Republicans rally against 'war on religious freedom'

Republicans rally against 'war on religious freedom' (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gap6Irl2cZST6S7KGQlrGOZI_A-Q?docId=CNG.b39aa5c6fd663cafe751221be7dbc6be.1b1)

JANESVILLE, Wisconsin — Life has gone from bad to worse since Donna Sturdivant's husband was laid off four years ago and now she feels that the thing which brings her the most comfort -- her faith -- is under threat.
"We're starting to see our religious freedom taken away. Our Christian faith is being stepped on. Like kids in the schools -- they can't talk about God," Sturdivant, 60, told AFP. "There's something wrong in America."
Republicans like Sturdivant are rallying against what they see as an insidious attack on Christians by Democrats in government, activist judges in the courts and secular liberals bent on eroding the country's moral values.

Well, WTF is THAT all about? I'm a secular Independent and I'm not trying to erode anyone's morals unless she's hot.

But seriously, the statement that made me laugh the most was this gem:

"Christians are persecuted in many other countries and I think this is the next one," said Dean.


Dude, you aren't being persecuted at all. You want persecution, look at the ME and how they treat the 'wrong' faiths.


Guaranteed this jackass wouldn't be fighting for moslems to have the same level of exposure.


Still:


Such fears come as the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has reached an all-time high, noted Geoffrey Layman, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame.
"There is an anxiety about the status of religious life and more things to be outraged about as we become a more secular society," he said.
"On the other hand it's just good strategic politics to play up the idea of a threat."
The problem with stoking those fears, however, is that it makes it very difficult to reach a compromise, said Rogers Smith, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Religious conservatives consider their opponents to be "sinful" while liberals think their opponents as "not just wrong but crazy," he said.


At least the Democrats have research in their favoras science is getting close to proving religion to be an addictive or flaw of the mind.

Extremism can exist within Christanity as well. These people are just plain nuts.

Sounds like you're in the same boat I am, agnosticism. I'd like to believe that there's a nice place for me after I die, but I have no reason to believe one way or the other and my faith isn't strong enough to lead me to believe in something I have no evidence of.

My family is southern baptist, my gf is in the Salvation Army so I've got church all around me all the time but I have no personal faith.

Heathen. :(

My mother told me not to talk to heathens. Humph. :D

Yeah, if I had to pick one section of beliefs to stick with, it would be agnosticism.

I believe I'll have another drink.

I think everyone has their own idea of what "heaven" is to them. If your vision doesn't agree with mine, have fun at yours.

Your idea of heaven is sadly the same as everyone else's and I can't help but notice you desire a painful existence. Have fun forever.

Your idea of heaven is sadly the same as everyone else's and I can't help but notice you desire a painful existence. Have fun forever.

Lemme guess... Atheist?

Your idea of heaven is sadly the same as everyone else's and I can't help but notice you desire a painful existence. Have fun forever.

It's cute, trying to make me feel bad like I'm some religious extremist. Keep trying buddy.

Well I'm not very religious but an argument could be made that ever sense religion has been removed from more and more things the more problems we have been having.

Well I'm not very religious but an argument could be made that ever sense religion has been removed from more and more things the more problems we have been having.

Like what? The recent massacres at a Christian school? Some people are crazy, and bad things happen. Between open access to things like automatic weapons, bomb directions, etc -- more bad things will happen. Before people this disgruntled may have been too stupid or ignorant to figure out how to channel their rage, now the internet makes that simple. In addition to having more tools to do terrible things, media saturation means that more of these get reported nationally, and get more time on TV. Terrible things have always happened, we just hear about them more now.

Take a look at Europe and Scandinavia. These countries boast some of the best schools, healthcare, standard of livings, crime rates, and economies in the world -- and religion is kept far away from schools and politics. It is a personal choice there, not a political one.

To say "Since religion has been taken out of X it has been worse" is essentially ignoring all of the other factors that go into the shift of having more issues.

There's a distinction between religion and faith or having faith, more specifically. Though the two are kissing cousins -- religion and faith-- the former has to do with the systematic teachings of the church or a particular denomination, which are supremely important. Whereas the latter is a personal, devotion to God that manifests itself through deeds, actions, and words. So when people make the argument that they don't believe in God because of religion it's almost like saying, well, I Google mapped my morning commute to my new job, but I know of a better route because there's heavy construction happening on 12th St. Well that's all fine and dandy, but just because you chose another direction, doesn't negate the fact that route A still exists for the benefit of thousands of daily commuters. And just because people are turned off by religion or the church or put off by some scandal, doesn't mean that organization is irrelevant or isn't a holy institution.

On the other hand...

One can be very religious, have all the trappings of a Christian, go to church regularly and still not have faith or display affection and devotion to God. In fact, Jesus often clashed with the Pharisees over the strict doctrinal interpretation of scriptures, which were often too onerous drove a wedge between true believers and the religious crowd. They viewed the scripture as a collection of rules, ordinances, and precepts that would produce righteous behavior or make one holy. Christ didn't come to make us religious or give us faith for that matter, but rather grace. Something we can neither earn or deserve, but God and only God bestows and gives freely to all. I heard a wise man put it this way; religion is man trying to get to God, grace is God coming down to man.

Before someone posts, but 12th if I go a different route and still get to my destination, why does it matter? Well that's an entirely different discussion.