by Taylor

Neo-conservatives: Does anyone remember how this country came to be? Why our ancestors were originally sent here? That is correct, I am referring to something other than the great Revolutionary War that kicked off the America as we now know it. Our ancestors were originally deported here from England for heresy, fled for the New World for…what? Freedom of religion. Does anyone besides myself find it ironic that the descendants of those seeking that same freedom are now condemning others for their sexual orientation, belief system or various other convictions? Oh, wait…the original Pilgrims (Puritans) were a people so uptight that the British kicked them out.

Does anyone find this inflammatory or offensive? Good. There are two bumper stickers I would now like to quote, to make my point:

Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone,
somewhere, may be happy. — H.L. Mencken

If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.

My point being, and I know I’m not the only one to notice this, is that the people that would claim persecution — because of their religion — in this country are also those that state, in the same breath, that the LGBT community has no right to equal treatment under the framework of this country’s constitution. I will admit that I am not the most objective individual in this, being a lesbian and an atheist, but I can’t help but wonder when Church will actually be separated from State. In other words, why can’t freedom of religion be extended to mean freedom from religion?

Honestly, it’s the only thing that’s kept the military members of our community in the closet so long, all claims about heterosexuals serving alongside openly homosexual individuals affecting morale notwithstanding. It’s the only thing standing in the way of our being able to marry those that we love and have been with for several years — in many cases, relationships that have lasted far longer than the average marriage in this country. If there was a separation — a real separation — of Church from State, the politicians that claim any sort of deep and abiding moral obligation to continue discriminating based on what the Founding Fathers “obviously meant when the Constitution was framed,” would not have a leg to stand on.

And for those that would argue that God and country go hand-in-hand, it hasn’t always. If one were to go a little more in-depth, do some research on the framers of our constitution, one would find that they were largely deists — that is, individuals that believe in a creator, but also believe that the creator in question pretty much abandoned creation shortly afterward. In other words, said creator has absolutely no interest in — or bigger things to attend to than – humankind’s collectively massive ego. We are the forgotten potato-salad-turned-science-project at the back of that big refrigerator in the sky. But I digress.

My point to the above paragraph is, the constitution was likely not framed with any sort of religion in mind. Moreover, “One Nation, Under God” was not added to the Pledge of Allegiance until sometime during the McCarthyist hunt for Communists. Same goes for “In God We Trust” being printed on our money.

So, we’ve been duped. Those that would claim that this is a Christian nation — using the above examples to validate their point — and that homosexuals should have no rights, as such, are wrong.

I’m not saying that people don’t have a right to believe in something. What I am saying is that, and I quote my partner’s father, ironically, “your rights end where another person’s rights begin.” If these politicians would claim a right to believe in something intangible, that’s fine; as long as that belief does not interfere with our having very tangible, equal rights with everyone else in this country.

With that, I leave you with your thoughts. I hope this provokes them.

Photo: “The Intersection of Church and State” by Wyoming_Jackrabbit (Flickr) used in accordance with Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.