Written by B.T. Hill   

Right-wing Christians are increasingly forcing their beliefs on American society.

A look at the recent “bathroom bill” legislation is just another example.

Driven by fear of homosexuals & transsexuals and the belief that the LGBT community is a perverted threat, they’ve convinced Republican legislators to enact these ridiculous laws. Waving their Bibles, citing scripture – all of which is subject to personal interpretation – religious zealots insist any contact with this group of people will end in rape or molestation.

Unbeknownst to them, they’ve been peeing with trans and homosexual people for years! HORRORS!

Abortion. Don’t get me started on abortion. Again, it’s their beliefs that they feel the rest of the country should follow. The fact that the decision to have an abortion is a private matter between the woman and her physician is completely lost on them. This should not be a governmental issue. It’s nobody’s business. End of conversation.

Of course in mentioning abortion, I have to cover the Planned Parenthood issue. Republicans have led the fight to destroy Planned Parenthood because they provide abortions. To listen to any anti-abortion activist, one would assume that every woman who enters a Planned Parenthood facility is having an abortion. This is utterly ridiculous. The organization doesn’t track how many abortions it performs a year. They track “services provided.” The number of abortions is said to be minuscule compared to overall services rendered.

During last summer’s debacle of the Republican attempt to smear the organization using videos obtained from the Center For Medical Progress, Representative Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) falsely stated that “in 2013, abortions made up 94 percent of Planned Parenthood’s so-called pregnancy services.” In August, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) also reiterated that erroneous claim.

Planned Parenthood was later vindicated when it was proven through digital forensics that these videos were fake.

Of recent note we’ve had the Oklahoma abortion bill, Senate Bill 1552, which would make it a felony for physicians to perform abortions. Doctors convicted of providing an abortion would face a one to three-year prison sentence and have their licenses revoked. Governor Mary Fallon, a staunch abortion opponent, vetoed the bill, realizing it would be in direct violation of Roe v. Wade and involve the state in costly litigation it could ill afford.

The Center for Reproductive Freedom, which supports abortion rights, reported that in 2015, states passed 47 new laws restricting abortions and proposed 400 more.

Religious Freedom Laws are another attempt at discrimination by the Christian far-right. They don’t want to serve the LGBT community or Muslims because (sigh…) again they feel these humans are sinners – “less than,” or “not of God.” By having to deal with the LGBTs and Muslims, they feel their “religious freedoms” are being violated, so that gives them justification. Well, guess what? These “religious freedom” laws are violating the Constitutional rights of people Christians are refusing to serve! Religious Freedom Laws clearly come from hatred, fear, misinformation, a false sense of persecution and xenophobia spread by Republican right-wing propaganda. Radical Christians see themselves as a threatened facet of society.

I am not a politician, lawyer or a constitutional scholar. I fail to see how these concerns – clearly coming from beliefs of a religious nature – can be allowed to become law!

Where is the “separation of church and state? How can this stuff even become law if Group A (Conservative Christians) fervently believes that it is part of their religion but the majority of the country – being other or non-affiliated religions doesn’t? Where is the cutoff point in law that would say, “STOP! You can’t do this/ban this/refuse to do this because they are your beliefs and YOUR BELIEFS alone?

Why is it that only Conservative Christians are pushing for these things?

Answer: Because they want to force their views, their “religion,” on the citizens of this country. They believe that this is a “Christian” nation, founded under the tenets of Christianity, and therefore laws should reflect a Biblical morality. It’s been drummed into their heads to relentlessly convert the heathen non-believers. Give me a break! Wrong again! Back we to go separation of church and state!

This country has spent countless hours, paid for by taxpayers, tied up the courts, distracted & burdened elected officials, wrangling with these issues that should not be governmental issues at all.

Abortion: Don’t like it? Too bad. It’s not your business. Bathroom Bills: Another non-issue. Get over it. Religious Freedom? You have the right to practice your religion but not to impose it on others, nor may you use your religion to discriminate against others. Got that? Good!

Now let’s get on with some legislation that actually helps all the citizens of this country instead of wasting time on witch hunts.