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Task Force Publishes Report on Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias and Restoring Religious Liberty

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Desk trauma

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Foamhead

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Not this American Christian. This Christian is aware of many Christians kidnapped and killed for their faith.
Wow! I never read about all these Christians being kidnapped and killed for their beliefs in the United States. Why hasn't the FBI been investigating?
 
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Foamhead

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List of the Task Force members...

American Christians confuse inconveniences with persecution.

Which, according to the report, was performed by non-government organsations.

The only thing I agree with in that report is a nurse or doctor should not be forced to perform an abortion if it violates thier sincere religious beliefs. The doctor should only be required to refer the patient to someone who does. It's not as if there aren't plenty of others who can perform the procedure.

The attack on transgender people will continue until it's no longer firing up the evangelical base, then it will go away like the gay marriage issue did.
 
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Hans Blaster

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For those who don't want to do all of that reading there are some great examples in the linked article:

When dossiers are prepared on pro-life Christians, and information is collected on their children, that is nefarious.
When a Christian nurse is forced to participate in an abortion, that is malicious.
When a Christian family is told it cannot be foster parents because they disagree with gender ideology, that is wicked.
When Catholics are restricted from going to Mass because of unproven, and unevenly applied, restrictions due to a health scare, that is indefensible. . .
Well, if Bill Donahue thinks this is a problem, then...

I guess it really isn't.
 
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RileyG

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Think of Christians throughout the Middle East in places such as Iraq, Syria, or other places such as Nigeria or India. They face real persecution. Thankfully no Christian here is being slaughtered for their faith. We have the right to practice our religion, thankfully.
 
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RileyG

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You can't conflate persecution of Christians in places like India or Africa with "persecution" that happens in the US, which often is very much marginal cases where the substance is genuinely contested and trivial in impact in comparison.
I agree completely.
 
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RileyG

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Well, if Bill Donahue thinks this is a problem, then...

I guess it really isn't.
I actually like Bill Donahue because he's very blunt and speaks his mind. I find those traits admirable....

anyway...
 
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ThatRobGuy

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What, exactly, is the punishment they perceive to be happening to them that they claim to need protection from?

That's an honest question...

Are there some concrete examples?

Most of the time, when I see these sorts of claims, it's a case of some of the more staunch Christians conflating "I'm not allowed to use my religion as a basis for ignoring or violating laws" with "this is an attack against me".

I've touched on this in other threads... the concept of negative vs. positive rights.

Negative rights are ones that oblige inaction from others, and the exercising of said rights don't require anything or restrict others from doing anything. -- or, as some of worded it, rights that are non-rivalrous. For example, the right to assemble, me having that right doesn't require you to give up your right, as there's not some finite number of assemblies allowed.

Positive rights are ones that oblige action from others, or require them to give something up in order for you to have it. For example, if someone asserted "I have a right to be able to send my kid to school without having them hear about evolution", that's requiring other parents to give up their ability to have their child learn about it.


Most of these types of complaints I've seen for this in the past in the past fall into the latter.


While you and I have had points of agreement on some of those matters (despite me not being religious) from a pure policy perspective - one example would be the debates about some of the books finding their way in Jr. High Schools -- I believe we've been in more than one thread together where we've both agreed that Flamer and Genderqueer don't belong in school libraries for 12 years olds -- but the presence of those books doesn't stop you from practicing your faith on a personal level.


Readers Digest version:
Religious Freedom means "here's the things I'm allowed to believe and espouse", not "here's the things everyone else isn't allowed to do as to not offend my religious sensibilities"

I've yet to see a substantial concrete example of Christian religious freedom in a pure sense (meaning: negative rights and the government trying to stop someone from being Christian) be violated in the US during my adult life.

Religious freedom doesn't mean "I get to pick and choose the laws I want to follow, and I get to dictate to other people what they can and can't do"
 
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Hans Blaster

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I actually like Bill Donahue because he's very blunt and speaks his mind. I find those traits admirable....

anyway...
I find him despicable. He will defend any depravity if the Church does it.
 
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Foamhead

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What, exactly, is the punishment they perceive to be happening to them that they claim to need protection from?

That's an honest question...

Are there some concrete examples?

Most of the time, when I see these sorts of claims, it's a case of some of the more staunch Christians conflating "I'm not allowed to use my religion as a basis for ignoring or violating laws" with "this is an attack against me".

I've touched on this in other threads... the concept of negative vs. positive rights.

Negative rights are ones that oblige inaction from others, and the exercising of said rights don't require anything or restrict others from doing anything. -- or, as some of worded it, rights that are non-rivalrous. For example, the right to assemble, me having that right doesn't require you to give up your right, as there's not some finite number of assemblies allowed.

Positive rights are ones that oblige action from others, or require them to give something up in order for you to have it. For example, if someone asserted "I have a right to be able to send my kid to school without having them hear about evolution", that's requiring other parents to give up their ability to have their child learn about it.


Most of these types of complaints I've seen for this in the past in the past fall into the latter.


While you and I have had points of agreement on some of those matters (despite me not being religious) from a pure policy perspective - one example would be the debates about some of the books finding their way in Jr. High Schools -- I believe we've been in more than one thread together where we've both agreed that Flamer and Genderqueer don't belong in school libraries for 12 years olds -- but the presence of those books doesn't stop you from practicing your faith on a personal level.


Readers Digest version:
Religious Freedom means "here's the things I'm allowed to believe and espouse", not "here's the things everyone else isn't allowed to do as to not offend my religious sensibilities"

I've yet to see a substantial concrete example of Christian religious freedom in a pure sense (meaning: negative rights and the government trying to stop someone from being Christian) be violated in the US during my adult life.

Religious freedom doesn't mean "I get to pick and choose the laws I want to follow, and I get to dictate to other people what they can and can't do"
But... I thought your rights end where my feelings begin...
 
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Tuur

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LoL, what baloney. Pointless pandering to an audience not smart enough to realize they’re being played by an administration that couldn’t care less about Christianity. But they’ll eat it all up and ask for seconds anyway.
Verses an administration that was openly hostile. Just ask the nuns. But we aren't supposed to point that out, are we?
 
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Tuur

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If a nurse can’t provide basic care to a person, they need to find a new job. They’re supposed to be patient focused and attending to their needs, not using their job as a platform to browbeat their ideology into the masses.
Abortion is basic care? It should be extraordinary care, a procedure of last resort. Even amputations aren't conducted unless a limb cannot be saved. If abortions are "basic care," then what of euthanasia? What of executions? If a nurse isn't willing to assist in executions, should the nurse look for another job, too?
 
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Foamhead

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Abortion is basic care? It should be extraordinary care, a procedure of last resort. Even amputations aren't conducted unless a limb cannot be saved. If abortions are "basic care," then what of euthanasia? What of executions? If a nurse isn't willing to assist in executions, should the nurse look for another job, too?
Ah, the classic false equivalence argument.
 
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ThatRobGuy

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But... I thought your rights end where my feelings begin...
There's a fair bit of at that sentiment floating around in the US ecosystem.

But under the umbrella of US constitutional law, the SCOTUS precedent is that in order to impose a law restricting something, it needs to pass what become referred to as "The Lemon Test". Which dictates that a law of such nature needs to serve a compelling, secular legislative purpose. (even if a person's religion is the inspiration behind such a law)


For instance, it could be a person's religious position on "Thou shalt not steal" could be the motivation behind an anti-theft law, but one can still make a compelling secular case for having laws against theft, so that would pass muster.

However, a law in the name of "because my religion says so" obviously falls off immediately because it's not secular.

And a law in the name of "well, because that hurts my feelings" (albeit secular) is not very compelling.


One big one that seems to trip up the activist types from both political wings... seems to be the operating on the incorrect assumption that an activity (that would otherwise be illegal) magically becomes legal if being done in the name of something that is protected.

For example, grabbing a megaphone and putting it 3 inches from someone's face and yelling through it, or physically blocking/intimidating them from getting to the place they want to be is disorderly conduct, ...and because they happen to be yelling about Jesus, or abortion, or climate, etc. while they do it doesn't make the action protected by proxy.

I would say the most glaring examples of that would be things like the anti-abortion protestors obstructing access to clinics, and the climate protestors blocking public roadways. Expressing opinions about either of those topics is constitutionally protected, but not every type of action used for the expression becomes legal because of it.

In the same way that I'd be well within my rights to express an opinion about tax policy, but I can't go around blocking peoples' access to buildings, and blowing air horns 2 inches from their ear and expect it to be considered "protected expression" simply because I happen to be holding a "taxes suck" sign at the time.
 
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comana

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Abortion is basic care? It should be extraordinary care, a procedure of last resort. Even amputations aren't conducted unless a limb cannot be saved. If abortions are "basic care," then what of euthanasia? What of executions? If a nurse isn't willing to assist in executions, should the nurse look for another job, too?
What is the medical context in which sh was “forced” to participate? Highly unlikely it was elective because why would this nurse seek employment with a hospital/practice that provides elective abortions? I have my doubts on this particular claim.

And I would add that any abortion that requires the assistance of a nurse has already entered into your classification of “extraordinary care“, though abortion is routine at that point, and should be an expected part of a nurses job in a specialty that would give this care.
 
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Tropical Wilds

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Abortion is basic care? It should be extraordinary care, a procedure of last resort. Even amputations aren't conducted unless a limb cannot be saved. If abortions are "basic care," then what of euthanasia? What of executions? If a nurse isn't willing to assist in executions, should the nurse look for another job, too?
Yes, abortions are basic care. It’s first line care for a number of issues, from incomplete miscarriages to ectopic pregnancies. I’ve had a like 12 D&Cs. They’re basic care that can be performed in any medical facility that provides basic care.

I’m not sure what euthanasia or treatment executions have to do anything... Since executions are only done in prisons, one would have to ask why somebody who doesn’t want to assist in them works where they’re performed. Kind of like being a vegan and pursuing a career as a butcher, then getting upset they’re handling meat.
 
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