Religiosity

December 6, 2020

Religiosity is an intense, excessive, or fervent religiousness. It is best exemplified by the coalition of Christian Conservatives and the Moral Majority. They found a champion in Donald Trump, who is the antithesis of being a Christian in all manner of words and deeds. Holding up a Bible in front of a church does not make one devout . On Sundays, Trump’s church is the golf course. He is not contrite. He asks for no forgiveness. “Vengeance is mine,” sayeth the Lord and Donald Trump. His charity is corrupt. Yet, these Christians were okay to sell their souls to this man in return for conservative judges and hopes of overturning Roe. vs. Wade. They supported the pagan over the devout Catholic, who actually attends church on Sundays and conducts himself like a Christian.

President-elect Biden’s sin is that he doesn’t support overturning Roe, and he does support gay marriage. To be clear, neither one of these positions requires religious leaders of any faith to follow suit. The state is not requiring anyone to get an abortion, and the state is not requiring any church to recognize gay marriage. However, as most of us believe, it is not up to the state to incorporate religious biases into public policy. If you don’t believe in abortion or gay marriage, good for you. Just don’t impose your beliefs on me.

Which gets me to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s complaints about loss of religious freedom. Religious freedoms are not being lost. The only thing being lost is the ability of Christian Conservatives and devout Catholics like Alito to impose their beliefs on the rest of us. If you want to pray in school, bow your head, but don’t have the football coach lead it. If you want the government to subsidize your health plan, you don’t get to pick what you want to offer. If you want to send your child to a religion-based school, go ahead, but don’t expect me to pick up the tab. It’s a free country. I consider what you call religious freedom to be an attempt to force your religiosity on me.