Sunday, June 28, 2015

Religion & Individual Rights

When national laws or rulings assert individual rights (access to birth control, abortion, gay rights) that clash with their beliefs, religious leaders claim that there is a "war on faith" in America.  Of course, conservative politicians, conscious of the large evangelical voting block, tend to side with that argument.

In fact, there is no effort to abolish or diminish religious freedom; members of any given church are free to live in accordance with the teachings of their faith.  What they cannot do, on the other hand, is force their beliefs on the rest of society; indeed, the Constitution, while granting religious freedom, also guarantees freedom from religion.  We are not a homogenous Christian nation nor are we all religious.

Recent surveys have demonstrated that organized religions are losing support and membership, especially among younger, well-educated Americans.  The reason for this is that the antiquated doctrines of traditional religions have not changed in concert with the advance of human knowledge (not to mention scandals that have exposed the hypocrisy of many priests and pastors).  There is no war on religion in American; religion is imploding from within, the victim of its own rigid mysticism.