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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Claire Wang

Religion isn’t just for the right: five ways progressives are invoking ‘religious freedom’ laws

a collage of images related to protesting against ICE, abortion bans, attacks on Indigenous sacred sites
Progressive congregations and organizers are asserting their religious freedom rights to advocate for various causes. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

A defining image of resistance in Donald Trump’s second term is a pastor recoiling as he is shot with pepper balls outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.

Religious activism has also played out in court, with interfaith organizers launching a flurry of lawsuits against Trump-era policies that they say violate their beliefs, from abortion access to sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. While social conservatives have actively used “religious liberty” to limit LGBTQ+ rights and contraceptive coverage – in high-profile cases that have reached the US supreme court – progressive faith communities are increasingly leveraging religious freedom laws to fight for racial and social justice causes, too.

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