Which Activist Judges Do You Support?

Benjamin J. Uticone of the Online Journal echoes some comments (in a far more partisan manner) about mainstream religious attention to non-mainstream religious persecution.

“The court essentially stated that the parents of this child do not have the right to share their religious beliefs with their son. Though the case itself is most certainly a red herring, I notice the conspicuous absence of certain voices which should be raised in protest. Where are all the evangelical leaders who attended “Justice Sunday?” If there has ever been a case of an “activist judge” assaulting individual religious liberty, this is it. Or is it that the religious liberties of non-Judeo-Christians do not merit their attention? Make no mistake; in a country ruled by the radical religious right, religious freedom may exist on paper, but those who so vocally claim to be standing up for religious liberty, waving a bible in one hand and shredding the constitution with the other, would in all likelihood turn a bind eye to incidents like this one.”

This articles tone brings to mind that lately, I have found in chat-lists and in blogs a growing distrust of Christianity among modern Pagans. Contrary to popular belief there are very few rabid Christian-haters in our numbers. Most of us simply want to be left in peace with the same access to the freedoms and privledges that most mainstream religions enjoy. But I have seen more and more of us grow to hate and fear those who hold the Christian faith. This isn’t a mere side-product of liberal hysteria, this is coming from people who would never think to even mention Christians. So something is changing in our culture. Certain sections of “people of the book” (or at least people willing to claim allegiance to those faiths) are becoming ever more reactionary and are trying to grip ever tighter to the reigns of power. The first people to be affected by trends like this are people like us. The “weirdos” who adhere to strange faiths, and who frankly don’t have the political or financial capital to fight back in any concerted manner.

I fear sometimes that in the coming battles between “lefty Jesus” and “righty Jesus” those of us who don’t follow any version of Christ will get thrown aside and find our basic rights trampled in the fray. For the religious right despises us, and the religious left sees no use for us. The next few years could be tough ones for my family of faiths.

Tags: Neopaganism