Religious Freedom
Religious freedom is of the utmost importance in our society. Ever since the founding of
our country religious freedom has been guaranteed, and desired by the whole population. The
government has done a decent job of protecting this essential freedom over time, but attitudes are
changing and the same protection found now may not be available in the future. As the moral
fiber of society is weakening and society’s values stray far from those of traditional religions
people have developed bad feelings for and attitudes towards those religions, most likely leading
to lack of governmental protection in the future.
The constitution provides freedom to exercise religion. Therefore any religion with any
belief should be able to operate, and the government cannot interfere and strike down certain
rights and practices. The government is trying to deny religious freedom by passing laws and
regulations that affect the nation as a whole, not an individual religion, claiming this is not
impeding freedom of religious exercise.
A hypothetical example can be constructed using gay rights. Gay rights have become
increasingly popular in our world. Some religions do not believe that people of the same gender
can be married, and that their God frowns upon such a union. Therefore, these religions will not
allow these marriages to take place in their churches and places of worship. As our nation sways
toward gay rights, the government may soon declare that any institution that has not married gay
couples in the past must marry gay and lesbian couples as well. This is not so hard to imagine.
People with homosexual feelings did not choose them, they cannot change them, and they do not
deserve to be treated inferior to people of a difference sexual orientation. To a politically correct
mind, mandating same sex marriage makes a lot of sense, and there seems to be no reason to not
pass a law, but there is. Free exercise of religion is protected under the constitution. Protecting
the rights of homosexual people can infringe on the rights of other people. People have a right to
believe what they want and practice religion in the manner that they choose. Forcing them to
violate their religious beliefs in order to protect rights of others is wrong. Therefore the
government cannot force all places where marriage can occur to marry all people.
This is just one hypothetical situation that has not occurred but many other situations,
future and present, present a threat to religion. Religious rights are being surrendered to other
rights that are not guaranteed in the constitution. One only has to look at mandatory
contraception to see a current example. The government is ultimately responsible for this
dilemma. They need to take action to protect religion. They need to allow people to worship the
way they want and the way that they believe will lead them to everlasting happiness instead of
eternal misery.
This is clearly a national problem best solved by the government, and although I am not a
congressman or the president I can still take action and make a difference. I can join groups that
share a similar belief about freedom of religion. Interest groups can go a long way to persuading
elected officials to share their beliefs, and raising public awareness and concern is one of the best
ways to do so. In the future I can continue to try to raise awareness, lead people and groups that
share my beliefs, and maybe even run for office to try to change what I feel is wrong in this
world.
Freedom of religious exercise is a freedom that is rapidly diminishing and will continue
to rapidly diminish. We all need to take action now to preserve our freedoms.