Freedom’s just another word

Here’s the thing.

Freedom of religion doesn’t mean freedom to not do your job. It doesn’t mean freedom from repercussions if you choose not to do your job. It doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the law. It means you are free to believe whatever the hell you’d like to believe. Maybe that means you believe in God. Maybe that means you believe in no God. Maybe that means you believe that a french fry called Stéphane is controlling your cat. Nobody really cares what you believe in.

I mean, that’s probably unnecessarily harsh, and it’s completely untrue, because I’m interested in what lots of people believe in. I don’t agree with their beliefs sometimes, and that’s okay because we don’t live in a country that, even though our legal system is based on a legal system that still says God is the ultimate authority, our government doesn’t tell you that you have to believe in God (or that you don’t get to if you want to), it doesn’t tell you where you have to worship and pray and how you have to worship and pray, and it doesn’t imprison you just because you don’t believe in the same God (or in any God) and don’t pray the right way. All up in here, you get sent to prison if you are found guilty of breaking civic, provincial, or federal laws. Or international, I guess.

One ‘a them…whattayacallems…laws that we have is that discrimination against someone based on an increasing list of things like race, gender, sexual orientation is illegal. Anyway, you already know that. You might not like it, but until you run for King of Canada, you’re stuck with it.

The whole point of freedom of expression is to protect your RIGHT to express your faith. It doesn’t give you the right to deny other people services. Your faith may dictate that homosexuality is wrong FOR YOU (because that is your faith). Your faith may tell you that God speaks TO YOU through your toaster. Your faith may tell you there is no such thing as God. I think what some folks are stumbling over here is that freedom of expression allows for YOU to express YOUR faith. It doesn’t allow you to tell OTHER people what to do.

In fact, that’s kind of the antithesis of freedom of expression.

Your rights are not being infringed upon if your employer tells you to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. You are still able to believe what you want and pray how you want. The law is not telling you to get “gay married”. It’s telling you that OTHER PEOPLE get to. You have the right to object to gay marriage, but you do not have the right to deny other people their right to BE married.

It’s actually pretty simple. Gay marriage is legal, whether you like it or not. You’re welcome to choose to follow the law of your God, in your own home, for your own person, in your own church, in your car, even at work, as long as your form of worship doesn’t affect anyone else.

Comments

5 responses to “Freedom’s just another word”

  1. molly Avatar
    molly

    it is simple, isn’t it?

    1. cenobyte Avatar

      It’s SO DAMNED EASY. Guh.

      Maybe we need to make an info graphic.

  2. DerKaptin Avatar
    DerKaptin

    I think I’d trust a god that was speaking to me through my toaster more than I’d trust some other equally susceptible human being telling me what s/he thinks her/his god wants me to hear.

    1. cenobyte Avatar

      Well yes. I agree 100%. And may or may not have followed my toaster’s advice more than once.

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