Saturday, August 4, 2012

FREEDOM TO DEFEND YOUR BELIEFS


“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…”

There it is, the freedom of religion and speech part of the first amendment. That’s it, there it is. The only guaranty we have is that congress (and the lower legislatures) will make no law establishing a particular religion or practicing whatever religion you choose. The lawmakers are also forbidden to interfere with your freedom of speech.

It does not guaranty that your neighbors will accept the religion you follow. If you happen to know any pagans ask them how free they feel these days. Especially live in back of beyond rural America or in the Bible Belt.

The constitution does not guaranty that anyone will listen to you, agree with you, stay in the same room with you, disagree with you or demand that you back up your claims. Now here is where rubber is hitting the road. The claimant has to come up with something more that I believe such and such to be true. Or, the favorite when it comes to gays and marriage equality “the Bible says so.”

The fundagelicals have been getting a free ride for generations with that one phrase along with the quotation of one of a half dozen verses on the subject. That’s not good enough anymore. I want facts, not scripture. Legal examples not “I believe such and such to be true.” How about some examples of how folks used to get married, probably still get married and how that overlaps with their view of “traditional” marriage.

I suspect that what really bothers those denouncing the views of the owner of Chick-fil-a isn’t his support of “traditional marriage.” Whatever the heck that is. What bothers me is the implicit violence in his belief that gay marriage will call God’s judgment on the nation. If you believe that, then you may just believe that any action necessary to avoid that judgment is justified.

And that, heads us down a path most of us don’t want to follow. Imagine someone like the Aurora, Colorado shooter only he’s convinced that his mission is to save us from God’s wrath. And while we’re at it we’ll go after the families and friends of our targets just to make sure the danger is averted. 

2 comments:

Lisa :-] said...

This whole "we're subject to God's judgment" has been a huge issue ever since 9/11. You get a dumb-ass like Pat Roberton on tv claiming that the destruction of the twin towers was god's judgment on America because of abortion and gays...everybody scoffs and laughs and says what a dumb-ass he is. But the seed is planted, and the next time someone declares that something will make us subject to the wrath of god, folks picture the nothing that now stands where the twin towers once were, and they decide it's not going to hurt anything to hedge their bets. At the ballot box.

We ARE a nation of sheep.

JACKIE said...

Well, we'll just have to try to wake them up. Even if it takes a whack upside the head with a two by four.