Wall of Separation

I spent Saturday afternoon in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol at the Unite Against the War on Women rally. Overcast skies and cooler-than-normal temperatures didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of this crowd. Attendees were determined to send a message: Americans won’t stand for an oppressive combination of church and state making our personal decisions for us.

Bruce F. Press Photography

The keynote speaker was Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan, who gave a powerful and inspiring address. Granholm was followed by a litany of speakers and performers who energized the crowd and urged them to get active to defend church-state separation, individual liberty and reproductive freedom.

I spoke near the end of the day. Several speakers had mentioned separation of church and state and religious freedom, but I wanted to go into more detail because it seems to me there is some confusion these days about what those principles mean.

The Catholic bishops insist that their religious freedom would be violated if employees at their (largely taxpayer-funded) colleges, hospitals and social service agencies are permitted to contract with an insurance firm that provides birth control to those who want it. Contraceptive coverage wouldn’t cost the church a dime – it would merely be available to those who want it as part of a larger package of health-care benefits – yet the church hierarchy is behaving as if its very survival is at stake.

I deplored this distortion of the concept of religious liberty by the bishops.

“In order for religious freedom to be preserved, we are told, the most private and intimate decisions of others must be curtailed – indeed, their very health care must be subjected to unwanted sectarian intrusion,” I told the crowd. “This is the twisting of words like pretzels. It is an attempt to wrap a theocratic power grab in the noble garment of religious liberty. It must not be allowed to stand.”

I explained to attendees that religious freedom means you get to make a choice.

“Worship God, worship Allah, worship Mother Earth, worship Thor if you like,” I said. “You can follow the Buddha, read the Bible, read the Koran, read the writings of L. Ron Hubbard or ignore them all and declare yourself an atheist. It’s your life. It’s your choice.

“But,” I added, “freedom of religion does not give you the right to run the lives of others. Freedom of religion does not give you the right to hijack the apparatus of the state and use government as your theological enforcer. To the Religious Right I say, ‘If we wanted to live under your religion’s rules, we would join it. We haven’t. So let us alone.’”

But I was also careful to remind that crowd that many religious leaders stand with us in this fight. Indeed, some of them spoke at this event. Our beef, I said, is not with religion. It’s with zealots who seek to turn houses of prayer into houses of right-wing politics.

Similar rallies occurred all over the country. (See some examples here, here and here.) A lot of enthusiasm was generated. I hope we can keep it going. And I hope that rally attendees realize that there’s one thing that can protect them against efforts by sectarian zealot to run their lives. It’s called the wall of separation between church and state, and its deserves our support.