Stand Up For Wicca?
Here is something you might not have expected to read from a Christian publication, but there it is. In a major one. It’s a good reminder that we shouldn’t pretend to have it both ways. Either we have freedom or we don’t, and this writer is standing up for the idea that we should have freedom, and we only have it if it extends all the way to all the people.
Note: as a late entry (post a few comments) I add this link to the wikipedia entry on our first amendment.
Who is right and Who is wrong?
In a world with diversity, you are going to find someone standing up for things you do not believe in. There will be challenges that seem to undermine your Bible beliefs. This is not a perfect world, and, while we live here, we are going to have to sho…
Trackback by Tidbits And Treasures — 2006-June-14 @ 12:01
Yeah, and what may not have shown as well as I hoped is that I agree with the logic here. Yes, it’s surprising to hear a Christian saying that it makes sense to stand up for Wicca at all, but the point is that we have to recognize that our freedom of religion in the USA is the freedom of religion that also protects the wiccan, Muslim, Hindu, and all varieties of other religion. We have to stand up for the freedom of religion, and let the chips fall. We can’t pretend that the US can/should be free for only one (as the abuses of the past in other countries has shown). It is one of the few precious freedoms that we need to cling to the strongest.
I think that it is useful from time to time to remind ourselves of the text and context of the First amendment where it says:
I often surprise people when I mention the “prohibiting the free exercise thereof” clause — people aren’t aware that the government is not only banned from selecting one national religion, but also from interfering with the religions that exist.
We actually tend to hear the reverse, that religion is banned from government participation. That is an extension of the principle that doesn’t appear in the constitution at all, let alone the precious first amendment.
Government can’t choose our religion for us (or choose against one) and cannot choose how our religions operate and how we practice them. That’s pretty strong stuff.
This is one of the reasons I love our constitution so much. Instead of protecting the government it limits governmental rights. It mostly protects us from our government, not the other way round.
Comment by Tim — 2006-June-14 @ 09:58