Is America Losing One of Its Most Important Freedoms? w/ Rachel Laser
About this episode
Jonathan Van Ness and Rachel Laser discuss the importance of the separation of church and state and its implications for American democracy.
What does the separation of church and state actually protect, and why does it matter to all of us? This week, Jonathan sits down with Americans United President & CEO Rachel Laser (who somehow balances leading one of the country’s foremost constitutional advocacy organizations while teaching yoga on the side) for a conversation about one of the most important (and often misunderstood) principles in American democracy. Together, they explore how the Constitution protects religious freedom, why those protections belong to everyone, and what happens when government and religion become too closely intertwined. Rachel breaks down the growing influence of Christian Nationalism, why patriotism isn’t the same as religious identity, and how some political movements are saying the quiet part out loud. They also discuss recent debates over displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools, the importance of creating space for every belief system, and why defending church-state separation is ultimately about protecting freedom…not limiting faith. Join the fight at www.au.org/better Wanna see JVN on stage? Get tix to the Hot & Healed Comedy Tour here. Full Video Episodes now…
People in this episode
Host: Jonathan Van Ness
Guest: Rachel Laser
Topics covered
- separation of church and state
- religious freedom
- Christian Nationalism
- American democracy
- government and religion
- patriotism
- church-state separation
Keywords
- freedom
- Constitution
- religious identity
- political movements
- Ten Commandments
- public schools
- belief systems
- defending church-state separation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Americans United, Sony Music Entertainment, Americans United President & CEO, Hot & Healed Comedy Tour
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