Separation of church and state

Human rights.
They are not something up for popular vote.  They are something everyone that is born human has at birth. How was that ever in doubt.

I thought I was equal to everyone else as a small child.  I never, ever thought that there were things I couldn't do because of the circumstances of my birth.

Some would refer to that as naivete.  Others might think it more a sign of wishful thinking or delusional thought disorder or even just plain "putting on airs"

I prefer to think of it as proof that we all know we are human from the minute we are born.

Recently, there has been a lot of political movement surrounding rights--and they are all human rights--there are no other kind.  We have the recent right to marry the person you love whether or not they are of a different sex, the right to be another race without being treated inferior, the right to be female without being treated inferior, the right to be born in another country or speak a different language without being treated inferior and even the right to commit a crime, pay the price society demands and then return to society without being treated inferior.

Most confusing, though, seems to be religious rights. beliefs, and free speech.

Do I have the right to believe whatever I want?  Of course, try stopping that right, mind control is not even policeable.  Do I have a right to talk about those rights?  Free speech, sure," sticks and stones my break my bones but words will never hurt me".  Co-dependence aside, that is ultimately true.  Now when the words only purpose is to invoke violence, that is not speech, or at least not JUST speech.  It is as illegal to pay someone to commit a crime as it is to commit a crime yourself.  If your speech purposely motivates--pays for-- a criminal act, it is criminal, if not in the eyes of the court, at least in the eyes of those that can recognize ethical and moral deficiency. And let's not forget that a thing can be criminal without being morally wrong.  The people making up the laws are not perfect.  The people writing the holy books are also not perfect, and last I checked, no holy book even claims to be without human touch.

Most of us know right from wrong long before someone has told us what to hate and despise.   I'm not talking about the shame and humiliation of a fashion faux pas.  But when a child sees something that disturbs them, like a person kicking in the face of another person, they no that is wrong and they don't forget.  If the person doing the kicking is someone they love, they may go to great lengths to justify that thing, but they were disturbed.

Right now, we hear a lot about the rights of religions.

Religions are belief systems.  The people that believe them are protected by their own inability to have their thoughts policed.

A church, mosque, temple, sanctuary, whatever, has the freedom to follow its own beliefs, but only so far as those rights do not take the rights of anyone else.  So, you can refuse to provide services for people that do not meet whatever qualifications you have for your religion.  Think of it was club membership.  But you can not tell someone that is not in your "club" what to do.  You also should not let them be in your club as long as they pay their dues, but refuse to let them fully participate.
For those of you that are poor at metaphor--you can refuse to let to people of the same sex marry in your church, but you can not tell them they can not be married.  Marriage is a legal construct as well as a religious one, and has legal rights that come with it.  It is not alright to deny people the privilege of right of survival, inheritance, tax status, etc, unless the religion is NOT separate from the government.

 I do think that, like every single business that has to meet federal requirements to benefit from federal privileges such as tax exemption as a nonprofit; churches should also have to follow those laws.  Most churches should be paying taxes anyhow, as the are making serious profits.  But if your holy place wants to deny the rights of groups of individuals that the government says are protected as having human rights (weren't they born with them), they get to pay their taxes for their right to discriminate (churches, like corporations, are not really people, therefore are not born with human rights)

For a good portion of us, the offerings of a church or mosque or temple or other religious gathering place, is for our spiritual growth, and is aimed at improving the individuall.  When a religious group decides they want to force their beliefs on everyone for "the greater good" they are trying to eliminate that very necessary part of spiritual growth--personal choice.

I do no grow spiritually because someone told me I had to, or because someone told me the only steps that would take me where I need to go.  I can only grown, spiritually, when I make the choice to do what is right for my spirit.
  
Truly wise spiritual leaders are not control freaks.

And for all of you now in need of a wedding ceremony--be creative.  You don't have the right to make people perform a ceremony.  Make a better ceremony.  Make a better holy place.  Your rights do no include changing others anymore than their do.

I have known a lot of very creative, artistic, loving people with no desire to deny anyone else their right to a beautiful Wedding to begin their beautiful marriage.  Leave out those hateful people and make it all about love.