Brian Pellot: On Freedom

After Texas, is it ‘high time’ we ban Muhammad cartoons?

By Brian Pellot — May 4, 2015
Does showcasing Prophet Muhammad cartoons now constitute direct incitement to imminent violence? If so, what does that mean for U.S. law and for freedom of expression?

Rainbow jihad * Sex church * iSwap: April’s Religious Freedom Recap

By Brian Pellot — May 1, 2015
Same-sex marriage heads back to SCOTUS. A Tennessee sex club becomes a church to skirt zoning restrictions. And Boko Haram rebrands as iSwap, aligning not with Apple but with the Islamic State. All this and more in April’s global religious freedom recap.

EVENT: Religious Freedom & Foreign Policy

By Brian Pellot — April 6, 2015
RSVP for this April 16 event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. We'll be speaking about how freedom of religion or belief factor into governments' foreign policy agendas and what role media outlets play in shaping and navigating debate.

Beef ban * Witch hunts * Too much Guinness : March’s Religious Freedom Recap

By Brian Pellot — April 1, 2015
An Indian state bans the sale and possession of beef. Tanzanians murder “witches” accused of murdering “magical albinos.” And Ireland nearly outlaws straight marriage, on accident. Who needs April Fools’ Day when reality is this strange?

New Daily Show host Trevor Noah is ‘colored’ — what that means here in South Africa

By Brian Pellot — March 31, 2015
Comedian Trevor Noah was “born a crime” to a black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss father in the final years of South Africa’s apartheid regime. At that time, officials classified him as “colored,” a label and identity still common here today.

Non-banned ‘banned’ books and Malaysia’s unjust Islamic justice system

By Brian Pellot — March 20, 2015
In May 2012, Malaysia’s religious authorities raided a bookstore and confiscated “Allah, Liberty and Love.” A store manager was charged for selling the "banned" book, which was only banned six days after the raid. Three years later and she’s still being hounded.

After Myanmar’s ‘Buddha headphones’ conviction, the worst may be yet to come

By Brian Pellot — March 18, 2015
Jail time and hard labor for sharing an image of the Buddha wearing headphones is a shocking violation of free speech. In Myanmar, I’m far from shocked.

Does ‘religious freedom’ give Tanzanian witchdoctors the right to murder albinos?

By Brian Pellot — March 13, 2015
Of course not. When acting on your beliefs extinguishes another’s right to life, you lose.

Could Tibetan Buddhism BE any more political right now?

By Brian Pellot — March 10, 2015
The Dalai Lama says he won’t be reincarnated in China if Tibet is not free and that no one (cough...China) can choose his successor “for political ends.” Now who’s being political?

U.S. Court rightly nixes Missouri ban on ‘profane, rude, indecent’ speech outside houses of worship

By Brian Pellot — March 10, 2015
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit declared Missouri’s 2012 House of Worship Protection Act unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds for its subjective ban on “profane discourse,” and “rude or indecent behavior.” Good call.

Satire won’t stop ISIS, but it’s an important start

By Brian Pellot — March 5, 2015
From the Middle East to Japan, satirists are standing up to the Islamic State with humor, wit and irreverence. These videos, cartoons and tweets are as silly as they are powerful, showing ISIS we won’t submit to its threat-based censorship.

Anti-Semitism * Anti-sex * Anti-women: February’s Religious Freedom Recap

By Brian Pellot — March 2, 2015
Cold, short February was jam-packed with some mega atrocities on the religious freedom front. Count your lucky stars it's March, and hope for a better month ahead.

From Charlie Hebdo to the Redskins, newsworthiness must trump fear of offense

By Brian Pellot — February 25, 2015
Obscuring or omitting the very controversy that makes a story newsworthy--be it a Charlie Hebdo cover or the Washington Redskins’ name--does great disservice to our readers.

Condemning the obviously atrocious is a self-serving waste of time

By Brian Pellot — February 18, 2015
Advocacy and religious groups have rushed to condemn Copenhagen, Charlie Hebdo and Chapel Hill using rehashed boilerplates of their mission statements. Absent new information or productive solutions, these generic missives amount to self-serving press releases unworthy of our time.

Hate crime or parking spat, legal bullets killed Chapel Hill victims

By Brian Pellot — February 17, 2015
America’s Second Amendment and illegal firearms abroad too often deny others their rights to life, freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.
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