Religious Freedom

[This was originally written as a response on another blog, but I decided it belonged here. I spent about an hour polishing it up and then had Blogspot swallow it. With frustration and the now very late hour, I don't think I made the point as well the second time, so I may come back and clean this up more, later. -- Liam.]

One of the things we have got to get past in this country is the fallacious belief that refusal to ensconce the beliefs of a religion in public law is synonymous with a war on that religion.

To hear the Christian Right talk, one would think that their beliefs are under attack, and if they and every other Christian person don't stand up and take back the country, they're going to find themselves unable to practice their religion. They thrive on the scare tactic of equating our government free of undue religious influence with a government which prohibits religious expression.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Drive through just about any town in America, and you'll find at least one church of one Christian denomination or other, and often some of other religions as well. Christianity is the majority religion in this country. There may be many different sects and flavors, but if you count together the Protestants, the Catholics, the Mormons and the various other groups which take The Bible as the core of their beliefs, a clear majority of this country self identifies as Christian.

The point of separation of church and state is to not infringe on ANYONE'S rights. That means protecting everyone's right to believe what they like, and worship as they like (as long as that worship doesn't infringe on other rights that we hold dear. I do think that religious freedom to practice, for example, human sacrifice should take a back seat to the victim's right to life). But it also means leaving others free to worship as THEY like, without having to feel like they're being subject to religious persecution as the laws of a different religion are codified in the public law.

One argument commonly goes “Well, this country is predominantly judeo-christian, why SHOULDN'T the laws reflect that?” The answer is that this country was founded on certain fundamental freedoms, and among them was freedom of religion. The freedoms in our Constitution are laid out there specifically to protect the minority and the unpopular, because in protecting them, we ensure that our own freedoms are similarly protected.

There is an old quote about Freedom of Speech to the effect of “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend with my dying breath your right to say it.” Why should we have any less fervor in upholding the other basic rights that are at the core of this country? As the majority religion, Christianity does not need protecting, and because of it's majority status, church/state separations are going to feel like they hit Christianity hardest, because they will apply to it the most often.

Personally, I have no problem with a few Christmas decorations on government property during the holiday season, because they usually involve Santa and Frosty and Rudolph and the rest, cartoonish icons which have about as much to do with the Christian Christmas holiday as the common phrase “now that's just not kosher” has to do with the Jewish religion. However, if someone opts to say that they still don't belong on government property, and your response is to take this as an offense to your religion, then you're just proving the point, because the point at which the decorations become a tacit endorsement of one religion over another is the point at which they no longer belong.

How would the Christians of this country feel if it were Islamic tenets which were being pushed further and further into law? Or Hindu? Or Buddhist? Heck, how would our Christian Right feel if the Mormon tenet of polyamory were made law?

Having the right to believe what you wish does not equate to having the right to have what you believe turned into policy, and keeping neutral policy does not equate to an attack on your beliefs.

Copyright © May 28, 2005 by Liam Johnson. http://www.liamjohnson.net