How Religious Freedom Became A Rightwing Assault On The Rule Of Law

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

See post 37 and see if you can muster up a few brain cells to formulate a meaningful response

I said what I meant. Don't like it? Cry elsewhere.

 

[elektra]

The link the OP is supposedly based on is a link to a book review?

So, instead of reading a book and coming to conclusions we are to debate an editorial review of the book?

How thin a thread they must walk in order to demonize those they replaced their old racism with.

 

[BS Filter]

Two meanings of religious freedom/liberty:
1. Freedom of belief, speech, practice.
2. Freedom to restrict services, hate, denigrate, or oppress others.


1. The historical meaning of religious freedom:

This term relates to the personal freedom:
•Of religious belief,
•Of religious speech,
•Of religious assembly with fellow believers,
•Of religious proselytizing and recruitment, and
•To change one's religion from one faith group to another -- or to decide to have no religious affiliation -- or vice-versa.


The individual believer has often been the target of oppression for thinking or speaking unorthodox thoughts, for assembling with and recruiting others, and for changing their religious affiliation. Typically, the aggressors have been large religious groups and governments. Freedom from such oppression is the meaning that we generally use on this web site to refer to any of the four terms: religious freedom, religious liberty, freedom of worship and freedom to worship.

2. A rapidly emerging new meaning of religious freedom: the freedom to discriminate and denigrate:

In recent years, religious freedom is taking on a new meaning: the freedom and liberty of a believer apply their religious beliefs in order to hate, oppress, deny service to, denigrate, discriminate against, and/or reduce the human rights of minorities.

Now, the direction of the oppression has reversed. It is now the believer who is the oppressor -- typically fundamentalist and evangelical Christians and other religious conservatives. Others -- typically some women, as well as sexual, and other minorities -- are the targets. This new meaning is becoming increasingly common. It appears that this change is begin driven by a number of factors:

•The increasing public acceptance of women's use of birth control/contraceptives. This is a practice regarded as a personal decision by most faith groups, but is actively opposed by the Roman Catholic and a few other conservative faith groups.

•The increasing public acceptance of equal rights for sexual minorities including Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender persons and transsexuals -- the LGBT community (); and

•The increasing percentage of NOTAs in North America. These are individuals who are NOT Affiliated with an organized faith group. Some identify themselves as Agnostics, Atheists secularists, Humanists, free thinkers, etc. Others say that they are spiritual, but not religious.


One interesting feature of this "religious freedom to discriminate" is that it generally has people treating others as they would not wish to be treated themselves. It seems to be little noticed among those who practice or advocate "religious freedom to discriminate" that this way of treating people is a direct contradiction to the Golden Rule, which Jesus required all his followers to practice. See Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31, and the Gospel of Thomas, 6.

Source: Religious freedom & the freedom to discriminate

Didn't Jesus discriminate?

 

[surada]

You might want to read the first 5 words of the 1st Amendment. What you fucking communist are demanding is that congress establish a national religion of secular humanism. Which has been the goal of every socialist/marxist government that has ever existed. The destruction of faith, morals and family is your only path to total control. So just FOAD you commie bastard, we ain't buying your propaganda.

.

No one is advocating a national religion much less a secular national religion. Why don't you practice your faith and butt out of other people's business? They may practice another religion or none at all.

 

[Lastamender]

Religious freedom has long been a shield. It is this right that all Americans possess, and the words etched into the edifice of the Supreme Court tell us, "Equal justice under law." This right applies equally to all of us. It was supported by a strong separation of church and state, but not anymore.

There is a well-funded powerful network of Christian nationalist organizations and judges that are working to weaponize the First Amendment, to turn the protection of religious freedom enjoyed by all of us into a weapon of Christian privilege for the few. The crusaders' religious freedom challenges are superficially about things like Christian crosses and veterans or playgrounds or private school vouchers or bakeries and gay weddings, but really they're about religious privilege, often literally about privileging religion over non-religion, Christianity over other religions and the right kind of conservative Christians over other Christians. At its most basic level, they are trying to turn religious freedom into a weapon to reclaim and entrench their lost status as the dominant caste in American society.

As Seidel notes, 150 years ago the Supreme Court warned that weaponized religious freedom would "permit every citizen to become a law unto himself," so there's much more at stake here than "just" the First Amendment.

How 'religious freedom' became a right-wing assault on the rule of law

The Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade sent shockwaves through the American electorate. But as shocking as the destruction of a fundamental right may be, more radical changes may lie ahead, as Andrew Seidel warns in his new book, "American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is...

www.rawstory.com

"permit every citizen to become a law unto himself"

I guess those "originalists" just conveniently ignored that part of the original intent.

 

[Lastamender]

No one is advocating a national religion much less a secular national religion. Why don't you practice your faith and butt out of other people's business? They may practice another religion or none at all.

Why don't you let people practice their faith? You people are the aggressors here. Stop with your bullshit.

 

[elektra]

think about all those parents — there are far too many of them — who hear God telling them that they have to kill their children.

From the link, from the book, yep, the author is right, every time I walk outside, there are police cars at my neighbors arresting parents for killing their children in the name of god.

This is well funded, christian conservative right wing, assaults. It must be stopped.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Why don't you let people practice their faith? You people are the aggressors here. Stop with your bullshit.

They got to practice their faith during Covid -- while churches were locked down, strip clubs, liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries were open.

 

[surada]

Why don't you let people practice their faith? You people are the aggressors here. Stop with your bullshit.

No one has stopped you from practicing your religion.

No one has ever hindered me and I lived in Arabia for years and years. I'm Episcopalian. What's your problem exactly?

 

[Lastamender]

No one has stopped you from practicing your religion.

No one has ever hindered me and I lived in Arabia for years and years. I'm Episcopalian. What's your problem exactly?

People like you are my problem and this country's problem in spades.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

See post 37 and see if you can muster up a few brain cells to formulate a meaningful response

See post 125.

 

[OKTexas]

No one is advocating a national religion much less a secular national religion. Why don't you practice your faith and butt out of other people's business? They may practice another religion or none at all.

Exactly where did I say they couldn't? It's you commies that are demanding everyone else conforms to your perversions.

.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

No one is advocating a national religion much less a secular national religion. Why don't you practice your faith and butt out of other people's business? They may practice another religion or none at all.

Why don't you let people practice their faith? You people are the aggressors here. Stop with your bullshit.

The attacks on religion, on faith, on values, is a religion in itself, even if it is not presented as such.

Nowhere, I think, is it more obvious than what is now happening in public schools, with the pushing of a sexually-depraved agenda promoting homosexuality and transsexuality. This is Satan's religion, disguised as secularity, directly attacking the basic moral standards upheld by every legitimate religion, and even by rational non-religious sources.

We haven't banned all religion from public schools; we've just banned God's religion, in order to make way for Satanism.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

There's a saying that when Fascism arrives in the US it will be religion wrapped in the flag.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

I said what I meant. Don't like it? Cry elsewhere.

Not crying. You said all that you are capeable of saying . Sad!

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

Why don't you let people practice their faith? You people are the aggressors here. Stop with your bullshit.

See post 37 . Can you contribute anything meaningful? I doubt it

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

Another thoughtful and brilliant commentary

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Not crying. You said all that you are capeable of saying . Sad!

Wow! That was almost the cleverest thing you've ever tried to say on this board!

And you ALMOST even spelled it right!

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

Please tell us again about the "awakening sexuality" of two to four year old children.

It always sounds so knowledgeable the way you tell it.

Please tell us again why you are a shameless troll who is intent on using red herring logical fallacies to derail a topic rather than dealing with it like an adult.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

Wow! That was almost the cleverest thing you've ever tried to say on this board!

And you ALMOST even spelled it right!

Once again you confirm what we know you are