Religious Freedom

It seems that most of the country is currently in a debate over the Religious Freedom Act and the various stories, debates, and discussions involving it. There's a story about a pizza shop that seems full of holes, and very vague discussion about a bakery, and pretty much everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to voice their opinion [without necessarily knowing the facts]. I generally try to stay out of politics, but it's got me thinking...what is religious freedom really, and why do we need it?

Somehow the biggest debate seems to involve gay rights. As in, if you support religious freedom, you are automatically anti-gay. Never mind all the other issues involved in religious freedom - somehow the gay card is the one being played here every time I turn around.

The real question seems to be: can we force citizens, specifically business owners, to act in ways that go against what they believe? And if you boil that down even further, the meat at the bottom is even simpler: can we force citizens to believe what we tell them to by defining beliefs according to social convention?

Let me put it this way. Do citizens have the right to believe whatever they choose? And do they have the right to believe whatever they choose despite how those beliefs cause them to act towards their fellow citizens?

America was founded because of the very concept of religious freedom. Our forefathers believed in every person's right to believe what they chose (or perhaps I should say every white male's right to believe, since at the time that was their definition of a person). They made sure the citizens were entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" - in whatever form that may take. America's founding fathers held an interesting mix of Protestant, Catholic, Freemason, and a variety of other beliefs and saw no excuse to deny anyone the right to choose their beliefs.

Fast forward a little bit. At one time in our country's history, many devout, well-meaning people - of different faiths but predominantly Christian - owned slaves. And most of these Christians were able to find Biblical justification for owning slaves, or at least that's what they claimed. After all, if you try hard enough, you will always find a way to justify what you want to do. Does believing that you can own another human being, or even believing that a person isn't actually a human being with human rights simply because of the color of their skin, make it right? Did the slave owners have religious freedom, the right to believe as they chose?

Here's my stance: a person has the right to whatever belief they may choose, but they do not have the right to justify unlawful or immoral actions based on those beliefs. Simply put, you can believe whatever you want as long as you do no harm to anyone else.

Forcing a person to believe a certain way is wrong; forcing a person to act in lawful, moral behaviors is right. If your religion requires you to bow to the sun every morning, then forcing you to stop bowing would be wrong; if your religion requires you to kill a person every morning, restraining you from murdering people would be right. If your religion requires you to stay away from certain kinds of animals, then forcing you to eat or prepare them would be wrong; if your religion requires you to spit on people of a certain race or color, restraining you from assaulting people with bodily fluids would be right. You are entitled to your beliefs; you are not entitled to unethical behaviors, no matter their justification.

Fast forward to today's issues - specifically, the small business owner who does not wish to provide services to certain patrons. Is it right for a bakery to refuse their products to a gay wedding on religious grounds? What if it was a Jewish deli asked to cater BLT sandwiches for a wedding - could we force them to cook bacon despite their religious objections? Or a Muslim restaurant asked to serve ham, or a Jehovah's Witnesses church asked to rent their hall for a Christmas party, or an Amish visitor photographed against their will? Where is the line drawn between violating the religious rights of the business owner and offending the human rights of the customer?

Whew. Deep stuff, guys. A little above my pay grade, honestly. I think I'll stick with the stuff I know God said - love God and love your neighbor, do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. That's pretty much all He really cares about. As long as I follow that, I know I'll be in right standing before Him, and I'll let Him take care of everyone else.

A kiss from #3