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Inspired
Inspired is the nation's leading public radio show about faith, ethics and spirituality. Each week we offer you analyses of the big headlines alongside lesser-told stories – those of Orthodox Jewish artists and African-American atheists, Muslim feminists and spiritual seekers. Through these stories, a rough sketch of our country’s religious landscape begins to emerge. It’s a marketplace of beliefs and ideas too complex for sound bites, and too important to ignore.
Elizabeth Reiner Platt of Columbia Law School’s Law, Rights, and Religion project explains how the most recent Supreme Court opinion in 303 Creative weakens anti-discrimination and civil rights protections and she describes the implications of extending First Amendment rights to corporations. Then, lessons from Interfaith America’s Faith in Vaccines Ambassadors outreach efforts in North Carolina tribal communities. And, a new poll on the politics of gender and pronouns from the Public Religion Research Institute.
A Closer Look at the SCOTUS Ruling 303 Creative v. Elenis
Elizabeth Reiner Platt, director of Columbia Law School’s Law, Rights and Religion Project discusses the implications of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in 303 Creative v Elenis. She explains why the controversial ruling extending First Amendment protections to a creative business creates a dangerous precedent opening the door for other potential challenges to anti-discrimination policies. Platt reminds listeners of an earlier era in which businesses could explicitly reject people based on gender, religion and race to deny access to goods, services, and public accommodations. Citing the 303 Creative ruling and hypotheticals presented during oral arguments, Platt notes that nothing in the decision limits its application to same-sex couples seeking to marry.
Combatting Vaccine Hesitancy with Faith – Interfaith America
In the first year of the pandemic, COVID deaths among Native Americans were significantly higher than any other ethnic or racial group in America due to exceedingly poor public health infrastructure. To combat the inequity, a group of public health workers in North Carolina led by Dr. Tillman, supported by a grant from Interfaith America, worked to foster trusting relationships to tackle vaccine hesitancy and combat misinformation with the Coharie tribe in Sampson County. Producer Monique Parsons of Interfaith America reports this story from North Carolina.
..More Americans Are Likely to Say There Are Only Two Genders
In June 2023, the Public Religious Research Institute released a new poll exploring America’s shifting public attitudes on gender, the role of inclusive policies and perceptions of fairness, and the recent attacks on policies that support transgender individuals. Public Religion Research Institute’s CEO Dr. Melissa Deckman joins Ambereen Khan to discuss the findings and to review the shifts in attitudes especially among a surprising cohort — younger Americans.
