Mitt Romney said, “Freedom requires religion just as
religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man
can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and
religion endure together, or perish alone…
“We are a nation under God, and in God we do indeed trust.
We should acknowledge the Creator, as sis the founders, in ceremony and word.
He should remain on our currency, in the Pledge, and in the teaching of our
history.” He delivered this speech at the George Herbert Walker Bush
Presidential Library, in Texas.
I wonder what the nonreligious nations of Europe would have
to say about this. Especially since those nations with the less religious
affiliation and influence are also happier according to their gross national
happiness index. And why is it that the more religious nations tend to be less
free and are less happy?
Are non-Mormons, non-Christians and non-theists still
Americans under the vision Mitt Romney has for America? And what kind of
America is Mitt Romney envisioning? What kind of freedom does his religion
create and allow? He speaks of freedom and religious liberty, of family values
and moral vision. Yet he would cut all funding for Planned Parenthood because a
fraction of their public health services include providing abortions, and even
when they use no public funding for those abortions. He wants to enact a
federal law that would ban gay marriage. Yet this is in no way attached to his
Mormon beliefs right? He speaks of “moral pollution.” He says he is “concerned
with the drug culture, the pornography, the violence, sex and perversion.” He
says every computer sold in the future should block all pornography. He says he
wants to enforce obscenity laws. This is ironic considering that multiple
studies have shown that “conservative religious type, especially Mormons, are
more likely to use porn.” – Adam Greenwood (March 2, 2009).
Mitt Romney lives in his religious bubble. He will make
public policy decisions based on his limited and exclusivist idea of morality
and social order. It was not long ago that George Bush Sr. said, “I don’t know
that atheists should be regarded as citizens, or should they be regarded as
patriotic. This is one nation under God.” Those with no religious affiliation,
whether atheist, non-theist or agnostic, represent 19% of the American
population. It’s time to get
religion out of politics. Its time to take religion completely out of the
public sphere. It’s time for nonbelievers to come out of the closet! It’s time
to acknowledge and celebrate our secular heritage, our pluralistic heritage. It’s
time for those with so called religious values to stop pushing their views onto
other people. It’s time for a secular ethics that encourages dialog and
conversation to take the place of misguided and outdated moral certainty.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/08/mitt-romney-will-put-an-end-to-porn-somehow.html
