Yes, I am still livid over the Trump/Pence move to make religious belief - and the hate and bigotry that evangelical Christianity spews on a daily basis - above all other rights. And yes, my anger extends to those who voted these two nasty men into office. Having followed hate groups that masquerade as "family values" and "Christian" organizations for well over two decades, there have to consistent themes to be seen in their agenda: (i) impose a theocracy on America, and (ii) seek total freedom to denigrate and abuse those who do not subscribe to their foul version of religious belief. Even with those who claim no religious affiliation now the largest religious group in America, thanks to Trump/Pence and Congressional Republicans only too willing to prostitute themselves, the rights of the Christofascists are on the rise and the rights of the rest of us, especial those who are LGBT or female are on the decline. All so that Christofascists can mistreat anyone who might by their rights and very existence threaten the fairy tale world of the "godly folk." A piece in The Atlantic looks at this dangerous trend. Here are excerpts:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a government-wide memo to bolster federal protections for religious liberties on Friday, a move that could also weaken the federal government’s ability to prevent gender and LGBT discrimination. . . . . The principles don’t create new protections against religious discrimination; instead, they instruct officials to give greater deference to religious-liberty claims under existing statutory and judicial protections.
The memo places the Justice Department’s full weight behind the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to roll back Obama-era legal interpretations that favored women and LGBT Americans. It prioritizes claims of religious-liberty violations over virtually every other concern, including anti-discrimination protections for gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans. And it invites Americans to invoke their faith to opt out of a range of federal rules and regulations when relevant.
The most immediate effect came from the Department of Health and Human Services, where officials issued new rules to largely dismantle the contraceptive mandate for health insurance. . . . Social conservatives have fought the mandate for years, arguing it compelled employers to violate their religious beliefs. Defenders said it insulated employees and their medical decisions from the personal beliefs of their employers.
In practical terms, my colleague Vann Newkirk explained, the new rules will now allow virtually any employer to claim the exception and stop providing employees with insurance plans that include contraception.
The ACLU said it would challenge the administration’s reversal only hours after the announcement, arguing it violates the Constitution’s religious-freedom and equal-protection guarantees.
Democratic-led states could also join the fight. “We have been anticipating this awful idea and have already begun working with other states to evaluate any legal response that may be appropriate to protect our citizens’ private decisions and access to affordable healthcare,” Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said in a statement.
Because the memo gives maximum latitude to invocations of religious belief, it could limit discrimination claims made by gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans.
“This guidance is designed to do one thing—create a license to discriminate against the LGBTQ community and others, sanctioned by the federal government and paid for by taxpayers,” Vanita Gupta, who led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration, said in a statement. Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, accused Trump of furthering a “cynical and hateful agenda” and said the memo “will enable systematic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families.”
Sessions has already undertaken multiple steps to reverse Obama-era protections for LGBT rights. The day before releasing Friday’s memo, he revoked guidance issued by former attorney general Eric Holder that had instructed U.S. attorneys to interpret gender identity as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s ban on discrimination of the basis of “sex.” The interpretation widened those protections to include transgender Americans. Sessions replaced it with guidance advising that the protections only applied to biological sex. . . . [this administration] will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore,’” the attorney general wrote.
Sessions continues the myth of Christian persecution that the far right hate groups have sought to fan for years. The truth is that there is no such persecution. The only thing that had happened up until now is that the Christofascists' ability to target, bully and silence others was restricted so as to protect the civil liberties of others and the right of others to reject Christofascist dogma. Trump/Pence/Sessions have now given these false martyrs the to persecute others at will. All they have to do is claim religious belief as their motivation and they throw off all the restraints of non-discrimination laws. They have achieved the special rights they have long sought. Moral and decent people should be very afraid.
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