There are 316 million people living in the United States. It’s unbelievable that our freedom to make life choices is controlled by only 9 Supreme Court Justices.
A friend of mine posted this as his status on Facebook earlier today…it made me really think about what he was saying. Then I thought about it like, wait…only 5 Supreme Court Justices made the pro-life decision for Hobby Lobby yesterday…so we are being ruled by FIVE people in essence??? This infuriates me to no end.
Women have the right to reproductive choice and health in my opinion. Men have full insurance coverage for all of the erectile dysfunction products like Viagra that are on the market, we didn’t exclude 4 of them on the guys! So now SCOTUS has set this precedent that if you own a company and believe strongly in your religious beliefs, that that simple fact allows you to deny equality to your employees. That is just not right. You are then in essence forcing your religious beliefs on that employee, when her religion may be completely different from that of you as the employer. How did this even get to our Supreme Court? We had decisions in 1968 and 1986 that completely said that employers could not force their religion on their employees, yet here we are in 2014 doing exactly that! And this Supreme Court has seen fit to confer more and more power and privilege to the already powerful and privileged corporations, and take away the power of the American people to make their own adult decisions.
Our country is fragmented by skewed political beliefs. Half of us believe in equality, and the other half is jaded (again in my opinion) by the religious and political right that seems to command every corporation in America with some of the most archaic beliefs going. Corporations have more power than the people.
Our forefathers worried that this would happen. They worried and debated, what if a few powerful individuals and corporations seized control of the country’s politics and economy and ruled over the people; against the will of the people. Our Supreme Court was set up to stop things like this from happening. They were to weigh issues and look at things in the light of what is best, fair and equitable for the people of the United States. Yesterday they dropped that ball completely and ruled in favor of Corporate America, in favor of religious suppression and against all women in the USA.
Their decision will not only affect the women though, they may not realize that family planning and contraception affect the men involved as well. If he doesn’t want to wear a condom, or have a vasectomy (against most religious beliefs also, but still covered by insurance) then he is just as responsible as the woman involved in making sure she doesn’t become pregnant with a child they cannot or do not wish to care for, raise, nurture, support, and set off into this world one day. A decision to use contraception, for medical reasons or reasons of birth control should be up to the woman and her doctor. These medicines are not only approved by the FDA but the former assistant commisioner of the FDA, Susan Wood, said “…these medicines’s only connection with abortion is that they prevent the need for one.” although religious zealots see them as abortion pills, not as medicines used to prevent pregnancy.
(On a side note here please remember Hobby Lobby’s 401K plan still invests in manufacturers who make these medicines and companies that make and use drugs in medical abortions. What hypocrites!!!)
Yesterday women as a whole joined the LGBT community in it’s 2nd class citizenship here in the US. Women are no longer in charge of their own personal decisions in their own personal reproductive health, it’s now governed by a SCOTUS decision that will reach far and wide across America, affecting employment, insurance benefits, family planning, and equal treatment of women in all arenas. SCOTUS said basically if an employer has a religion and you work for them, you are working under the conditional religious belief of the employer. I ask, how can a “company” or “corporation” have an assigned religion if they are in the for-profit sector of the US economy??? Under this ruling corporations could cite (genuinely or disengenuously) “religious exemption” in refusing to serve gay clients, or denying health coverage to a multi-racial child of an employee…just for starters!
I wonder if stoning in the streets is the next protected religious ‘right’? Hell, if the company you work for believes that their religion condones death by stoning, then watch out…YOU could be next to go!
I am of the very firm belief in the separation of church and state. It pisses me off that even our money says “In God We Trust”. I believe that religion has no place in politics or in government. If you wish to live in a religious state, then ISIS is forming a new Caliphite in the middle east right now, run right over and join up! There you will be able to live under all of the religious oppression that you can handle – probably more than you can handle!
I don’t believe that anyone’s belief in God, Muhammad, Allah or whoever you worship has any place in making laws or governing people in any country. Religion should be protected, yes, your right to practice it and hold it dear should be a right that you have in your home, so long as you are not harming any other person or thing. The scriptures that guide each religious belief were written in another time, long long ago and many of the beliefs are out-dated and archaic in today’s world. Today we have things like equality, the right to life, the right to the pursuit of happiness, and the right to freedom of speech. All of which are against many Bibical writings. Especially if you are a woman.
Now I am no political pundit, nor am I overly religious or knowledgeable about Bibical lore, but I know the basics, and I know that religion and politics have no business being mixed…pardon the pun.
What we need here in the US is total equality of all citizens. Women, Men, no matter what color, shape, size, sexual orientation, gender presentation, or religious belief, we all need to be treated with full equality. You would think that we had that kind of freedom and equality here to listen to the gossip of the world. But let me assure you we do not. and yesterday’s Supreme Court decision is the prime example of how very screwed up we are as a country. We need a new government.