Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

  People are understandably frustrated when they believe they have the right to express anything they want in the US because of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which protects freedom of speech. I am not an attorney so, check what I am saying with an attorney who understands US constitutional law. What I can do is refer readers to sources to learn more. The US Courts at uscourts.gov offers information on what the courts have ruled. I hope this is helpful when considering what people cannot do. Freedom of speech includes the right: Not to speak (specifically, the right not to salute the flag). West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943). Of students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war (“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.”). Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969). To use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971). To contribute money (un...

Soon the U.S. Supreme Court will review an abortion case. As an  npr broadcast  informs us, this is the week, 47 years ago, that the court made the Roe v. Wade decision. The Disestablishment of Christianity in America Like others, I think the 1973 decision was the “Wake-up call” for American Evangelicals who could see a trend toward a more secular American society. I suggest the recent beginning of the trend was the 25 June 1962 decision by the Supreme Court that judged a New York prayer as a violation of the establishment clause in the U.S. Constitution ( See Engel v. Vitale ). The next year, 1963, the court ruled against Abington school district’s practice of saying the Lord’s Prayer and reading the Bible ( See Abington School District v. Schempp) . A Tough Yet Sweet Pill to Swallow The small pill that started a revolution. I’m exaggerating of course. But it’s hard to ignore the contribution of the birth control pill to undoing the power of sexual pu...

Wars linked to religious motives are part of history. But lost in the details are clear causal connections between one or more religious motives and the atrocities common in warfare. In contemporary western cultures wars are conducted at the ballot box, in the courts, and in the media. Cultural war dead are counted in terms of lost pride, lost causes, lost traditions, lost influence, and even lost money. Cultural injuries can be measured by assessment of anger, resentment, plans for revenge, and money spent on causes limiting the rights of various subcultures. In the United States and western democracies, Christian traditions that informed cultural norms codified in law have been overturned at an incredible pace leaving Christians wondering about the limits of religious freedom. At this point we can only guess that in the future, people will look back on the 2015 Supreme Court decision to affirm same-sex marriage rights as indicative of the decline in the degree t...