Most of the posts on this blog talk about agents of the government NOT doing enough to support or ignoring the principle of the separation of church and state. Some religionists, in an effort to refute the principle, bring up examples of the overzealous application of the principle. Their intention is clear. They think that if the government goes too far in separation that it hurts the rights of believers but such overreaches are few and far between and don’t refute the principle that separation of church and state is needed.
You may have heard this or similar stories making the rounds on chain e-mails or posted to Facebook by religious friends:
Tag: war on religion
On August 15th a man with a gun walked into the building where the conservative hate group Family Research Council (FRC) is headquartered and shot a security guard before being subdued. It was a tragic event that was allegedly politically motivated because allegedly the shooter, who supports LGBT rights, told the victim that he didn’t like his politics and the FRC has been working hard to limit LGBT rights. The shooting was condemned by various LGBT groups as well as supporters for religious freedom. But FRC decided to use the shooting to fundraise for the group claiming it was proof of a “war on religion”. The truth is the Family Research Council earns its hate group status.
As Lauren Youngblood of the Secular Coalition for America notes, the FRC released a slanted report, this week, on religious hostility in the country and claimed there have been more than 600 cases of religious hostility toward Christians: