Share this page!

Nick Fish Profile picture
Twitter logo
Nov 11 • 3 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: The New York Times (and the AP) have called it. Arkansas Issue 3, the so-called "Religious Freedom Amendment," has FAILED! This is great news for anyone who values real religious freedom, civil rights protections, and the rule of law. #Election2022 #AtheistVoter
This dangerous attempt to create a religious opt out for literally every law on the books was dangerous and extreme, and Arkansans wisely refused to go along with failed candidate Jason Rapert's final attempt to create a Christian Nationalist theocracy in their state.
Almost 150,000 voters who pulled the lever for Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to back this dangerous amendment. It just shows how out of step and extreme people like Jason Rapert and his ilk are that they can't even win in Arkansas.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Nick Fish

Nick Fish Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @nicholasrfish

Nick Fish Profile picture
Nov 10
UPDATE: Based on statewide turnout and total registered voters in the two counties where we're still waiting for results in Arkansas, I don't see the "Religious Freedom Amendment" having the votes to pass.
From the AR SoS website. AGAINST is currently up 7,664 votes. Turnout ~50%

1) Phillips County has not reported at all. They have 9,771 registered voters. Max 5,000 votes here.
2) Lee County is partially reporting. 4,509 registered voters. ~1,800 outstanding votes.
TOTAL: 6,800
So even if just about every single vote that's left out went FOR the constitutional amendment (which won't happen), it still wouldn't overcome the 7,664 vote lead that AGAINST has built up.
Read 4 tweets
Nick Fish Profile picture
Nov 9
Don't want this to get buried, so I'm quote tweeting instead of adding to the thread: AGAINST is now at 52%, FOR is at 48%, with about half the vote it.

Far too close and narrowing.
Now down to a 3 point margin (51.5% to 48.5%) with 55% of votes in.
Down to a 2 point margin (51.0% AGAINST vs. 49.0% FOR) with 64% of votes in.
Read 8 tweets
Nick Fish Profile picture
Nov 9
A vote I'm watching in #AR: whether or not voters will amend the state constitution to essentially give people a religious opt out from *any* law. (You read that right.)

With 26% of the vote in, the ballot measure is down about 8.5 pts.
In case you think I'm exaggerating, here's the language. This would apply strict scrutiny to literally every state action in Arkansas, as long as the objection is rooted in religion. This would be a nightmare for enforcement of civil rights protections and... well, every law. Image
You can follow along with the results here. Right now, this ballot measure is running waaaay behind Sarah Huckabee Sanders and John Boozman. Shows just how out of step and extreme it is. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Read 6 tweets
Nick Fish Profile picture
Jun 28
From @chrisgeidner: "After spinning a story of the case that he wanted to decide, Gorsuch [...] fundamentally changing our understanding of the religion clauses over the course of a few pages of his opinion by claiming that the court had already done so." chrisgeidner.substack.com/p/religious-su…
"Gorsuch (1) overturned a 51-year-old precedent, (2) announced a new originalist test to replace it, and (3) refused to acknowledge that he and today’s court was taking either of those steps."

I'd add: (4) provided no actionable guidance for schools moving forward.
But again, undermining the ability of public schools to do their job and making working at and attending them as unpleasant as possible is a feature, not a bug, of the majority's long term ambitions. Sowing chaos and creating vague, unworkable standards is just part of the plan.
Read 4 tweets
Nick Fish Profile picture
Oct 24, 2020
I'm much more curious about the underlying question: Why does the United States seem to rely on religious charities, service providers, and disaster relief more than any other developed nations? Why are these core functions not part of our expectations for government action?
The question shouldn't be "Who will run soup kitchens and homeless shelters as religion continues to decline," it's "Why are we okay with people needing to rely on religious charities to meet their basic needs?"
Mutual aid or community support are one thing. Hollowing out entire segments of the social safety net and handing it over to private (often religious) charity strikes me as a recipe for exploitation and misaligned incentives.
Read 7 tweets
Nick Fish Profile picture
Oct 22, 2020
Great report here from @BrookingsGov with some really important recommendations to protect REAL religious freedom and equality in 2021 and beyond. Executive summary and full report here: brookings.edu/research/a-tim…
From the report: "It is important to recognize that intentionally secular groups serve their communities too. As Tom Krattenmaker notes: 'Humanists and adherents
of other secular belief structures deserve to be
treated as worthy Americans, equal to all others...'"
"The United States’ motto E Pluribus Unum—out of many, one—remains a sure guide for a pluralistic nation that respects both particularity and common purpose."
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Send Email!

:(