And that's not all...

[shipperx]

What's with the blind spot here? 

Do people just 'forget' about other religions? 

What it if said boss was a Scientologist and disallowed any psychological or psychiatric treatment? Or wouldn't cover any treatment for addiction for your son or daughter or your spouse (because they don't believe in 'addiction' either)  What if your boss was a Christian Scientist who doesn't believe in vaccines... for anything!  Or, you know, any medicine whatsoever! 

Or a Jehovah's Witness and no blood transfusions for you!  Your next car accident could needlessly lead to death.

Seriously, have people gained such American Christian Big Church privilege that they've lost sight of the fact that there are OTHER RELIGIONS (and idiosyncracies between various denominations of Christian)? 

Or exactly why there is separation of church and state in the first place? That it actually protects people's religious rights that they are separate from the state,  that it allows you to freely worship the denomination of YOUR choice  rather than one selected for you by someone else... (LIKE YOUR BOSS!)? Or what destroying that separation could eventually entail? 

Have people become so wrapped up in the concept of "A Christian Nation" that they forgot that the founding fathers of the 18th Century grew up studying British history of the 15th, 16th, and 17th Century.  You know like when Henry VIII stole took over the monastaries taking everything in sight and them smashing what was left to pieces once he 'converted to Protestantism?  And when his daughter Mary executed untold numbers of protestants because of Catholicism?   A lot of Christians died... at the hands of other Christians  while arguing over which denomination was the 'right one!'

And, bowing to Monty Python, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!  ... or the Salem witch trials...

How would Catholics or mainstream (or fundamental!) Protestants feel if the state sanctioned and enforced a religion and it was...Oh, I don't know, for conversational purposes let's say Mormonism?  Would a very religious Southern Baptist really be comfortable with 'prophet' Joseph Smith?  After all, that is  a form of Christianity too (even if those other demoniations might consider it to be heretical).  No one said that a state mandated  "Christian Nation" would be  your  chosen denomination! 

That's the point! 

There's a reason why the founding fathers wanted separation of church and state.  History is littered with reasons why.  It was done so that you'd have the choice of which religion to worship, so that the state ( or. your. boss) could not force a specific religion on you.

Ahem.

Excerpt of the article the inspired this rant:

Only one Senate Republican — Olympia Snowe of Maine, who is retiring — voted against a truly horrible measure on Thursday that would have crippled the expansion of preventive health care in America. The amendment, which was attached to a highway bill, was defeated on a narrow 48-to-51 vote. But it showed once again how far from the mainstream Republicans have strayed in their relentless efforts to undermine the separation of church and state, deny women access to essential health services and tear apart President Obama’s health care reform law.

The amendment, which was enthusiastically endorsed by Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, would have allowed any employer or insurance company to refuse coverage for any activity to which they claim a religious or moral objection.

That would have meant that any employer who objects to cervical-cancer vaccines could have refused to provide health insurance that covers them. The same goes for prenatal sonograms for unmarried mothers, or birth control, H.I.V. screening or mammograms...

ETA:  And now Republican Lisa Mukowski says that she 'regrets' having voted for it. A little late, don't you think?

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Between catering to a fringe that wants theocracy, a questionable wars, de-regulation of Wall Street and oil companies. And regressive policies from everything from light bulbs to contraception... I just...

I still consider myself to be a moderate. It's just that Republicans aren't moderate any more. I had thought that losing in 2008 would make them change trajectory and tack more towards the center. Boy was I wrong. They've just kept going further and further right wing. Moderate and centrist is in the far distance of their rear view mirror these days.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Has the GOP been moderate since Nixon? I think George HW Bush was fairly moderate - I know he had issues with Regan who was far too consevative and catered more to the right wing (actually that's when the right-wing began to have a major influence and came to prominence in the 1980s with the whole Family Values thing). And Bush lost to Regan in the primaries, because of the Conservative Right Wing (which actually looks fairly moderate in comparison to the 21t Century's brand of Nuvo Conservatives...).

hee. I consider myself moderate as well. We're surrounded by extremists. Bah.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Probably not. But as a kid, these things didn't really penetrate much. I do know that one of the issues I had as a kid was that I couldn't understand George Wallace (ostensibly a democrat) as governor of my state (perpetually). I cringed at him. So in my kid-mind his Republican opponents were the more modern, less embarrassing ones.

That influenced my perception of party a great deal, I think. And it probably wasn't a particularly accurate perception. But I was a kid. By the time I was of age to vote it was the age of Clinton.

I was never a fan of Bush (because, to be truthful, I had soured on Bush I) but I honestly thought "Well, really, how could he mess things up? really."

Yeah... I didn't quite grasp how things could be messed up.

I was wrong.