Freedom of and from religion

Ever since President Regan, the religious right has made a more and more of an impact on our lives. At first it was just '”those religious nuts” wanting some crazy thing but now it’s becoming more and more overt with more religious intrusion. It’s not out of the ordinary anymore for politicians to promote and proclaim their particular religious view on things. From abortion to contraception to Creation Science intruding into school science classes, the religious right is in many cases succeeding in moving the country to more of a theocracy than a democracy.

As an example of the in roads religion is making, Texas Governor Rick Perry recently signed a “Merry Christmas” law, which allows teachers and students in public schools to say Merry Christmas… something that was already perfectly legal.

At the signing, Perry added: “Religious freedom does not mean freedom from religion”. In other words, we are going to shove our religion onto you whether you like it or not. Perry doesn’t know that religious freedom really means freedom to practice your religion or not to practice ANY religion. Just because a majority of Americans claim Christianity does not mean that everyone else must kowtow to every little religious thing that Christians want everyone to do.

Another example is how Christians are wanting the plaques or stone monuments of the Ten Commandments put up at court houses claiming that we get our laws from them. They conveniently forget about the other 603 commandments in the Bible like how you are supposed to treat women who are menstruating.

Then in Mississippi there is the “Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013” which just went into effect.

This law makes student-led, administration-supported proselytizing perfectly legal in the state’s public schools. The state’s House passed it on a 109-6 vote, while the Senate supported it 50-1 (the lone “Nay” vote was cast by the aptly-named Democrat Deborah Jeanne Dawkins). Republican Governor Phil Bryant signed it into law.

What does the law say? While much of it just reinforces laws that are already in place (e.g. Students can pray without punishment, Students can form after-school religious clubs), it also allows for Christians to push their faith onto other students in ways non-believers have fought against. Once again, Christianity is being shoved down your throat whether you want it or not.

Despite all this, the younger generation is becoming more and more “unreligious.” They see religion playing a lesser role in their lives. They see other issues that demand their attention, like the economy, climate change, income gap and health care. For example when the Catholic Church got their feathers ruffled about contraception being offered under Obama’s health care, it was pointed out that over 95% of Catholic women use contraceptives. Spout all you want from the pulpit, dear Bishop, your flock will do what it wants.

Meanwhile we all need to speak up against this attempt to make America “a Christian nation.” By the way, Happy Fourth of July America!