TonioTimeDaily

“But religious diversity on its own is not religious pluralism; that requires a bit more: Individuals have the legal rights and de facto freedoms to worship, believe, practice, and join in community with others according to their conscience. Individuals are also able to abstain from these activities. In the U.S., these rights and freedoms are guaranteed by the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment; Individuals and communities protect their own and others’ rights and freedoms to worship, believe, practice, and join in community with others, or not, according to their conscience; Individuals and communities protect each others’ safety to worship; and Communities engage with each other, acknowledging areas of deep and irreconcilable difference, but focused on areas of common ground. And finally, since religious pluralism does not happen without sustained and diverse religious communities: Diverse religious communities themselves thrive, meaning leadership is good, community institutions are sustainable, community ties remain strong, and congregants know the basic theological content of their own traditions. What is religious pluralism NOT? Religious pluralism is not: The simple fact of religious diversity in a society A synchronistic mix of religious beliefs that pares down theological ideas to the lowest common denominator Religious belief being prioritized over non-belief.” -Aspen Institute. “Who Are Secular Voters? Religiously unaffiliated (“nonreligious”) Americans are the largest and fastest growing religious demographic in the country. While the nonreligious are a diverse group who span the political spectrum, these Americans are united on key political issues. According to the 2015 Pew Religious Landscape Survey, the nonreligious overwhelmingly support legal access to abortion (73%) and same-sex marriage (78%) compared to evangelicals who oppose those same policies by smaller margins (63% and 64%, respectively). Similarly, a 2016 Public Religion Research Institute poll found that 71% of the nonreligious oppose religiously-based service refusals compared to only 56% of evangelicals who support that same policy. Despite recent trends, secular voters continue to be severely underrepresented in government. According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, while the nonreligious comprise nearly one-quarter of all Americans, they comprise only just 0.2% of the 115th Congress. That means there are 100 times as many religiously unaffiliated Americans as there are religiously unaffiliated Members of Congress. We are determined to change that by mobilizing a voting bloc united by shared secular values and investing in strategic programs that empower secular values voters to be active, influential players in the electoral process.” -Secular Coalition of America. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/support