A recent draft law in Russia’s State Duma would ban “cults” from operating within the Russian Federation. RT spoke with cult expert Steve Hassan about what makes a cult, what crosses the line between a religion and a cult, and where freedom of religion comes in.
Cult law: Human Rights violations vs Freedom of Religion
The Separation of Church and State, Violations of the First Amendment
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has brought a federal lawsuit against President George W. Bush regarding the National Day of Prayer. www.ffrf.org Many religious people get angry when these lawsuits come up, and often bring up “under God” in the pledge of allegiance and “in God we trust” on our money as evidence that the United States was founded upon Christian morals and Christian values. This video shows the origin of those phrases as a direct result of the fear incited by the “Godless communists” during the 1950’s. 1952 Pres. Truman and Congress declared a national day of Prayer June 14, 1954 Congress unanimously ordered “Under God” to be put in the pledge of allegiance July 11, 1955 Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a law that made it mandatory that coinage and paper currency carry the phrase “In God We Trust” 1956 Congress passed an act that replaced our national motto “E Pluribus Unum” with “In God We trust” Our rights are worth fighting for, whether the violations of those rights are old and ongoing or completely new. Some of us are willing to do something, whether it is about these issues or any other issues. Doing nothing will not move us forward. Music used with permission: Divinity Destroyed “Empty The Sky” www.myspace.com
