose of today's rally was to show support for Wendell as he exercises his right to religious liberty in a way that has never infringed on his role as a justice. I read a portion of the statement below at today's rally:

We're for Religious Liberty: Rally to Be Held June 9 in Little Rock in Support of Judge Wendell Griffen

I think most readers of this blog are not in Arkansas or nearby states. But on the off chance that there are readers of Bilgrimage in my local area about whom I don't know, or readers of this blog who have friends in Arkansas or nearby areas who might be interested in this event, I wanted to share news about it:

#ReligiousFreedomIs: Defending and Celebrating Religious Liberty As a Foundation of Democratic Society

Liberty and Justice for All from Coalition for Liberty & Justice on Vimeo.

Next Monday, 16 January, will be the 231st anniversary of the Virginia Religious Freedom Statute. In commemoration of this event, the Coalition for Liberty and Justice (which produced the video at the head of the posting) and others are engaging in various actions to educate about the authentic meaning of religious freedom, a core value of the American democratic experiment that has been under attack in recent years by people using the term as a slogan to justify religion-based bigotry and religion-based attacks on minority communities struggling for their rights.

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: "Religious Liberty Was Never Intended to Give One Religion . . . Veto Power Over the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of Others"

Anne Hilt, "Religious Freedom' Means Putting LGBT Americans Back in the Closet"

Martin R. Castro, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in the newly released USCCR report (pdf), Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Nondiscrimination Principles with Civil Liberties:

Commentary on U.S. Catholic Bishops and "Religious Liberty" Crusade As "Fortnight for Freedom" Begins: "Fair to Say Religious Liberty Has a Damaged 'Brand' These Days"

This week, the U.S. Catholic bishops began their latest "Fortnight for Freedom" shindig, whose purpose is to drive Catholic voters to the polls to vote Republican (as they claim) to defend a "religious liberty" now under siege because gay people have the legal right to marry civilly, because the Obama administration is mandating contraceptive coverage in its Affordable Care Act, because denying rights, goods, and services to targeted others while claiming that one has a religious warrant to discriminate is increasingly distasteful to more and more Americans, etc. 

Supremes Hand Zubik v. Burwell Mess Back to Little Sisters of the Poor, U.S. Catholic Bishops, and Obama Administration: Good Commentary

Andrew Glass, "Supreme Court Upholds Segregation, May 18, 1896, " Politico

As the Supremes hand the Zubik v. Burwell mess back to the Little Sisters of the Poor, the U.S. Catholic bishops, and the Obama administration — despite seven of eight lower court rulings which have found that the spurious "religious freedom" complaint of the bishops hiding behind the habits of the sisters are entirely confected, here's some commentary I've found worth reading:

As Their Party Puts Forward a Reality-Show Star Who Spouts Racism, Misogyny, and Xenophobia, Catholic Bishops Use "Religious Freedom" Video to Attack Hillary Clinton

Did I just say that the yuuuge affection of large numbers of (white) Catholics in the U.S. for the outright racist (and misogynist and xenophobic) Donald Trump bespeaks colossal moral and pastoral failure on the part of the U.S. Catholic bishops — as do the ugly comments now piling up at the website of the liberal Catholic journal Commonweal, some from Commonweal subscribers, after that journal dared to publish an editorial chastising the Republican party for seeking to deny the right to vote to minority voters? As all of this happens, here's where the U.S. Catholic bishops are, where they want to lead their flock:

Supremes Hear Zubik All-or-Nothing "Religious Liberty" Arguments: Commentary Worth Noting

The Supreme Court hears arguments this morning in the case of Zubik v. Burwell.  At issue in this case: a number of religious groups including the Little Sisters of the Poor of Denver (i.e., where the current archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, used to hang out) want to maintain that the accomodation provided by the Obama administration to employers objecting to the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers include contraceptive coverage in employee healthcare plans burdens their religious freedom. The Little Sisters and others are arguing that even writing a letter stating that they object on grounds of conscience to providing contraceptive coverage to employees, and thereby allowing another entity to provide the coverage, infringes on their religious freedom.

Who Really Set Up Papal Meeting with Kim Davis? Enlightening Comments at Catholic Blog Site

Yesterday at the National Catholic Reporter site, Tom Gallagher posted an article focusing on something about which I spoke briefly in a posting here on the same day: namely, that in the wake of the Kim Davis-Pope Francis debacle, the mainstream media are finally saying out loud what many of us have known and been saying for some time now — that the outfit giving legal advice to Ms. Davis, Liberty Counsel, is an anti-gay hate group. I find the comments in response to Tom Gallagher's article especially enlightening.

Comments Keep Pouring in About Pope's Choice to Meet with Kim Davis: "Lost Me," "Wonder If Francis Realizes That He Now Stands Shoulder to Shoulder with Mike Huckabee"

And the comments just keep pouring in to my email inbox and my Facebook feed, people crushed and angry that the pope chose to meet with Kim and Joe Davis and Mat Staver while he was on a U.S. tour preaching mercy, and, we were told, encouraging the rest of us to rise above the culture-war fixations:

Charles Pierce on Pope's Decision to Meet with Kim Davis As Dumbest Thing He's Ever Done — "Undermines Everything He Accomplished on His Visit Here"

Charles Pierce on the pope's meeting with Kim Davis as the dumbest thing he's ever done as pope — and on the disastrous consequences of this meeting for his credibility and what many folks thought he had accomplished on this papal visit:

Responses to Pope's Meeting with Kim Davis from My Facebook Feed: "Last Straw," "Don't Want to Identify As ROMAN Catholic Anymore," "Tiny Sliver of Hope Now GONE," "So Disappointed"

Responses to the news that the pope met with Kim Davis and her lawyer Mat Staver of the anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel has had my Facebook page lit up all morning. I'd like to share with you some of the comments now coming in:

Vatican Confirms Pope's Secret Meeting with Kim Davis, Moynihan's Site Comes Back Online

Vatican confirms meeting: spokesman Rev Lombardi says he doesn't deny Pope and Davis met but won't add more. Via @EPovoledo @nytimes

— Laurie Goodstein (@lauriegnyt) September 30, 2015

Robert Moynihan's Inside the Vatican report on Pope Francis's secret meeting with Kim Davis has just now come back up (I reported earlier today that it had been down previously), right after Laurie Goodstein sent out the tweet above.

Quote for Day: If Kim Davis-Pope Francis Story True, "Conservatives Will Feel Cheered by It"

Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Harriet Sherwood, and Calla Wahlquist in The Guardian this morning on the secret meeting Pope Francis is said to have held with Kim Davis:

Pope Francis Met with Kim Davis and Wrapped His Protective Mantle Around Her?! As Those Reporting This to Me Say, Absolutely Disgusting If True

When I told you yesterday that I'd be very surprised if Pope Francis did not have direct knowledge of Kim Davis's case, little did I know I'd wake up to an email inbox full of messages sending me articles which are now reporting that the pope met secretly with Kim Davis on his U.S. visit. Laurie Goodstein is reporting about the meeting at today's New York Times, for instance. As she notes, the report that Pope Francis had a secret meeting with Kim Davis comes from Vatican reporter Robert Moynihan at his Inside the Vatican site. That site is returning an error message as I write this posting, but one of the email friends who sent me information about this story early today has sent me a copy of Moynihan's report.