1st Amendment, 1st 100 days
Jewish community weighs Trump’s positions, support
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People are watching President Donald Trump for signs, trying to see where he stands at a time when the Jewish community feels under attack.
Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/series/1st-amendment-1st-100/)
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
People are watching President Donald Trump for signs, trying to see where he stands at a time when the Jewish community feels under attack.
MSU faculty and staff must balance freedom of expression with student safety. The Office of Institutional Equity is at this controversial and difficult balance point. The office is the channel for students to report discriminatory acts or hate speech.
Hundreds of people joined in the March for Science on Saturday, April 22, at the Capitol to celebrate Earth Day. The mission of the march was to encourage evidence based policy, or the use of scientific studies, to create or improve policies.
Wendy Williams, new host of Friday watch parties for “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” has recently come under fire for kicking a drag queen out of the audience of her talk show “The Wendy Williams Show” in 2009.
A bill has been introduced to ban Michigan residents from using other countries’ laws in state courts. The bill was introduced after a Muslim doctor in Detroit performed female genital mutilation on two children from Minnesota.
Even though it is legal all over the United States for same-sex couples to get married, there is still dispute concerning the civil rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
Digital searches and discrimination are surfacing as citizens and non-citizens are being searched at the U.S. border. The Knight First Amendment Institute of Columbia College is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over the practice. The Knight First Amendment Institute suspects that Homeland Security is stopping and searching travelers who have Muslim names on their documents. A red flag was raised when Homeland Security refused to hand over the list of who is stopping at the border. “If it is the case that people of the Muslim faith or with Muslim sounding names are getting different treatment, that could be a constitutional problem because it could be seen as a way of the government being in favor of those who are not Muslim,” said Okemos attorney and First Amendment expert John Fraser.
Imagine choosing between completing a moral duty in public or ignoring the duty for the sake of security and safety. A choice that many non-Muslims may not understand. A choice that Muslim student Batoul Sadek faces when deciding whether to pray in a public space on Michigan State University’s campus or to ignore the number one commandment given by God. God commands reciting from the Quran five times a day, and three of those prayers usually occur during work and class schedules for Sadek. Sadek’s favorite study spot is at the MSU library and chooses to pray within the rows of book shelves or privately next to her desk.
President Donald Trump’s signed bill that will defund programs like Planned Parenthood has sparked concern for women in America.
It is a big decision for Muslim women to begin wearing a hijab. It’s an outward declaration of religious affiliation and it can come with stigmas. Mahbuba Fidda, an MSU Law Library assistant who is Muslim but chooses to not wear a hijab made a point that Islamic women are not the only individuals who cover their heads. Jews, Christians, Hindus and many other religions practice similar forms of modesty. “To me, religion is inside, between you and God.