Friday, April 10, 2015

The slippery slope of religious freedom

I have a friend who teaches in a Roman Catholic High School. She is not Catholic by faith, though. She is, like me, a Unitarian Universalist. She's taught there for a number of years, but since it is a private school, she has to wait until she is eligible for Social Security and Medicare before she can retire, which is for her only a few short years. Recently, the school got a contract from the local Bishop that he wants every school employee and teacher, regardless of their faith, to sign, promising that each person who signs it will live by Roman Catholic morals. No attending gay weddings. No taking a friend to an abortion clinic. Nothing that violates Catholic teachings. This strikes me as a slippery slope to ask someone who is  not Catholic to essentially agree to live as one as long as you are working for a Catholic employer. My friend is on the fence as to whether to quit and find another job or stay and deal with it. I'm not sure how I would react if I were presented with such a dilemma. I find it onerous that an employer run by a faith community can essentially say that while you are working for them, you must essentially "convert" and live by their ways if you want to keep a job. I regard that as a violation of one's religious freedom and it strikes me as legally a bit slippery. Since my friend is but a few years from retirement, she could hold her nose, sign the contract and lie about her activities outside of her job and deal with the guilt of so doing. But what business is it of her employer anyway if she has friends who are a gay couple who want her to attend their wedding? If that were to happen, she could lose her job just for supporting her friends. What if a friend in trouble came to her and needed a ride to an abortion clinic? Again, were she to do this after signing said contract, she could lose her job. Anything outside of work time that violates the teachings of the Roman Catholic faith could be grounds for dismissal. I find that to be egregious and unfair and a violation of one's religious freedom. What if she attends her church? What if the preacher is gay? I think that the Catholic Church is entering a mighty slippery slope here and if it requires its employees to live by Catholic morals and teachings, then they may as well discriminate and refuse to hire non-Catholics. Yes, that would be illegal to do, but how legal is it to say, while you are in my employ, you must observe my faith? My answer? I don't think so. I'm tired of seeing faith being used as a cudgel to divide us in this nation. As far as I am concerned, I don't care if you're a Unitarian Universalist, pagan, Sihk, Jew, Buddhist, Jainist, Muslim, Taoist, Christian, Shinto or whatever. It is your birthright in this country to worship and keep your faith as you please. Nobody should force anyone to observe their faith. Nobody.

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