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Toni Van Pelt interviewed on First Coast Connect radio show hosted by Melissa Ross. Listen Now 
156 Civil and Human Rights Groups Call for Stronger Response to Hate Incidents WASHINGTON –The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 155 civil and human rights groups today called upon the Executive Branch to respond more quickly and forcefully to hate-based incidents, which have been occurring at an alarming rate in recent months.  The statement follows: “Our diversity is part of what makes America great, and incidents motivated by hate are an affront to the values we share. No one should face acts of violence or intimidation because of their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, or national origin. Just this year, we have seen an alarming increase in accounts and reports of hate-based acts of violence and intimidation. Some recent examples include: The February shooting in Olathe, Kansas, where two Indian Hindu Americans were attacked, killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla; Four mosques burned in the past two months, in Texas, Washington, and Florida, and more defaced by acts of vandalism; Numerous bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers, synagogues, and ADL offices around the country; The recent shooting in Washington state of a Sikh American outside of his home;  Racist graffiti targeting African Americans in Stamford, Connecticut and at a high school in Lake Oswego, Oregon; An attack on a Latino man in Daly City, California, and an attack on a Hispanic woman in Queens, New York, with both targeted because of their ethnicity; The murders of seven transgender women of color, including six African Americans and one Native American. While we welcome President Trump’s remarks to the joint session of Congress, where he noted ‘we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms,’ it was the first public acknowledgement he had made on specific recent events.  It is clear that the President has been slow to respond to hate incidents, when he has responded at all.  We strongly believe the President has a moral obligation to use his bully pulpit to speak out against acts of hatred when they occur. (Read More)
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 It is a gross mischaracterization of the wide latitude of freedoms that houses of worship enjoy in the United States to claim that their rights of free speech are being abrogated by the Johnson Amendment. These claims mask the more sinister intentions to channel money directly into political campaigns to influence elections.1 In 2016, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Jr. was quoted in the New York Times saying that repealing the Johnson Amendment would “create a huge revolution for conservative Christians and for free speech.” It is simply false to claim that churches and other houses of worship cannot engage in political speech or that pastors as individuals are unfairly fettered. Houses of worship can engage in political speech, and clergy are free to speak their mind in their personal capacity.  The limit on 501(c)(3) organizations, including houses of worship, pertains only to abstaining from endorsing or opposing candidates in political campaigns. (Read More)
Toni Van Pelt
 Dear Representative: We write to ask that you become an original co-sponsor of the Do No Harm Act, which Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III and Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott plan to introduce following the July 4 recess. This critical legislation would ensure that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) continues to protect religious freedom, but cannot be misused to harm others. The reintroduction of this bill is particularly timely and important, as President Trump’s May 4 executive order lays the groundwork for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to misuse RFRA and other protections for religious freedom to license taxpayer-funded discrimination. Our organizations, including some that supported the passage of RFRA in 1993, have grown increasingly alarmed by the misuse of RFRA. For example, religiously affiliated social service providers that get government grants currently use RFRA to discriminate in employment with taxpayer funds. And, employers, including Hobby Lobby, have successfully invoked RFRA to deny their employees insurance coverage for contraception.
Alex Jones, Bigotry, Falsehoods, and “Censorship” By Norm R. Allen Jr. Paranoid conspiracy theorist and reactionary polemicist Alex Jones has been banned from Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify. Jones, through his website Info Wars and other outlets over the past 20 years, has promoted such conspiracy theories as the following: Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. and is not a U.S. citizen Hillary Clinton headed a sex trafficking ring with the D.C.-based Comet Ping Pong Pizza establishment (aka, Pizzagate) The terrorist attacks on 9/11 were inside jobs Hitler and Mussolini were leftists that influenced the Left in the U.S. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is forming concentration camps to brainwash Americans The Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 children were murdered, was a hoax However, as cruel and bizarre as these beliefs are, they are not why Jones has been barred from so many social media outlets. He was barred because these non- governmental businesses have standards against hate speech, which Jones repeatedly violated. The pressure from anti-bigots had become so great that the social media giants had to react. (Read More)
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