Comments for Religious Freedom: The Bigger Picture at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 7 out of 7 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Wed, 22 May 2013 21:49:14 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12413 Thank you on your insightful article contents this unique information. I like this website very much, it’s a rattling nice position to read and incur information. - Tiffany Jewelry outlet Sat, 14 Jul 2012 00:00:16 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12180 Athanasius, The freedom of religion can not be absolute but contextual, depending upon the history and circumstances of a particular society. Thus the Americans were right to persecute Mormons for practicing polygamy that would have been unobjectionable in a Middle East society . Thus Hindus are partly justified in banning cow slaughter in their lands though it impinges on the freedom of other people to eat beef. It is also partly the reason male circumcision is not objected to in America while female circumcision is. Whereas the Orientals view male circumcision with equal horror. - Gian Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:59:50 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12178 Manfred, freedom of religion as we understand it today stems from the American experiment, and you correctly describe the history of its development here. I am writing to address the situation in America today, not to give a treatise on religious liberty in general. I am aware of the SSPX objection. Their quarrel is not with the general principle that I outline here: that one's beliefs should not be coerced by an external force. They object to allowing and protecting the expression of "false religion" in public, a topic for another day. Jon S., Athanasius gives a good rule of thumb for determining what one may pursue justly under the umbrella of religious freedom. A religious group that demanded human sacrifice, for example, can and must be stopped by legitimate government authority. Religion cannot command one, nor serve as a cover for one, to act against the natural law. Chris, I think you missed the rhetorical spin in the sentence you quoted. Our salvation depends on how well we live our faith--pray, keep the commandments, love God and neighbor. These are the ways we "freely exercise" our faith. - David Bonagura Thu, 28 Jun 2012 11:21:33 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12177 Jon S., Here is how I see appropriate government limit to religious freedom: Religious freedom should be extended to all acts that conform to reason as informed by the Natural Law. This is consistent with the Catechism definition cited above saying "rooted in reason". In other words, faith goes beyond reason but never contradicts it, so actions that are claimed to be observant of faith must also be reasonable. Faith gives reason meaning, but reason keeps faith honest. This way of thinking will prevent much of what Catholics would find objectionable in sharia, such as burkas and honor killing. It also prevents charlatans who would say some nonsense such as, "God commanded me to rape teenagers." The reason I include "as informed by the Natural Law" is that while it is not self-evident that the Trinitarian God exists, natural reason can lead to a reasonable belief that there is a perfect, just, and eternal lawgiver (see St. Thomas Aquinas' five proofs), and so all man-made laws must seek this divine truth rather than simply seek a secular majority. The Natural Law leads to "right makes might" while a secular majority leads to "might makes right". - Athanasius Thu, 28 Jun 2012 04:51:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12174 "Simply put, our salvation depends on how well (or not) we freely exercise our faith." I suppose that's why Jesus and St. Peter worked so diligently to reform the Roman government, right? (that was sarcasm). I'm no fan of the HHS mandate on contraception either, but we need to stop talking like our divine inheritance is in any way dependent on earthly despots. We are not the first generation of believers to have our practices challenged by the government. The Church survived ancient Rome, the Goths, Communist Russia, and Communist China. She will survive America also. - Chris Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:24:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12173 Thank you, Professor Bonagura. Could one of the insightful contributors to TCT write a column on the rightful limits of religious freedom? I have sharia specifically in mind. When, according to right Reason and orthodox Catholicism, does a democratic society have a right or an obligation to limit the practice of religion? - Jon S. Thu, 28 Jun 2012 01:43:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/religious-freedom-the-bigger-picture.html#comment-12172 Freedom of religion is an American concept from earliest times which was necessitated by the fact that so many early settlers were members of creeds and sects which began in England who had left not only Catholicism, but more importantly to them, Anglicanism. The English king was also the head of the Anglican church. At the time of the American Revolution, American Anglicans took the name Episcopalians from episcopos=overseer as they did not recognize the pope. The Founding Fathgers knew two important things about this newly founded Country and its government: it was peculiar to the people of that time and it could not be exported, and religion was critical as only by having citizens with God-fearing consciences would this experiment work. Otherwise the society would devolve into viciousness. That is why Freedom of Religion (NOT "worship" as the Obama people insist)is the very first of the Amendments and guaranteed by what is left of the Constitution. There is no tradition of Freedom of Religion in Catholicism as only Catholicism is TRUE. This is what the SSPX reminds us almost every day. - Manfred Thu, 28 Jun 2012 01:37:11 +0100