There are some words that one hopes to never hear used together in politics, and the words “Religious and “task force” are among the most concerning. But in a political landscape where locking up infants and paying off porn stars for sex are not considered deal breakers on morality, Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling for a Religious Liberties Taskforce might just seem like another day in Trump hell. But it’s not, this is a very, very big concern.
Coming off the June 4th, 2018, 7-2 Supreme Court victory for Jack Phillips, the baker that refused to back a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, Sessions feels emboldened to take the next step towards legal prejudice in the name of religion.
Sessions expressed his feelings that the cultural climate of our country has become inhospitable to people of faith. Let me translate that, “We want to be able to tell others what to do based not really on a book, but our whim of what we think ‘god’ wants, and you won’t let us.”
“We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives. We’ve seen U.S. senators ask judicial and executive branch nominees about dogma—even though the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test for public office. We’ve all seen the ordeal faced so bravely by Jack Phillips,”, said Sessions.
The assertion that Christians are under attack by anything under than logic is asinine. Christians have a long history of using their religion to legitimize bigotry against women, Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, and gays. The inherent hypocrisy of concerning themselves with certain passages from a book that advocates selling off your daughters as sex slaves, and stoning people who work on Sunday is nothing but an excuse to hate.
This is the United States of America. It was founded in large part by those escaping religious persecution. It was not the idea of an acceptance of all religions that drove us here but was rather the instance that one religion was the only acceptable religion. So I wonder, coming from an Attorney General who has time and time again done his best to block Muslims from entering this country, even those fleeing from religious persecution, how much is this about ‘god’?
For anyone not thinking this is a big deal, likely because they don’t feel they are part of the marginalized groups in this country, I’d advise you to take stock of your values. We are on the fringe of losing civil rights. There are already those in the Republican Party moving towards repealing civil rights legislation people died for. The idea of not hiring someone because they’re gay… that’s happening now. Or, not allowing people of color in a restaurant, that’s here as well. All one has to do is claim that it is against their religion, and of course be white and “Christian”.
Every day, Republicans show us a little more of the dystopian plague they wish to unleash on this country, and it’s ignored by many. We get the country we deserve. Vote in November, because we all deserve better than this.
