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Religion vista

Image by (a)artwork
Bitten by the HDR bug again . . . .

Freedom FROM Religion

Image by cobalt123
"The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written in 1779 by Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed:

"[N]o man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."

Never have these words been more meaningful to me than when I learn that now the Catholics have powerful church leaders insisting on "correct" votes from US legislators in the health care debates. Those who have made stands that a vote for health care must not be cast if there is any provision for abortion coverage because the Catholic Church is opposed. Unbelievable that this country having made great strides towards acceptance of people’s personal faith and tolerance – is NOW once again promoting one religious view over others.

This week, it is the Catholic bishops attempting to enforce a strict Catholic adherence on a political decision that affects all Americans. In other cases, we Americans have to watch out for politicians whose faith promotes a glad rush towards "end times" and the Rapture, and thus affects their votes on Middle Eastern issues. The Mormons and other churches oppose same sex marriage. "Abstinence Only" is pushed by churches who insist they alone have the solution for our society. Creationists oppose science of all sorts and research. Anti-evolution is promoted by many, and insidiously in "intelligent design" plans that change textbooks in public schools. "God and Country" folks try to enforce a Christian approach to all things government. Death penalty? Oh yeah, some Christian churches promote "eye for an eye" justice. So in this way, these folks are no different than extreme religious fanatics that chop off hands and stone people to death in the Middle East. Censorship is alive and well in banning books, even now due to intolerance of differing perspectives. There are so very many ways that this government is assaulted by those who insist their true faith is for the good of us all.

What makes the US stand out from other countries? One thing we used to count on is "separation of church and state" and the prohibition of establishment of religion by the state. This is not the case in the last ten years in particular. Religious wars and jihad are the fate of countries that tie the state to a particular faith. Christians vs. Protestants in Ireland is rearing up yet again in that small country. Anti-Islam folks in Switzerland this week won a vote to ban minarets from mosques. Americans have a hot button trigger on anything that seems to allow Islam and Muslims freedom of religion in the US. The smallest extreme radical groups of Islam all over the world disrupt all normal life, commerce and discourse. Christians are persecuted in some powerful ways, but consider this: non-Christians are persecuted and abhorred here in the US too!

I stand up for Americans that do not wish to be proselytized, who reject political leaders speaking "for them" when their votes originate out of their own personal religious faith. I do not oppose those faiths shown on this image, just the concept that any one faith influences American government to such an extent that individual faith, liberty, civil rights and health is endangered.

Read on in the comment for citations.

Religion

Image by Carsten aus Bonn
After a conversation with my friend Pascal [http://www.flickr.com/photos/pascal69/]. Thanks to his beautiful sentence (which you can read here) I was inspired to draw this little comic strip.