Secularism As a Religion

In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church controlled society. It saw itself as a parent of the people, guiding them away from sin, by persuasion if possible and by force if necessary. This, as well as Puritan theocracies in early New England, gave religious authority a bad name for intolerance and tyranny.

Religious authorities in those times and places used the power of the state to curb people's natural rights to think and make choices about religion. The United States Constitution responded to such fears by weighing in against the establishment of any particular denomination as an official religion. It balanced this language by providing that government cannot prevent the free exercise of religion either.

This reflects a general trend in Western Civilization towards the religion-neutral state. Certainly this has sparked arguments and dissention as some occasionally go too far in wiping away religious references in government controlled zones. It does not mean that religion has been officially established when high school football teams pray in the locker room before a game.

In recent years, the religion-neutral state has started to transform into the religiously hostile state. France recently outlawed the Muslim practice of burkha wearing among women. They argued that women wear the clothing under duress. I wonder how they determined that every Muslim woman in the entire country has rejected that tradition. Headscarves are also not permitted in that country's schools.

Most frightening is the recent prosecution by Obama's Justice Department of a principal and an athletic director in federal court because they prayed before a meal. The ACLU claims that the entire school district has "flagrantly" defied their interpretation of the First Amendment for years. They could spend six days in federal prison for praying.

Secularism has become, in some ways, a religion. It has no god and no soul, but it does keep a creed and a faith in a flawed perception of the Constitution. When good men go to jail for simply exercising their natural right to speak and freely exercise their religion, secularist tyranny has emerged. These men forced no one to pray with them, whether they were adults or students. However they violated the conformity of thought that secular tyranny seeks to impose, regardless of a man or woman's natural rights. Obama recently removed the legal and liability protections once enjoyed by medical practitioners who refuse to participate in procedures that are against their faith.

The victims of secularist tyranny are not only Christians, but also Jews, Muslims, or anyone else with an abiding and principled faith in their religion. Tolerance of different religions is great and necessary in a free society. Left wing government today actively campaigns against the faithful, proving that our nation grows less free every day that left wing Democrats remain in power.