What religious freedom *isn't*
Reading an article 
conuly linked to:
The future of sex ed has arrived. Is America ready?
Several bits got me thinking about the many problems with people and the concept of religious freedom. the quote below will do.
Meanwhile, many parents say CHYA violates their parental rights. “This law doesn’t respect our beliefs and rights as parents to teach our children how they should behave and live,” one mom, Ofelia Garcia, tells me.
No, law doesn't do a *thing* to that right. What it *does* do, and the state has every right to do is teach their children that their parents beliefs aren't the only ones out there
So what they are *actually* complaining about is that the state won't let them keep their kids ignorant of different beliefs.
IMHSHO, the way freedom of religion *should* be taken is this:
You can have any religious beliefs you care to. You can *not* impose those beliefs on others. Nor may you require them to act in accordance with your beliefs.
And that's where almost the protests of "religious freedom" from Christians and conservatives come from. They want other people to live their lives in accordance with the *protester's* beliefs.
It doesn't help that many of those folks not only think that you have to follow their "moral code", but in fact believe that it's not possible to be against things like murder, rape and theft *without* invoking a moral code set by some higher power.
Sorry folks, it's possible to derive all the necessary laws from first principles. Things like personal autonomy, preventing harm to others, and the idea of personal property.
This entry was originally posted at https://kengr.dreamwidth.org/1103022.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
conuly linked to:
The future of sex ed has arrived. Is America ready?
Several bits got me thinking about the many problems with people and the concept of religious freedom. the quote below will do.
Meanwhile, many parents say CHYA violates their parental rights. “This law doesn’t respect our beliefs and rights as parents to teach our children how they should behave and live,” one mom, Ofelia Garcia, tells me.
No, law doesn't do a *thing* to that right. What it *does* do, and the state has every right to do is teach their children that their parents beliefs aren't the only ones out there
So what they are *actually* complaining about is that the state won't let them keep their kids ignorant of different beliefs.
IMHSHO, the way freedom of religion *should* be taken is this:
You can have any religious beliefs you care to. You can *not* impose those beliefs on others. Nor may you require them to act in accordance with your beliefs.
And that's where almost the protests of "religious freedom" from Christians and conservatives come from. They want other people to live their lives in accordance with the *protester's* beliefs.
It doesn't help that many of those folks not only think that you have to follow their "moral code", but in fact believe that it's not possible to be against things like murder, rape and theft *without* invoking a moral code set by some higher power.
Sorry folks, it's possible to derive all the necessary laws from first principles. Things like personal autonomy, preventing harm to others, and the idea of personal property.
This entry was originally posted at https://kengr.dreamwidth.org/1103022.html. Please comment there using OpenID.