July 15, 2012
For months now, I believe, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been pushing a false definition of "religious freedom" in an attempt to expand and strengthen government privileging of religion and impose religion onto our secular laws. The worst part is that they are doing it all under a smoke screen of religious persecution.
The so-called "Fortnight for Freedom" (organized in our general area by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland for July 4) was simply another political campaign designed to chip away at the separation of religion and government, in my opinion. True religious freedom is the ability to practice your religion and hold your beliefs, as long as those beliefs do not infringe upon the rights of another to do the same. What I believe the Bishops are asking for is the ability to impose their religious beliefs on others and discriminate based on their religion -- often while accepting taxpayer funding.
The concept of the separation of religion and government was deemed so important and essential to our identity as a nation that it is included in our Constitution. That is because the separation of religion and government is the best guarantee of freedom for all Americans -- both the religious as well as the 40 million Americans who do not identify with any religion. Those who truly advocate for religious freedom should speak out and stand up in the fight to keep our government and laws secular -- and encourage others to do the same.
Mo Mora, Hudson
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