{"id":2469,"date":"2012-09-07T17:16:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html"},"modified":"2012-09-07T17:16:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T17:16:00","slug":"religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html","title":{"rendered":"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.\u00a0 FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of Christendom.\u00a0 It was a UCC pastor who once said she just didn\u2019t see how people could think God cares about us on a personal level.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a UCC pastor that told me\u00a0she was hip to the whole gnostic gospels of Judas as a viable alternative to those dusty old sexist and racist things most Christian endure.\u00a0 It was the UCC that put out a deplorably intolerant and judgemental series of\u00a0commercials a few years back, in which it made clear that if you didn\u2019t completely support and celebrate the glories of homosexuality, then you probably hate mothers, babies, blacks, Jews, and any other group under the sun.\u00a0 So in short, the UCC straddles dangerously that fence that is on the opposite side of the field from the Fred Phelps expression of religion.\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 Any Christian who says you are an evil racist if you don\u2019t conform to liberal values is basically the same thing, right?\u00a0 For to exploit racism in order to advance an ideology is no better than racism itself. <\/p>\n

Anyway, over on the always fair and balanced Huffington Post<\/a>, she has posted a quiz<\/a> to debunk the idea that Americans are losing their religious freedoms.\u00a0 The quiz itself is a rather humorous thing, that if it were put out by a Fundamentalist group would (and should) illicit endless guffawing.\u00a0 But because its basic premise is the increasingly popular notion on the Left that Freedom of Worship is alive and well as long as you keep your religion to yourself and out of the public arena, it\u2019s garnering serious consideration by those on the Left.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not surprising that it\u2019s her most flagrant expression of this ideal that gets the praises and celebratory high-fives of the ironically titled Friendly Atheist<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The gist of the quiz is that if you answer a select number of heavily weighted questions, and A is in any of your answers, your religious liberty might be threatened.\u00a0 The one that our friendly Atheist posts, and the one that screamed Warning Will Robinson, was this little gem:<\/p>\n

\u201c4. My religious liberty is at risk because:
A) I am not allowed to pray privately.
B) I am not allowed to force others to pray the prayers of my faith publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note the qualifier.\u00a0 I am not allowed to pray PRIVATELY<\/u><\/em><\/strong> (emphasis all mine).\u00a0 Privately.\u00a0 Because nothing screams liberty like being forced to do something privately.\u00a0 That is, of course, the hallmark of old time Soviet style religious freedom.\u00a0 In the USSR, everyone was guaranteed the freedom of worship.\u00a0 What people living there soon found out was that meant you had best keep your religion under a bushel or invest in some heavy layers of thermal underwear, if you\u2019re lucky.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

And yet, that phrase in\u00a0becoming increasingly embraced by the post-liberal Left.\u00a0 From the White House\u2019s use of the phrase in the HHS mandate debacle, to this, it is keeping in step with the evolving understanding of the Constitution that suggests what it really did was ensure us the right to sex, drugs, bathroom humor, and the right to abort snot nose brats so I can continued to indulge in unabated hedonistic narcissism.\u00a0 All that freedom of speech and religion garbage just meant that Congress shall establish a secular leftist nation by brutally censoring the right to fail to conform to the secular left thereof. <\/p>\n

And I can\u2019t think of anything that shows this more than the idea that as long as we can do something enshrined in the Bill or Rights in private, we must be free.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.\u00a0 FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of Christendom.\u00a0 It was a UCC pastor who once said she just didn\u2019t see how people could think God cares about us on a personal level.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a UCC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious Freedom in America is doing just fine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.  FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.  FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-07T17:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html\",\"name\":\"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-07T17:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-07T17:16:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.  FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine","description":"According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.  FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine","og_description":"According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.  FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2012-09-07T17:16:00+00:00","author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html","name":"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-07T17:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-07T17:16:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"According to the good Rev. Emily C. Heath of the United Church of Christ.  FWIW, the UCC is about the most radically left leaning denomination of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/09\/religious-freedom-in-america-is-doing-just-fine.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Religious Freedom in America is doing just fine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}