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There are two issues I usually use to open this topic up with
Birth-control: We all know that some religious communities have a rather dim view of it, the RCC outright condemns it, the Orthodox church is wary of it and only officially approves of certain types, some protestant groups also look down on its use.
Now me personally, it's one of those things where I don't personally care if people want to use it, I find it far preferable to abortion, but I didn't agree with the HHS mandate which is part of Obama's health care reform, I think that bc should be available and highly affordable...I just don't believe that an organization or institution that is owned and operated by a religious group that disagrees with it should be pressured into covering it for their employees. I'm not talking about Hobby Lobby, I'm talking about the Catholic School system and the various medical care systems the church has throughout the country, there's one in my home town run by the order of St. Francis.
Last I checked, forcing a religious group or even individual to violate their own principles was Unconstitutional.
I basically have the same thing to say about same-sex marriage. If two guys or two ladies want to get legally married and adopt children together they can have at it, I'm cool with it as long as the government doesn't pressure *any* religious institution or group to change their stance on the subject from what it already is. Discrimination against homosexuals, just like racial discrimination, is reprehensible, but so is the government forcing it's will where its influence is supposed to stop.
Freedom is always under threat- which is why Franklin said the US would be a republic if we can keep it and we have the old saying the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
I do not have the right to force people to do something for me or to prevent them from doing something they want to do as long as they are respecting the rights of others.
As for the specific issues- first birth control- if they were honestly trying to improve the availability then instead of forcing employers to cover it - then perhaps the should have been asking questions about the FDA regulations and patent laws and how these things might be resulting in higher prices. One attempt to solve this was a bill to make birth control pills over the counter.
There are some people who would argue that if we did not have an FDA- that a lot of dangerous medications would be kept form the market or sold via prescription only as doctors, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies will be limited by what their insurance companies will cover. Even if you believed that the FDA is 100% necessary there will still be room to ask questions about the process in general and specifically if going over the counter would be a good idea.
Then with gay marriage the question I have is will people who don't approve of homosexual behavior and marriage have the option to say not they don't want to be involved if asked to host a ceremony or even cater one.
The city passed an anti-discrimination ordinance applying to businesses. The "chapel" in question was a for-profit wedding business (Couer d'Alene is an elopement destination for couples from Washington) at the time the ordinance was passed. The owners of the chapel, who oppose SSM, were concerned, so they looked into their legal options. No gay couple had asked them to perform a wedding, so their concerns were potential, not actual. The city never received a complaint against them, or tried to enforce the ordinance against them, because - no gay couple had ever been turned down by them.
The lawsuit was dropped when the chapel owners reincorporated as a not-for-profit church, so they are no longer subject to the ordinance.
I can't say that there has ever been real religious freedom for fringe religions, and mainstream Christianity might well be trending towards that.
Modern, 'progressive', belief systems seem indistinguishable from religion (a deity isn't required, after all) and, as usual, will push dying belief systems aside over time.
There are two issues I usually use to open this topic up with
Birth-control: We all know that some religious communities have a rather dim view of it, the RCC outright condemns it, the Orthodox church is wary of it and only officially approves of certain types, some protestant groups also look down on its use.
Now me personally, it's one of those things where I don't personally care if people want to use it, I find it far preferable to abortion, but I didn't agree with the HHS mandate which is part of Obama's health care reform, I think that bc should be available and highly affordable...I just don't believe that an organization or institution that is owned and operated by a religious group that disagrees with it should be pressured into covering it for their employees. I'm not talking about Hobby Lobby, I'm talking about the Catholic School system and the various medical care systems the church has throughout the country, there's one in my home town run by the order of St. Francis.
Last I checked, forcing a religious group or even individual to violate their own principles was Unconstitutional.
I basically have the same thing to say about same-sex marriage. If two guys or two ladies want to get legally married and adopt children together they can have at it, I'm cool with it as long as the government doesn't pressure *any* religious institution or group to change their stance on the subject from what it already is. Discrimination against homosexuals, just like racial discrimination, is reprehensible, but so is the government forcing it's will where its influence is supposed to stop.
Only one religion is under attack from this Presidential administration.
Christianity.
All others get the pass.
We are in a Holy War and the President is siding with Islam, the religion of intolerance and oppression, where there is no forgiving. Kinda like what the Democrat party has become.
I can't say that there has ever been real religious freedom for fringe religions, and mainstream Christianity might well be trending towards that.
Modern, 'progressive', belief systems seem indistinguishable from religion (a deity isn't required, after all) and, as usual, will push dying belief systems aside over time.
Statism is certainly a religion and one that is incompatible with of all other beliefs.
All anti-discrimination laws are necessarily against freedom. So a law which makes it illegal to act in accordance with your own religious beliefs, is necessarily an assault on religion freedom.
The argument is always that, you shouldn't be able to discriminate as a business. But it is impossible to separate a person from a business. A business is not an entity by itself. You can't regulate a business, you can't tax a business. There is no business to tax, there is no business to regulate.
A law can only regulate people. And by limiting the rights of a business, you necessarily limit the rights of people.
Moreover, the movement towards "freedom from religion" is understandable, and even logical. No one likes someone of another faith, dictating to them how they should live.
The problem is, this is a democracy, and there are laws. As long as religious people exist, then religious beliefs will necessarily influence how they vote, and what laws and policies they support.
In truth, religion and government cannot coexist as independent institutions. A secular government is necessarily hostile towards religion. And the larger a secular government becomes, the smaller religion must become.
Basically, if religion isn't allowed in the public space; Then if everything was the public space, then religion could not exist.
As government grows in a secular state, religion dies. Marx knew this, and the utopian socialist state has no religion at all.
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