Religious Freedom and other stuff -
Religious Freedom and other stuff -
So, I thought I'd educate myself in the most rigorous way possible: on the internet. Now, I find myself 1) deeply confused, 2) utterly appalled.
For number one, I tried to understand in a cursory manner what the body of law in this country was and how it got there. I was also curious as to the distribution of this weird set of ideas about the poor, overburdened religious in this country. I mean, we have a lot of civil law that should cover stuff, don't we? It would seem that there is no particular rhyme or reason to which states have or haven't gone this route, and while I have not looked at the details of each particular one, in case there's something different that matters, I am kind of boggled at some of the states that did pass a religious freedom law.
As far as being confused, I tried to parse the reasoning and series of changes in how to figure out what is or isn't ok based on claims of religion, and I feel like maybe the porn standard (you know it when you see it) might have been more useful and not more vague? Also, I thought Arizona rejected one, which makes understanding the map with the one article more confusing to me?
Then I learned that the Federal RFRA form the early 90's was a Clinton approved, Schumer/Kennedy thing, and am truly shocked and appalled. How could anybody pro-choice, strongly liberal left leaning think that anything good was going to come from this? Or that it was needed? The other linky provided here shows a bunch of examples of why this is wrong (to me). Not that this is a brilliant piece of writing, but even in that it seems quite representative of the mind-set around these laws.
I'm just gonna comment specifically on a few of the quoted bits:
a) college students forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to pass a class
Unless someone is forcing you to take drugs or ritually sacrifice human beings, you are in college to learn, to be challenged, and to expand your knowledge and experience of the world. Ideally, to develop or further develop independent critical thinking skills. If that's not why you are there, don't go. Go to a religious institution, develop a focused skill in a technical institution, but don't go to college.
b) charities told that they may not share food with the poor
Food safety laws have nothing to do with religion, get over it. I happen to think that this has gotten a little stupid, myself, but it is not a thing against religious charities, give me a break. Religious laws don't change this, changing food safety laws with an exception for charitable giving, or something does.
c) nurses forced by a public hospital to perform abortions.
Hoo-boy. I don't even, with this one. First of all, I find it a gross violations of women's (and men's) civil rights not to have free and open access to all appropriate and safe medical care options. So it's bullshit to go back to an era when it was ok for a woman to suffer horribly or outright die because their hospital not only wouldn't allow certain procedures to be performed, they wouldn't allow them to be spoken of. Like, you know, ways not to get pregnant in the first place. Ahem.
Secondly, if you are going into the civil health care professions, i.e., you are not a nun who became a nurse or doctor and are still a nun, I absolutely believe that you have an obligation to your patient over and above any of your personal beliefs. If you cannot put other people ahead of yourself, find another job. I'm sorry, but it is not up to a nurse, doctor, pharmacist, or anyone else to judge people's lifestyle choices and then hold them hostage for reasonable medical care options. If you are that damn special, go live in a commune and leave the rest of us alone. Your choices are not just about that one woman or that one putative child, anyway.
What the heck were Schumer and Kennedy thinking?
http://volokh.com/2013/12/02/1a-religious-freedom-restoration-act/
http://dailysignal.com/2014/04/09/religious-freedom-wins-mississippi/
http://volokh.com/2013/12/02/1a-religious-freedom-restoration-act
So, I thought I'd educate myself in the most rigorous way possible: on the internet. Now, I find myself 1) deeply confused, 2) utterly appalled.
For number one, I tried to understand in a cursory manner what the body of law in this country was and how it got there. I was also curious as to the distribution of this weird set of ideas about the poor, overburdened religious in this country. I mean, we have a lot of civil law that should cover stuff, don't we? It would seem that there is no particular rhyme or reason to which states have or haven't gone this route, and while I have not looked at the details of each particular one, in case there's something different that matters, I am kind of boggled at some of the states that did pass a religious freedom law.
As far as being confused, I tried to parse the reasoning and series of changes in how to figure out what is or isn't ok based on claims of religion, and I feel like maybe the porn standard (you know it when you see it) might have been more useful and not more vague? Also, I thought Arizona rejected one, which makes understanding the map with the one article more confusing to me?
Then I learned that the Federal RFRA form the early 90's was a Clinton approved, Schumer/Kennedy thing, and am truly shocked and appalled. How could anybody pro-choice, strongly liberal left leaning think that anything good was going to come from this? Or that it was needed? The other linky provided here shows a bunch of examples of why this is wrong (to me). Not that this is a brilliant piece of writing, but even in that it seems quite representative of the mind-set around these laws.
I'm just gonna comment specifically on a few of the quoted bits:
a) college students forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to pass a class
Unless someone is forcing you to take drugs or ritually sacrifice human beings, you are in college to learn, to be challenged, and to expand your knowledge and experience of the world. Ideally, to develop or further develop independent critical thinking skills. If that's not why you are there, don't go. Go to a religious institution, develop a focused skill in a technical institution, but don't go to college.
b) charities told that they may not share food with the poor
Food safety laws have nothing to do with religion, get over it. I happen to think that this has gotten a little stupid, myself, but it is not a thing against religious charities, give me a break. Religious laws don't change this, changing food safety laws with an exception for charitable giving, or something does.
c) nurses forced by a public hospital to perform abortions.
Hoo-boy. I don't even, with this one. First of all, I find it a gross violations of women's (and men's) civil rights not to have free and open access to all appropriate and safe medical care options. So it's bullshit to go back to an era when it was ok for a woman to suffer horribly or outright die because their hospital not only wouldn't allow certain procedures to be performed, they wouldn't allow them to be spoken of. Like, you know, ways not to get pregnant in the first place. Ahem.
Secondly, if you are going into the civil health care professions, i.e., you are not a nun who became a nurse or doctor and are still a nun, I absolutely believe that you have an obligation to your patient over and above any of your personal beliefs. If you cannot put other people ahead of yourself, find another job. I'm sorry, but it is not up to a nurse, doctor, pharmacist, or anyone else to judge people's lifestyle choices and then hold them hostage for reasonable medical care options. If you are that damn special, go live in a commune and leave the rest of us alone. Your choices are not just about that one woman or that one putative child, anyway.
What the heck were Schumer and Kennedy thinking?
http://volokh.com/2013/12/02/1a-religious-freedom-restoration-act/
http://dailysignal.com/2014/04/09/religious-freedom-wins-mississippi/
http://volokh.com/2013/12/02/1a-religious-freedom-restoration-act
I once had a conversation with a girl who was stressed about college. I was intrigued when she told me she was an anthropology major. Then she said the reason she was stressed was because she was being "forced" to take a semester of paleontology and she doesn't believe in evolution.
ReplyDeleteI remember asking how she thought she could ever study anthropology, going back tens of thousands, if not millions of years, and still believe the earth is only 6 thousand years old. I think I blacked out from shock at some point after that, because I don't remember what her response was, but I honestly don't think she had one.
To answer your last question, at a very cynical guess they were thinking of a few more votes.
ReplyDelete