Freedom From Religion Foundation Celebrates Defeat of Issue 3 in Arkansas

Religious Freedom, , ,

Following last week’s election, the atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation issued a statement celebrating the defeat of Issue 3, the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment, calling the amendment “an attempt to insert religious privilege in the state Constitution.”

The Arkansas Legislature referred Issue 3 to voters last year, but the measure narrowly failed to pass on Election Day.

Ahead of the election, social media fueled a lot of confusion about Issue 3, with some conservatives incorrectly claiming that the measure would make it easier for the government to restrict the free exercise of religion.

Family Council supported Issue 3, because it would have helped restore protections for religious freedom — especially in our courts.

Focus On The Family, Alliance Defending Freedom, Liberty Counsel, American Family Association, Family Policy Alliance, Family Research Council Action, Family Council Action Committee, and the Arkansas Baptist State Convention all endorsed Issue 3.

The ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation opposed the measure.

Below is the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s full statement celebrating the defeat of Issue 3 in Arkansas.

FFRF members help defeat toxic religious liberty Arkansas measure

The Freedom From Religion Foundation applauds a major victory for separation of state and church in Arkansas, where voters wisely rejected an attempt to insert religious privilege in the state Constitution.

Issue 3 on the Arkansas ballot, sponsored by Christian nationalist state Sen. Jason Rapert, would have placed the text of the Religious Freedom Reformation Act (RFRA) into the Arkansas Constitution. This would give churches and religious business owners an exemption to any law they didn’t like for religious reasons, forcing the government to overcome a tall legal hurdle to justify the religious “burden.”

In practice, state RFRAs, and their federal predecessor, have legalized discrimination and caused massive harm. Hobby Lobby notoriously denied its employees reproductive health care insurance because of its wealthy owners’ religious objections to contraception, and RFRA allowed them to do it. Women, LGBTQ individuals — and all secular Arkansans — can breathe a sigh of relief that Issue 3 has failed.

FFRF urged its members to show up and vote against Issue 3, and it’s no surprise that they did; a recent internal survey showed that more than 95 percent of FFRF members are registered to vote. Every one of those votes counted, as Issue 3 was rejected very narrowly, by only 7,500 votes.

This is part of a national trend, with a growing portion of the American voting population becoming less religious and more civically engaged. Elected officials would be well advised to heed this trend and listen to their secular constituents. FFRF recently launched a campaign to help educate the public about this quickly emerging voting bloc.

The defeat of Issue 3 in Arkansas is a testament to its growing power.

It’s important to point out that the Freedom From Religion Foundation inappropriately resorts to attacking people’s character in this statement, and the group is incorrect in its assessment of the federal Hobby Lobby ruling from 2014 concerning religious freedom laws.

That court decision centered on whether or not the federal government can require company insurance plans to include procedures and services that the company’s owners find morally objectionable.

In Hobby Lobby’s case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act prevents the federal government from infringing religious liberty that way.

Issue 3 would have provided similar protections for Arkansans under the State Constitution.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has a history of opposing religious liberty in Arkansas.

Besides fighting against Issue 3, the group has opposed public prayer at meetings and gatherings in Arkansas.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a lawsuit to have a monument of the Ten Commandments removed from the Arkansas Capitol grounds.

In 2017 the group demanded that Governor Hutchinson stop sharing Bible verses on his Facebook page.

In 2016 the foundation went after Washington County election officials for using churches as polling places.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has complained about the fact that that Arkansas’ public school students can study the Bible academically — even though it is one of the oldest texts in existence and has had a profound influence on human history.

Many voters don’t realize how tenuous our protections for religious freedom have become. That likely is part of the reason Issue 3 narrowly failed last week.

Family Council remains committed to protecting religious liberty in Arkansas. We hope to do exactly that in the coming year.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Marijuana Smoke May May Be More Harmful Than Cigarettes: New Study

Marijuana

A new study published in the journal of the Radiological Society of North America shows marijuana smoke may be more harmful to lungs than cigarette smoke.

Researchers from Ottawa Hospital General in Canada examined some 150 lung scans from marijuana smokers, tobacco-only smokers, and nonsmokers.

The study found marijuana smokers faced higher rates of airway inflammation and emphysema than tobacco-only smokers and nonsmokers.

Seventy-five percent of marijuana smokers had emphysema — compared with only 5% of nonsmokers and 67% of tobacco smokers.

While the dangers of tobacco smoke have been well publicized for many years, the dangers of marijuana smoke are not as widely known.

The CDC reports that secondhand marijuana smoke contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and that people who breathe secondhand marijuana smoke can be exposed to THC as a result.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found adults under age 45 who frequently use marijuana are roughly twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack as adults who do not use marijuana.

A 2019 study found that regular marijuana use increased the risk of heart problems for young people, and a 2017 study reported marijuana smokers were three times as likely to die of hypertension.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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U.S. Sen. Cotton Demands Answers On Foreign TikTok Employees in the U.S.

China

The following is a press release from U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R — Arkansas).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2022

 Cotton Demands Answers on Foreign TikTok Employees in the US

Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding security concerns that TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance pose to American citizens’ personal data. The letter requested details on TikTok’s use of H-1B guest workers who may have ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 

In part, Senator Cotton wrote: 

“In 2022 alone DHS has approved over 570 new and continuing H-1B visas for foreign individuals to work at ByteDance and TikTok’s offices in California. Given the security concerns with TikTok and the company’s repeated statements about “US-based” teams and data centers, having hundreds of foreign nationals working in those offices presents another potential threat.”

Full text of the letter may be found here and below.

November 14, 2022

The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

I write regarding TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and their use of H-1B guest worker visas for employees who might have ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok captures vast amounts of private information on users, including American citizens, and has long been suspected of providing the CCP with potential access to that information. This threatens the safety and security of American citizens, and also functions as an avenue for the Chinese government to track the locations of and develop blackmail on Federal employees and contractors.

In response to security and espionage concerns, TikTok claims that it stores “all TikTok US user data in the United States,” and that its “data centers are located entirely outside of China.” In a Senate hearing, TikTok’s vice president added that TikTok has a “US-based security team that handles access to user data.” However, recent public reports indicate that sensitive data on American users of TikTok has been accessed from within China, that Beijing-based employees of ByteDance have targeted specific American users for surveillance, and that at least 300 TikTok and ByteDance employees are also current or former employees of Chinese state media.

In 2022 alone, DHS has approved over 570 new and continuing H-1B visas for foreign individuals to work at ByteDance and TikTok’s offices in California. Given the security concerns with TikTok and the company’s repeated statements about “US-based” teams and data centers, having hundreds of foreign nationals working in those offices presents another potential threat. For each H-1B application sponsored by ByteDance or TikTok in 2022, please provide a list of the nationalities and job titles of each applicant employee no later than 5:00PM on Tuesday, November 15.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

________________

Tom Cotton

United States Senator

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