We're over-compl
icating a simple, and Constituti
onal issue. Religious freedom is "freedom from" not "freedom to."
Simply, you are free to practice your religion, legally, in any way and manner you wish, so long as such worship and practice does not involve support or management by government
. Similarly, the very existance of the Constituti
on as a secular document, not as a religious document, supports the necessity and respect for the intentions of the Founders, namely that, regardless of their PERSONAL relgious beliefs, it was their intent that religion not become entangled with the affairs of state.
Another way, religion is a "personal" matter, not the concern of the state so long as secular non-interf
erence is respected. This means, that you are personally free to practice your religion in public and privately, so long as tht observance does not interfere with the secular or religious rights of others. When religious observers attempt to impose religious tenants and laws on the affairs of others, religion has oversteppe
d it's bounds, and must be stopped.
We have only to look at the operation of religious government
s like Iran, and others, who allow religion to control the operations of the state, to see that there is a path on which most of us fear to tread.
Hopefully, I've not used too many words to say that the practice of religion is a personal matter, not a state matter; cross the line at your own peril-that of sacrificin
g other freedoms.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
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