By Linda Long, Action VP of California NOW
When did America become tolerant of religious tyranny? Religious tyranny is religious tyranny even if the majority of citizens practice that religion. It is why we have civil rights separate from religious rights. It is why my individual rights trump your religious rights in this country. The recent arguments from the Republicans have nothing to do with religious freedom and everything to do with corporate religious dominance.
When I was in grade school I distinctly remember learning that the Pilgrims came to the new world to escape from religious tyranny. Later in school we learned that as more and more people arrived here with their different religions and cultures, there was a shift to individual freedom and individual human rights. It was a natural shift, to a code of civil and human rights made in order to accommodate all the different cultures, religions and individuals, many of whom made the perilous journey to escape tyranny of all kinds.
I am a woman, a lesbian and an atheist. I am also a mother, a retired business owner, volunteer and advocate. But first of all, I am an individual, a free citizen of a society where I am guaranteed to have the same opportunities and freedoms of any other citizen.
But I don’t. Santorum and Romney and the rest of the Republican field believe that this country should be ruled by religious tyranny. Their agenda is to deny me the right to decide my own reproduction, whether it be using birth control or abortion; even if that denial would kill me. They want to deny me the right to marry, to defend my country, to adopt children or to have equal access to employment; all based on my individual sexual orientation, even if that denial takes away my fundamental right to equality. They believe they have a right to impose their religious values on my life in countless ways, beginning with inserting “under God” in the Declaration. They believe that religious corporations have and should have more power and rights than the individuals they serve.
It is a religious tyranny that would impose religious laws on members of a society who do not practice their religion. I believe very deeply that I was born free, equal in dignity and rights and entitled to the equal protection of the law. Every time I stand and sing the national anthem, I remember all those who fought and are fighting protecting those rights for me and for people across the world. I think it is time that Americans stop pretending that the Republican Party of today defends individual rights. They are a party of dominance and oppression in the name of religion.
Domination over individuals by any religion cannot be tolerated. There can only be one test and that is that if you have to dominate me to achieve what you want, then what you want comes at too high a cost for any American.