Vivian and Evan - with time on your side you will be better judges than us now. Was this big? Or was it just another bump on the rocky road to progress?
The US Supreme Court ruled that a chain of craft stores called Hobby Lobby can tell their women employees that the company won't pay for insurance to cover certain contraceptives because it is at odds with the faith of the people who own the company. While we were distracted by the creation of a religious state in Sunni-held Iraq by Islamic extremists, nine of the best and brightest legal minds in the United States did they same here by ruling that I can impose my religion on you. As long as I hold my religious views sincerely and there are other means by which the government can compensate for the damage done.
Vivian - you survived Jesus Camp. In fact you loved it. You cried not when your mother left you there on the banks of the Guadalupe River clutching your loaned bible but when it was time to leave your camp behind. You wanted to stay "for six more weeks". You made lovely crafts at camp like this faux stained glass cross. You walk around the house humming "Jesus loves me! I know because the bible tells me so...".
But beware your prejudices. We all have them.
Because this ruling promotes our prejudices to the level of acceptable legal arguments as long as we can show the bible told us so. Sounds great if your prejudices and superstitions are widely held? No. Think about it. The courts have to get into the business of sanctioning a small set of superstitions as valid and others as invalid, thereby screwing the whole freedom of religion thing in a big way. Or you are well on your way to being dry humped by every freak out there who just needs to pretend to be a religious freak.
Or, it's just a molehill really. Just another irrational but insignificant ruling from the Supreme who? Let's party! Happy 4th of July!
The US Supreme Court ruled that a chain of craft stores called Hobby Lobby can tell their women employees that the company won't pay for insurance to cover certain contraceptives because it is at odds with the faith of the people who own the company. While we were distracted by the creation of a religious state in Sunni-held Iraq by Islamic extremists, nine of the best and brightest legal minds in the United States did they same here by ruling that I can impose my religion on you. As long as I hold my religious views sincerely and there are other means by which the government can compensate for the damage done.
Vivian - you survived Jesus Camp. In fact you loved it. You cried not when your mother left you there on the banks of the Guadalupe River clutching your loaned bible but when it was time to leave your camp behind. You wanted to stay "for six more weeks". You made lovely crafts at camp like this faux stained glass cross. You walk around the house humming "Jesus loves me! I know because the bible tells me so...".
But beware your prejudices. We all have them.
Because this ruling promotes our prejudices to the level of acceptable legal arguments as long as we can show the bible told us so. Sounds great if your prejudices and superstitions are widely held? No. Think about it. The courts have to get into the business of sanctioning a small set of superstitions as valid and others as invalid, thereby screwing the whole freedom of religion thing in a big way. Or you are well on your way to being dry humped by every freak out there who just needs to pretend to be a religious freak.
Or, it's just a molehill really. Just another irrational but insignificant ruling from the Supreme who? Let's party! Happy 4th of July!
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