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Religious "Liberty"

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

I've been planning a post on how right-wing Christians have framed their attempts to impose their religion on everyone else as "religious liberty."  It's a clever bit of framing, although rather transparent.  However, Rev. Emily C. Heath has said it far better than I could:

How to Determine if Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions.

by Rev. Emily C. Heath*

 Just pick "A" or "B" for each question.

 1. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) I am not allowed to go to a religious service of my own choosing.

B) Others are allowed to go to religious services of their own choosing.

 2. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) I am not allowed to marry the person I love legally, even though my religious community blesses my marriage.

B) Some states refuse to enforce my own particular religious beliefs on marriage on those two guys in line down at the courthouse.

3. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) I am being forced to use birth control.

B) I am unable to force others to not use birth control.

 4. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) I am not allowed to pray privately.

B) I am not allowed to force others to pray the prayers of my faith publicly.

 5. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) Being a member of my faith means that I can be bullied without legal recourse.

B) I am no longer allowed to use my faith to bully gay kids with impunity.

 6. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) I am not allowed to purchase, read or possess religious books or material.

B) Others are allowed to have access books, movies and websites that I do not like.

 7. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) My religious group is not allowed equal protection under the establishment clause.

B) My religious group is not allowed to use public funds, buildings and resources as we would like, for whatever purposes we might like.

 8. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) Another religious group has been declared the official faith of my country.

B) My own religious group is not given status as the official faith of my country.

 9. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) My religious community is not allowed to build a house of worship in my community.

B) A religious community I do not like wants to build a house of worship in my community.

 10. My religious liberty is at risk because:

 A) I am not allowed to teach my children the creation stories of our faith at home.

B) Public school science classes are teaching science.

 Scoring key:

 If you answered "A" to any question, then perhaps your religious liberty is indeed at stake. You and your faith group have every right to now advocate for equal protection under the law. But just remember this one little, constitutional, concept: this means you can fight for your equality -- not your superiority.

 If you answered "B" to any question, then not only is your religious liberty not at stake, but there is a strong chance that you are oppressing the religious liberties of others. This is the point where I would invite you to refer back to the tenets of your faith, especially the ones about your neighbors.

 

* Rev. Heath's biography can be found here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-emily-c-heath/

Last modified on
Tagged in: Framing
HecateDemeter is a woman, a Witch, a mother, a grandmother, an ecofeminist, a lawyer, a gardener, a reader, a writer, and a priestess of the Great Mother Earth.

Comments

  • Terence P Ward
    Terence P Ward Friday, 28 February 2014

    This is wonderfully framed. Do you have a link to the original? I'd like to repost it directly on one of my blogs, so the audience will read her words directly rather than being distracted by the Pagan context it's placed in here. This is something many of my fellow Republicans need to hear.

    (Oops, and I outed myself.)

  • Greybeard
    Greybeard Friday, 28 February 2014

    The answer is C. My religious liberty is at risk when the religion of others is being attacked. No matter how "right" the attack is believed to be.

  • Hec
    Hec Wednesday, 05 March 2014

    Mr. Ward, Sadly, I do not have a direct link. If you find one, would you please share? Thanks!

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