"How Little My Countrymen Know"

Religious freedom is a right that we as Americans have enjoyed for over 200 years. Sometimes when we have enjoyed something for so long we lose perspective. What does it mean to have religious freedom? What does it mean to be without it?   The Department of State published the International Religious Freedom Report for 2013 in which it states,

 “In 2013, the world witnessed the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory. In almost every corner of the globe, millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and others representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs. Out of fear or by force, entire neighborhoods are emptying of residents. Communities are disappearing from their traditional and historic homes and dispersing across the geographic map. In conflict zones, in particular, this mass displacement has become a pernicious norm……All around the world, individuals were subjected to discrimination, violence and abuse, perpetrated and sanctioned violence for simply exercising their faith, identifying with a certain religion, or choosing not to believe in a higher deity at all. Governments from all regions subjected members of religious groups to repressive policies, discriminatory laws, disenfranchisement, and discriminatory application of laws. These governmental actions not only infringed on freedom of religion themselves, but they also often created a permissive environment for broader human rights abuses. Restrictive policies included laws criminalizing religious activities and expression, prohibitions on conversion or proselytizing, blasphemy laws, and stringent registration requirements or discriminatory application of registration requirements for religious organizations."

That is what it means to be without religious freedom. This report gives accounts of governmental religious intolerance from China, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Russia, and many others. 

Americans truly do enjoy rights and liberties that many people around the world may never even begin to understand. Yet the American people are often opposed to religious freedom. In the recent Supreme Court decision on the Hobby Lobby case the Court decided that Hobby Lobby has the option of opting out of the contraceptive mandate on religious principles. The court decided that Hobby Lobby’s decision fell under the protection of the 1^st amendment. The decision was met with mixed feelings. Many Americans were furious. Protesters stood outside Hobby Lobby locations handing out birth control. Women knit uteri and sent them to Hobby Lobby. Even Christian groups who were opposed to the decision stood outside Hobby Lobby holding prayer vigils. This decision supported individual’s rights to live their religious beliefs and the American people are furious? The question is, do the American people have such a misconstrued understanding of religious freedom that they are ignorantly opposing its existence in our country? Or, is it that the American people simply do not want it? ow HoHow Thomas Jefferson once stated “How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy.” True, even more so today.