3.27.2012

Freedom from Religion

Pliny used to get in trouble in history class. I was not a fan of the pilgrims. All that blah, blah, blah about fleeing Europe for religious freedom here in America, is a bunch of rot. The pilgrims were cultists who learned nothing from their own experiences. They demanded freedom to worship as they chose, but failed to extend the favor to anyone else.

Freedom is only stable when it's reciprocal. Freedom of religion must go hand in hand with freedom from religion. That gets missed in all the Tea Party nonsense about the Founders. The First Amendment to the US Constitution redressed an imbalance. The original articles established freedom from religion by eliminating any religious requirements to hold office. The First Amendment extended that to freedom of religion.

So if an employer that reaps the benefits of this nation's freedoms is required to provide contraception services as part of their benefits package, too bad. It isn't their freedom that's at stake. It's the freedom of those who believe otherwise that is. And lest we forget, according to the Founders, theirs was the first freedom.

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