Freedom of Religion

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." [First Amendment to the Constitution, in the BIll of rights].

The United States of America was founded upon the principles of freedom of religion. In fact, this is the main reason that the Pilgrims came to the New World, in order to be able to practice their religion freely.  This means that the United States government cannot force upon its citizens one religion over another, nor can it prohibit our free exercise of our faith.

Today, the right to freedom of religion is being seriously eroded. Currently proposed universal healthcare legislation under the Obama Administration would force Catholic hospitals to offer contraception and abortion-inducing medications to patients.

In a recent speech, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York stated: "We are not trying to impose our teachings on anyone. We are simply saying, don't impose your teaching upon us and make us do as a church what we find unconscionable to do."  He urged all of us to "become more involved in politics as the church stands against government in a Freedom of Religion battle."

This is not a new debate. John F. Kennedy was put under enormous scrutiny as the first Catholic to run for President. Americans feared that as a Catholic President, in matters of conscience, Kennedy would follow the Pope and not the laws of this country. In a speech in Houston in September, 1960, as a candidate, Kennedy said, ""I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President -- should he be Catholic-- how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote. I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant or Jew; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace."

How surprisingly modern this speech is today! And that is exactly what Cardinal Dolan is saying. 

I have written before about how increasingly secular our society has become. [Related post:  "A Life Divided" Feb. 3, 1012.]  The number of people saying that they are part of no organized religion because they are "spiritual but not religious" has increased over fifty percent in recent years. Freedom of Religion guarantees that we are free to practice our religion, or to choose no religion at all.

But when the government imposes its practices and conscience upon a particular religion, that violates the First Amendment clause barring the government from prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

This Freedom of Religion battle affects us all. [Related Post: "Is Christmas Illegal?]. Kennedy said in the same speech: "While this year it may be a Cahtolic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been -- and may someday be again-- a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, or a Baptist. Today, I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you -- until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of great national peril."

Do we really want to live in an America of religious persecution?  I grew up in a home that was deeply suspicious of organized religion and that held no faith in anything at all. I had to learn to hide my faith, tucking my cross necklace under my shirt, going off to church in secret, hiding my Bible in my house. "The desire for God is written upon the human heart". [Catholic Catechism]. My faith is an integral part of me! To fear professing one's faith is a downward slope to despair. It divided me into a public vs. private self, it fractured my soul. I have had to painstakingly piece my faith back together again. I have to repeatedly convince myself that no one will take my faith away. I do not wish this trauma for anyone.

In the end, what is the role of the church in society?

In the speech in Houston, Kennedy said: "I believe that we have far more critical issues in the 1960 campaign-- the hungry children I saw in West Virginia, the old people who cannot pay their doctor bills, the families forced to give up their farms-- an America with too many slums, with too few schools. These are not religious issues-- for war and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barrier." Shockingly, we have the same issues today, fifty years later!

I leave you with the words of  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrevelant social club without moral or spiritual authority. " [Strenght to Love, 1960].

Harsh? To me, not really. This is what we are facing today: a church that, from secular pressures, is becoming marginalized and in danger of becoming irrelevant.

How willing are you - whether Christian, or Jew or Muslim or Buddhist or even atheist-- to stand up and battle for the right to Religious Freedom?

(c) the Spiritual Devotional 2012. All Rights Reserved.