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Thermal Thursday: Religious Freedom Day Is Almost Here [1]

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Date: 2023-01-12

Today’s Topic: Every January 16 is proclaimed as Religious Freedom Day (RFD), which this year will be this coming Monday (link is to Biden’s proclamation last year, I don’t see one yet for this year). This overlaps with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday in January, so we celebrate both.

Right wingers, of course, try to corrupt “religious freedom” to define it as their freedom to impose their religion upon the rest of us. Yes, I as a Christian include myself as those upon whom they’re attempting to impose, because if they ever had their way, they would not stop with making everyone Christian, but rather “their type” of Christian. Which I will never be, being more of the live and let live, embrace diversity, help others type of Christian. Which would leave me just as vulnerable as a non-Christian to persecution by a theocracy. Fascism either absorbs and corrupts Christianity or destroys it, oppressing and executing any practitioners brave enough to speak against them.

But clearly, the Founding Fathers did not see religious freedom in the way it is embraced by the right wing. Read Thomas Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Freedom, which we commemorate on RFD and which states [bolding mine]:

Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time: That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness; and is withdrawing from the ministry those temporal rewards, which proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than on our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them. Be it enacted by the General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

I agree with Jefferson: A person cannot be forced to believe, and any attempts to do so just corrupt the truth and enable hate. A person needs to freely come to believe what resonates as correct to them. Thus, government should not be imposing belief nor the support of any belief system. If the Lord meant us to all believe the same thing, She could have placed those beliefs into our minds, as hardwired as thirst. Instead, we have free will and can make our own choices. So forced religioners need to cut it out.

Religious evangelism, I think, should be akin to a party invitation: Here’s what I’m offering, you’ll find an agreeable group and maybe have some fun. You’re welcome to come to my party, but if you don’t then there is nothing wrong with you nor me. There’s a whole range of reasons why you might not want to attend my party. That’s fine. That’s why it’s an invitation.

The minute I get hateful about your declining of my invitation, or call you names, or shout at you, or judge you, of course you’ll be even less likely to accept the next invitation! You can be a fine person and live a full life and never accept one of my party invitations. It amazes me that the right wing never seems to understand this — although as with most things right wing, I think it’s more that they don’t want to understand than that they are unable.

So I hope you follow and enjoy the essays around Daily Kos over the next week or so regarding #ReligiousFreedomDay and religious freedom. We are definitely talking here about freedom from religion as well as freedom of religion, with the desire to include our whole community. And if you would like to write an RFD diary, just let us know, tag it, and we’ll be sure to include your writing in our group blog!

Truly, I believe in Ceiling Cat (h/t MomentaryGrace)

Finally as always, let’s elevate our Community Cred and repost The Needs List! From Aashirs nani (with permission) on Helping Humpday:

PLEASE NOTE:

When sending via PayPal, be sure to select “Send to family/friend” to avoid fees on either end. Be aware, both donor and recipient, that GFM not only charges fees, but also money received through that platform is treated as taxable income. If you are requesting help through GFM, also be aware that there can be delays in accessing the money.

COMMUNITY NEEDS LIST AS OF 1/11/23:

I’m in for a mickle each week toward a variety of DKos members on the Needs List. I hope you’ll join me. Always glad to see the needed amounts gradually decreasing!

If helping financially isn’t the right choice for you at this time, you can still help. Tip and rec the diary so it stays visible. Share on social media: Twitter, Facebook, whatever platform you use, to bring the attention of others outside our daily readers. And offer words of encouragement to people who are struggling. It can be scary to be struggling, and it can feel lonely. Let them know we understand and are here to help.

If you have time, please visit the diaries above and leave comments for their authors. Those words of encouragement are vital!

If you don’t like fundraisers, please just move along. They are a longstanding tradition at DKos — Until we vote in enough progressives to create a much stronger social safety net! (Maybe in 2 years.)

Please note : I take care of my 90ish-year-old Mom, so something could come up. So I am scheduling this to auto-publish. If possible, I’ll be here shortly to engage in Comments. However, if I’m not here, please chat amongst yourselves, take a coffee break, post aminal photos, food/drink and tunes, spread the word and invite your friends, etc.! I’ll be here this evening at the latest. Thanks to all!

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/12/2146889/-Thermal-Thursday-Religious-Freedom-Day-Is-Almost-Here

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