The hot button issue is surrounding the claim that the religious liberty of certain institutions is being violated by the Obama Health Care Plan which said that all employers must provide insurance that covers contraception for women. Something, by the way, that most states have required even under Republicans like Romney and Huckabee, for years! These states did not exempt religiously affiliated employers--Churches, yes, but hospitals and schools affiliated with them--NO.
But smelling blood in the water, these self-same Republicans tried to use the Catholic Church's complaint to politically attack Obama for an assault on religious liberty. This became an issue of epic proportions even though Mr. Obama resolved it very quickly by changing the required payment for contraceptives from the religious organization to the insurance companies. Perceived problem solved but not resolved as Republicans continued their assault on the President's "religious insensitivity". The Plan was changed and while contraceptives are included ONLY Church affiliates will NOT have to pay for it....a debacle in a teacup!
So let's look at the issue from the standpoint of history and why the founding fathers felt it necessary to make the FIRST Amendment's primary thrust a concern about religion. Why are the very first words of the first amendment to our Constitution a law concerning religion. History tells us that many of the early colonists sought refuge in the new world to escape religious persecution. And the persecution they sought to escape was not secular in nature but Christian on Christian--Theocracies that punished people if they did not follow the State religion!
Roman Catholic Royalty in most countries, but in England, the King was both the head of state and the head of the Church of England. Both groups persecuted Christians who didn't conform and of course, those who chose to avoid Christianity all together which included Jews among many other religions.
Our Forefathers were interested in two things when they wrote the First Amendment. First preventing the creation of a Theocracy by making it illegal to do so---Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion"(in this case, a state religion). Thomas Jefferson reinforced the second issue which involved persecution of religion by the state---"prohibiting the free exercise thereof" in a letter to the Baptist Church when he declared that the words of the First Amendment effectively built a wall of separation between church and state".
Thus, no State Religion could exist and NO religion could be persecuted by the State. I think it is fair to surmise then that these issues were of prime importance to many people who desired to have them resolved by LAW. Many colonists had suffered at the hands of the English Theocracy as well as Catholic Theocracies throughout Europe They needed this law to insure their freedom from religious tyranny by a Theocratic government, not freedom from secular tyranny by a secular government.
Our Constitution gives us the right to choose any religion or even no religion, something only permitted here at the time it was written. In Europe your choices were limited and if you failed to choose rightly, you were persecuted by the State and by your neighbors. Unfortunately, it seems we are once again on the road to a Theocracy. It seems clear to me that many of the Republican candidates are running to be the Leader of our State religion--Christianity, rather than President of the United States of America, a secular Democracy. What is happening now is what the early colonists feared--the making of secular laws which force non-believers to conform to things which are essentially religious in nature. Religious freedom becomes null and void once State and Religion become one---A Theocracy (which, by the way, is how Christianity began, as the state religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine).
Religions in this country already enjoy a sizable benefit because they are tax exempt---very wealthy Christian Churches lobbying sitting members of Congress to influence the making of our laws (indistinguishable from the benefits enjoyed by our other religion--Capitalism) as they speak out in our political campaigns through their chosen candidates! This, in my opinion, is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, running contrary to the founders' intent to religion OUT of our government and keep our government from persecuting anyone because of their religious beliefs.
The wall of separation between state and church must be carefully maintained or we could find ourselves living in a Theocracy instead of a Democracy. Those who wish to implement their religion's laws, morays, taboos etc. into our secular laws need to take care and the rest of us need to make sure that we are not forced to follow what are essentially religious dictates clothed in the form of secular government. Followers of any religion need to understand that they are Americans and subject to Federal, State and Local laws no matter what they believe about God and while they would like the rest of us to believe and follow the teachings of their religion, they have no right under our Constitution to import their beliefs into our laws.
Are you with me?
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