Religious Freedom

The events of the last few weeks have been a blatant attack on Women's Health in this country.  The Religious Right would have you all believing that it's actually an attack on Religious Freedom.  Not so...not by a long shot.  President Obama has taken steps to ensure that women have the access to birth control, among other things.  Why the outcry from the Right?  "Smaller government" is their mantra!!  They decry the move by this administration as an "attack on religious freedom"...bullshit!

Religious institutions have made it their rallying cry to cripple sexual expressions by their parishioners for centuries.  One has the freedom, in this country,  to practice any religion of one's choice.  With that comes the responsibility of understanding the tenants of that religion.  Unfortunately for us Atheists, the burden of understanding seems to fall on OUR shoulders.  If you choose to align yourself with a religion that makes it nearly impossible to be a healthy human being, partaking in activities that are completely normal for you, such as sex, well then, that's your decision.  It is NOT the role of government to ensure that YOUR religious tenants are being respected!!  You are NOT ALLOWED to stand on your religious principles in the halls of Congress!!  Your religious convictions are given space in your religious institutions...period.  Your TAX FREE religious institutions, I might add.  I am forced to suffer a tax hike because of the taxes you are NOT contributing to the welfare of the community.  Want to tell me again how your "religious freedoms" are being infringed upon??

I've not completely taken a stand on how I interpret the 1st Amendment of our Constitution concerning religious freedom.  On the one hand, your religion should have no place, whatsoever, in our legislative bodies, or in our laws.  On the other hand, how much of a price is being paid by religious institutions who don't pay taxes?  You are signing off on allowing the government to set limits on what can and cannot be said inside your churches?  It cuts both ways, it seems.  I'll lean more toward the former:  Your religion, your views, your "principles" and all the rest of the drivel that spews forth from your "religion" has NO PLACE in government, period.  Keep it as far away from me as possible.

Religious freedoms are being hampered to the extreme in other parts of the world.  You wouldn't know religious discrimination if it bit you in the ass.  Do some research about how highly regarded religion is viewed in China, for example.  You want to scream discrimination?  Do your homework!!!  Religious zealots in this country are a disgusting band of low information, low education folks who are too scared of their own shadow to think for themselves.  When your fear of death trumps your ability to reason, you've already lost the battle.

Attacking women all over this country in order to keep up your illusion that you are somehow superior to the rest of us is not the way to go.  Your illusion is crumbling beneath your feet rapidly.  Look around you, especially if you are a woman of faith reading this blog.  You are allowing your life, your decisions, your health to be corrupted by a host of old white men who get off demanding respect from you and wallowing in the control that they have over you!!!  And for what??!!  So you can look in the mirror, with a straight face, and reassure yourself that there is a supernatural being in the sky that gives a shit about you?  So that you can feel that smugness of being somehow superior to me and others like me?  Does that really feed your ego?  Or do you, deep down, know on some level that it's all bullshit, but it feels good anyway?  Are you so afraid of death that you'll spend your whole life supporting rich, white men in the Republican party who don't give a rat's ass about you, your loved ones, your future, or your value in this society?  Admit it!  You're so scared, you'll support this church or that church, this candidate or that one...as long as they reinforce the myth that is your religion?  Heaven when you're dead.  Hatred of gays and lesbians.  Iron clad laws that put every single woman in this country in grave danger.  Discrimination of all the "others", just so that you can feel like a valued member of your particular club?

It's not a problem for me if you choose to be religious.  As difficult as it may seem to believe at this juncture in this blog posting, I do not care if someone holds religious beliefs.  Where I draw the line is when those religious beliefs enter into our state and federal legislatures.  They do not belong there, at all!!!!  You can believe that life begins at conception all you want to...it does not.  Your own holy book says it DOES NOT!  One's first breath is the beginning of life...according to your own holy book.  Could care less what your holy book says or doesn't say actually.  Just pointing that out for anyone curious to know.  Passing "Personhood amendments" is a direct VIOLATION of our First Amendment!!!  Passing laws that curb one's ability to secure birth control or abortions is a direct VIOLATION of our First Amendment!  Attacking Planned Parenthood is a despicable, pathetic attempt to show, once again, your superiority complex.  Just stop it!!

Spend some time really thinking about WHY you 'support' such egregious actions...please.  Millions of women in this country benefit from the support of organizations like Planned Parenthood.  How many low income women are still with us because of a breast exam they received that found an anomaly they were able to address in time?  How many young women are free from early child rearing because of the birth control they were able to afford through Planned Parenthood?

To be clear, I'm not saying that if you're religious you're automatically a supporter of the zealots on the Religious Right.  I know plenty of compassionate, reasonable people of faith.  Faith fills many needs for many people, please don't misconstrue my meaning here.  I'm on the attack of the zealots.  I'm trying to shine a light on the people in government who are hijacking faith and making it their rallying cry for votes and money.  If you are Christian and support a church, you are also supporting these zealots in one form or another...that's what I'm trying to bring to light.  If you're more in line with women's reproductive freedoms, and sensible foreign policy decisions and the like...then we're all on the same page at the end of the day....