Saw in the news on Friday (3/23), in various cities across the country, the Catholic church organized members to protest the upcoming contraception coverage mandate that is part of the Affordable Care Act. Under the guise of religious freedom, Bishops, nuns, and others – mostly men – complained about the mandate. The problem is their protest was for the wrong reason and made them look silly.
At one such protest in Toledo Ohio:
January 16th is National Religious Freedom Day. The day commemorates the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786. The Virginia Statute was the basis of the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution and also can be used to support Jefferson’s idea of the separation of church and state. The Religious Right have of course co-opted the day by mass marketing misleading information about what real religious freedom means in this country. Luckily, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has some help available to tell the truth.
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was passed at a time when state support and protection of churches was the norm in what would become the United States. Thomas Jefferson offered the statute as a way to protect the church and the state. It is obvious from reading the text that separating church and state was the goal.
Glenn Beck had his masturbatory rally in Washington on August 28th. It was a mix of religious revival and fascist party rally (a group called “The Black Robes”? really?). His speeches and sermons are devoid of any facts or truths but people seem to love him. However his mix of religion and hate speech can be dangerous and we should not simply ignore him.
For some odd reason the media has decided to focus on a small fringe of morons who get their “news” and “information” from FOX “News” or conservative talk radio. One of the idiotic messages the moron club is passing around is that all Muslims are terrorists looking to take over America and force Sharia law on all of us. These geniuses have taken to protesting the building of new Mosques. These people need a civics refresher.