{"id":10002,"date":"2012-07-18T11:18:57","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T18:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildhunt\/?p=10002"},"modified":"2012-07-18T11:18:57","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T18:18:57","slug":"religious-freedom-once-more-with-feeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildhunt\/2012\/07\/religious-freedom-once-more-with-feeling.html","title":{"rendered":"Religious Freedom: Once More, With Feeling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Today, a federal judge in Nebraska threw out a lawsuit against the Obama Administration\u2019s proposed rules on contraception coverage<\/a>. The reason was two-fold: some of the plaintiffs lacked standing because they are already exempted from the rule, and the law hasn\u2019t been implemented yet, so there\u2019s no proof that it would actually infringe on the\u00a0religious\u00a0freedom of institutions that oppose contraception.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026although the Rule that lies at the heart of the plaintiffs\u2019 complaint establishes\u00a0a definitive, final definition of \u201creligious employer,\u201d \u2026 [it]\u00a0is currently undergoing a process of amendment to accommodate these organizations. The plaintiffs face no direct and immediate harm, and one can only speculate whether the plaintiffs will ever feel any effects from the Rule when the temporary enforcement safe harbor terminates\u2026.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Judge\u00a0Warren Keith Urbom<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This fight is far from over, as I\u2019m sure there will be appeals and new filings in an effort to have the rule struck down. There are also several more lawsuits currently in play<\/a>, so this probably won\u2019t be over until the Supreme Court gets involved. The debate over the contraception rule has been framed as about religious freedom, but scrutiny of the law doesn\u2019t place the anti-contraception groups on firm legal footing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing in the regulation requires someone to use birth control or purchase birth control directly, nor does the rule prevent anyone from preaching against birth control or trying to convince others not to use it.\u00a0 Indeed nothing prevents an institution from issuing a disclaimer saying that it is covering birth control only because the law compels it, in order to ensure that compliance is not equated with acceptance.\u00a0 But paying for birth control coverage is simply too ephemeral a transaction, especially in the above instances, to be seen as substantially burdening religion.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For some time I have been ruminating on the subject of religious freedom as a religious minority in the United States, and instead of simply re-hashing those arguments to you now, let me instead point to some recent essays I\u2019ve written here that outline my thoughts on the matter.<\/p>\n

The all-male, all-Abrahamic, panel on religious freedom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cReligious Freedom, Religious Exemptions, and the Responsibility of the Majority\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(March 13, 2012)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe compromise offered by the Obama Administration seems more than fair to the moral sensibilities of Catholics and other groups opposed to contraception. Any steps further would enshrine a status quo that simply\u00a0privileges the majority, and create a rights system that is beholden to whichever religious group is currently in power. While that may seem ideal to Catholics and evangelicals now, I would remind them that no group\u2019s fortunes prevail forever, and there may come a day generations from now when Pagan hospitals are asking for exemptions\u00a0from the desires of Christian patients. At such a moment, they will no doubt want the majority to be extra-sensitive to their beliefs and needs, to their different moral views.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201c\u2018Religious Freedom\u2019 Laws, Inspirational Messages, and Religious Minorities\u201d<\/a> (March 28, 2012)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem with these attempts to codify \u201creligious freedom\u201d into law is that almost always benefits the majority at the expense of the minority. I have seen time and time again, in a number of different circumstances, when laws and policies that are supposed to be viewpoint neutral end up empowering one expression of faith in the public square. That\u2019s bad when it involves adults struggling over the issue, but it becomes pernicious when we use our children as proxies in a fight over the nature of religious freedom and secularism within our country. It shows just how desperate and\u00a0anxious<\/a>\u00a0sections of our \u00a0Christian majority have become.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe Air Force, and the Increasing Misuse of the Term \u2018Religious Freedom\u2019\u201d<\/a> (June 23, 2012)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever valid concerns Catholics, Evangelicals, and other conservative Christians might have over religious freedom in the United States, they are continually tempered by their insistence on being the sole definer of where that concept begins and ends. No one is asking Buddhists, Pagans, Hindus, or\u00a0practitioners\u00a0of Native religions for their input, and in many cases the same Christian leaders and lawmakers who cry persecution are thevery same who ignore our concerns<\/a>, or are\u00a0outright dismissive of non-Christian religious expressions<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A common theme in my recent writings it is that the dominant religious forces in the United States have little care for how their exemptions or \u201cfreedoms\u201d may impact the freedoms and conscience of minority faiths in this country. Whether it is this issue, or marriage equality<\/a>, their vision of morality is the only one allowed to enter the debate and all other worldviews are marginalized. When a new balance or equilibrium is sought those in power fight it\u00a0viciously thinking (perhaps rightly) that it signals an end to their moral hegemony.\u00a0\u00a0The truth is that we need a new approach to the question of religious freedom, one that acknowledges that the Abrahamic paradigm doesn\u2019t exist in a moral\u00a0vacuum.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, a federal judge in Nebraska threw out a lawsuit against the Obama Administration\u2019s proposed rules on contraception coverage. The reason was two-fold: some of the plaintiffs lacked standing because they are already exempted from the rule, and the law hasn\u2019t been implemented yet, so there\u2019s no proof that it would actually infringe on the\u00a0religious\u00a0freedom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[365,3230,1308,1348,1667,3457,1964],"class_list":["post-10002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paganism","category-religion","tag-catholicism","tag-contraception","tag-law","tag-litigation","tag-obama-administration","tag-obamacare","tag-religious-freedom"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious Freedom: Once More, With Feeling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today, a federal judge in Nebraska threw out a lawsuit against the Obama Administration's proposed rules on contraception coverage. 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