The only religion you can get in trouble for not practicing is radical secularism...

Practice my religion, or else?

The "irreligious” Left are posting this gem. I presume it is in response to the debate over heartbeat bills in which duly elected legislators are - presumably in response to voters - to prevent abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Most opponents of abortion are also religious, so I think the point if the meme is to cry foul that laws are being created that will compel the non-believer to adhere to restrictions in liberty based on faith.

Setting aside the details of when human life begins, the complaint can be levied against other issues. For instance, Christian John Wilberforce convinced his fellow Britons to not only abandon slavery as a practice, but to set the Royal Navy out to stop the trade. American abolitionists were also almost exclusively Christians and Jews, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic was not inspiring secular-minded men to muster regiments to fight slavery with secular arguments set to stirring music. It was a song of Christian fervor and faith to inspire the faithful to cast off a wicked institution. Should we restore chattel slavery because the faithful destroyed it?

All of Western civilization as we know it today has roots in the Judeo-Christian ethos. At a base level, murder, theft, assault, kidnapping and so on are sanctioned by a just society. I doubt even the most fervent secularist would cast aside sanctions against murder and robbery simply because a fervent Jew or fervent Christian believed it wrong.

The very constitution from which the penumbras and emanations produced the flawed logic of Roe v Wade itself calls upon the self-evident fact that we have a creator, and certain rights are inalienable from that creator’s spirit.

Not murdering someone is not really a religious practice, not like taking communion or observing the sabbath. While I believe that all that I do, from my daily job to providing for my family or acts of charity are acts of worship, I do not see an agnostic as practicing my religion when he does the same thing.

There are few public institutions that we can all agree are very good for our communities that do not at least have roots in faith. The Salvation Army provides care for the addicted and homeless. How many hospital systems have the word "Saint” in them? Schools were begun by the faithful in the past and the list could go on and on. I think we need to pause and reflect on the good done in the name of God at least as much as the evil we say has been done. I rather think that over time, the religious have comported themselves rather well compared to the alternatives.

Secularists understandably bridle at having their freedoms restricted because a mob of the faithful convince a smaller mob of legislators to write laws with consequences to reflect those mores. I get it. However, let’s take a look around and see just how much baby would be tossed out with the bathwater. I do not think the garden-variety secular agnostic is quite familiar with what kind of social shit-show will follow successfully abandoning all laws and practices that parallel religion. Just ask China, Indochina, Cuba and the former Soviet Union. It ends in tears.

Posted by: steve at July 04, 2019 10:25 AM (IFMuv)

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