21 April 2008
A Dangerous Precedent
Posted by Roy Bischoff under: Constitution in Peril .
In order to protect our freedoms we sometimes have to stand up for things that we do not believe in. Anytime any religion is inhibited in its free exercise it weakens the first amendment and the ability of all to worship as they please. The pertinent part of the US Constitution reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” Now we must all realize that there must be some limits to this freedom as with other 1st amendment rights. (Take for example a human sacrifice based religion. The government interest in the preservation of human life takes precedence over their right to practice the taking of life even if there are volunteers for the sacrifice.) If I wasn’t too lazy I would cite the case but the Supreme court requires a “compelling government interest” in order to override the 1st amendment.
There has recently been much said about religion in the media because of Mitt Romney running for president and being a Mormon. People don’t trust extreme religions (I might define extreme as any religion that requires more of a member than what you are comfortable with, from the outside looking in, as it were.) It is no secret that there are forces in America that would like to destroy religion. They combat prayer in school and the mention of religion or religious practices/ideas in school or government. Supporters of freedom of religion have lost many battles already.
Now those that oppose freedom of religion are somewhat hampered by that freedom being guaranteed in the Constitution. What they need is to set a precedent with something that is so unpopular that they will be able to have public opinion behind them. It appears they have chosen the FLDS practice of polygyny (Polygamy is multiple wives or husbands and polygyny is multiple wives only) with minors. Polygamy was outlawed because it was not an acceptable practice to most people (the Supreme Court of the time found it to be a “barbarous practice”).
No matter how distasteful, I am sure that no one has ever proven that the practice of having more than one wife is detrimental to anyone involved as long as no abuse was involved. Now there are other factors to consider such as whether the marriage is voluntary. This is where the age factor and religious teachings are brought in. Getting married at 14 is no longer acceptable in public opinion. I agree with that as do most people. Another issue is that at 14 one is not considered to be capable to make major decisions and I agree with that also. That is why contracts with minors are generally unenforceable.
In the case with Texas, instead of focusing on polygyny , the press is now focused on the brainwashing aspect of these people following the counsel of a man they consider to be a prophet. Young girls are taught that marriage at an early age is okay as is also the practice of polygyny. Now many in the US are taught from their youth about the religion practiced by their parents which they also embrace. Currently this is all right if it is an acceptable religion. If the religion is not acceptable it is labeled either brain washing or a mental illness. Traditionally, mental illness, is the behavior whereby a person flouts societal norms and becomes a danger to himself and others.
The key here is societal norms, which change. Not so long ago homosexuality was a treatable mental illness but is now “normal.” So what if believing in a living prophet, or that Christ lives, or that the Bible is true and records ancient prophets, or in transubstantiation, you can pick your religion and practice and insert here, is no longer part of societal norms and is determined to harm the mental health of the people involved? This is what allows the state to come in and take your children away from you, and your sanctuaries to be violated and your free exercise of religion has become the right to practice what is acceptable to society. You may think that if you are a mainstream Christian you are safe but look at the attacks on Christianity that are ongoing and you may reconsider. This is why we have to stand up for freedom even if we don’t agree with that particular religion because it will eventually be our turn and those who might have supported us cannot do so because we did not support them.
We will eventually devolve to the point where a political system will be in place that will attempt to force the mark of the beast upon us. It won’t happen out of the blue, it will be a process. Hopefully that is still a long time away, but the erosion of our rights is well under way.
10 Comments so far...
Jesse Says:
21 April 2008 at 12:33 am.
Glad you chimed in on the debate, Roy. It’s pretty simple logic when you get beyond the bad taste of polygamy.
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21 April 2008 at 8:32 am.
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Angela Rogin Says:
21 April 2008 at 10:01 am.
It’s hard for a lot of people to be rational about something as emotionally charged as this so reading something like this helps us understand what the consequences could be if we over step the law with people we can’t relate to. Where is the ACLU now?
jobob911 Says:
21 April 2008 at 10:25 am.
Good article Roy.
SGS Says:
21 April 2008 at 11:23 am.
It is great that we are pointing out the problems, but it will be even better if we could provide a solution (rather, a general approach), or several, if there are any. I agree with you, Roy, that what is going on in Texas is a horrible thing. But, other than pointing it out and arguing against it like we are doing here, what can we do to stop it? How can we restore the concept that religions (by being the teachers of the moral values) is the foundatin of any stable government.
Joy Bischoff Says:
21 April 2008 at 11:29 am.
Good question, SGS. Maybe people can share any ideas and I’ll make sure Roy sees your question when he gets home. My first thought is that we have to talk and spread the info Roy wrote to help people understand they need to look past their emotional reaction to how it can effect us. Before change can happen, people need to be educated and that is one thing we try to do here. But there should be more and be some specific ideas how to help, you are right.
Pickles Says:
21 April 2008 at 12:12 pm.
We could write letters to the Editor and sent things like this article out in an email. Until we get the public to wake up to how this kind of thing can get out of hand will we really be able to do anything.
E.E. Says:
21 April 2008 at 2:51 pm.
Roy, your mental illness point is great. It is already becoming popular among the mental health community to label religious beliefs as a sickness. It is only a matter of time until this spreads. It is a matter of time until a religion no longer has the right to say homosexuality is wrong, etc. It could come to the point where we won’t be allowed to teach our children our beliefs.
Roy Bischoff Says:
21 April 2008 at 11:25 pm.
Public opinion does matter. Only a large grassroots movement can get the attention of those that are doing this. It would be very hard in the face of the media bias against these people. Coverage has been fairly extensive and you don’t hear much of an uproar about what is happening to these families. I am not sure how a phone call about a specific situation (especially a fictional one) turns into 400+ kids being taken from their parents. We should all do what we can and see if it helps.
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29 June 2008 at 5:41 pm.
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