Religious Freedom: The Separation of Church and Your Paycheck

     The supreme court is looking into a case of whether or not the mandate in Obamacare that demands certain corporations to give access birth control violates their religious freedom. The two businesses, Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Woods Specialties are both Evangelical Christian companies seeking an exemption to the mandate using the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as. This isn't the first time we heard the words religious freedom and it being intruded on. Not too long ago, we had two bills introduced in both Kansas and Arizona that if passed, would allow businesses to not serve people based on their religious freedom. This was controversial since the bill was targeted not only to gay people, but people of other religions. Kansas' bill was defeated and Arizona's bill was vetoed. According to the first Amendment they do have the right to practice their religion, but to what extent? Where does the border of them practicing their religious freedom infringe on my freedom?
     Religion is the core of a person's belief. I understand that people who hold their religions in a high regard attempt to take their beliefs everywhere they go and it should be implemented in everything, like education and our judicial system but, they cannot because there are certain limits on where they can practice their religion. We have limits to our freedoms to ensure that our society functions properly. We have free speech, but we cannot go around yelling fire or unjustly slandering a person's character because that hurts our society. What supporters who claim that their religious freedom should realize that they do have right to practice their religious freedom, but not the expense of someone else's rights. Their religious freedom doesn't trump everyone else's rights. We are a nation that is comprised of people that practice different religions, or choose not to and for those reasons, the Constitution also establishes a separation of church and state to ensure that religion isn't influencing any laws in order to benefit everyone.
       Let's not forget that these companies and the people who feel that their religious beliefs should exclude them from certain policies are businesses that are open to the public. Their rights as human beings come before their religious freedom. They are going to deal with people that don't share their religious beliefs and practices. That would not be very fair or ethical to turn them away or deny them services. So, proponents of freedom of religion, you will have to make wedding cakes for gay people and give the "whores" their birth control.

Fred Dropped Dead

   

     The founder and former leader of the Westboro Baptist Church Fred Phelps has been pronounced dead. For those who haven't heard of Phelps or the Westboro Baptist Church, it is a church that was led by him and his family members. The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for picketing soldier funerals, damning 9/11 victims, and spreading anti-gay rhetoric declaring that "God Hates Fags." The church is very vocal about what God apparently hates, which isn't only exclusive to dead soldiers and "fags", but America, celebrities, the world, and pretty much everything else you or they can think of. Looking on the last few years of his life you get a perspective that for a majority of it he has wasted it by being an example of ugliness and bigotry and choosing to hold hate in his heart for anyone that wasn't like him.
     Hate isn't a healthy thing to have in your life. Hate is like an anchor. It holds you down, sinking you beneath the waters leaving you to drown. It prevents you from being human and enjoying life. As being the loving Christian he claims to be, it would have been more productive if Phelps had spent most of his life loving God's creation instead of trying to find ugliness in everything and spend every waking moment despising everything based on your narrow view of the world. Life is too short and wonderful to spend most of it focusing on what you see as wrong. You have to let that hate go in order to truly live.
    I should be shouting to the top of my lungs Ding Dong Fred Phelps is dead. But, I won't. That would be what he wanted. That would be what his congregation which thrives on hate and hating others in order to live would want and inspect. I will not give them that satisfaction. As a gay man, I should hate him. Fred was the face of homophobia in religion. He was the guy that tells you that you are an abomination because it's what the bible says. He was the reverend that tells your parents you are no longer deserving of their love and that they should be tossed aside like trash for not living up to God's standards. He was the person represents the serious flaw in religion and why many are turning their backs from it. He was what the people who claim they just hate the sin, not the sinner really are inside. Fred represented the ignorance and how evil people can twist what is suppose to be good into their own sick ideas and agendas. Instead, I will just pity him, reflect on sad his life was, and try live mine for the better. Let Fred be an example that you should love your fellow man like God says, instead of condemning them, treating them like they are less than human.

Sports and Homophobia

   

     On Thursday, gay activist and former Minnesota Vikings player, Chris Kluwe wrote a story for Deadspin. Kluwe makes the accusation that he was fired from being punter for the Vikings for being a LGBT activist and his support for gay rights. In the article, Kluwe states that he has been called in the office several times by coach, Mike Priefer, demanding him to stop speaking for gay rights which in a course of months resulted in his termination with the Vikings.

"It's my belief, based on everything that happened over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn't agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter."

      Further into the article, you get a story of how Kluwe was ostracized by his fellow peers (his coaches, other officials, and even a fellow teammate) for speaking out for gay rights. Reading the article, you get a look at how deep homophobia runs in the sports industry. Often, you openly hear homophobic remarks from sports fans, locker room talk among college and high school athletes, some coaches, and even some of the professional athletes themselves. This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Before we can solve the problem, we must get to the root of the problem.
      One of the many factors that contributes to homophobia is gender socialization and dominance. One of the reasons some people are hateful towards gay people is because, according to them, gay people do not fit the traditional roles of masculinity. Most of the opponents of gay rights declare that homosexuality "just isn't right." Men are suppose to act a certain way and are suppose to like women and if they don't something is wrong. This is just how they think. Dominance is big in sports. You have to be the best and being stronger and better than someone is important. Once again, gender socialization rears its ugly head as the masculinity is the ultimate form of dominance. A man is the dominate being. If you don't fit the classification of a man, you are inferior. That is usually the case where people who are gay are often bullied and viewed as being "limp-wristed" and weak. One possible solution to the this problem is if we can change the views on gender socialization. These people who are homophobic need to realize that gender roles are not so very black and white and not everyone fits into these roles perfectly. If they realize that, a lot of the problems with homophobia in sports will end.
      Luckily, there have been some progress. In 2013, there have been a athletes like, Jason Collins and Sharnee Zoll-Norman, have come out that are still playing. This is huge because you would hear an athlete coming out when they were retired and not in the sports industry. It also gives hope to people who are playing sports that are in the closet by telling them that it's alright to come out. There have been some athletes like Brendon Ayanbadejo, that are publicly in support of gay rights. In April of last year, the NHL has gotten involved in dealing with homophobia in sports. There are still some huge problems with homophobia in the sports industry, but at least we are moving forward.

Do you feel like it's getting better? Please comment.

Your Obligatory Famous Person Coming Out Post

     So, earlier this week, British Olympic Diver, Tom Daley posted a video announcing that he was bisexual and rumors are circulating that he is in a relationship with Milk Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. As a result of him posting the video, Tom has garnered tons of support from his fans and others online. The tons of support he has gotten, not to mention the growing support and legalization of gay rights and marriage here in the U.S and other countries, and the ending of DOMA shows how far we have gotten in supporting the LGBT community.
     Years ago, it possibly wouldn't have been possible for Tom to come out. I remember the absolute fear of being disowned by my family when I was younger and tossed out of my home, along with other people who were living in the closet. Back to the subject, with LGBT characters being portrayed in the media, countless protests and brave activists, and other public figures before Tom coming out has giving people an insight of who we really are and has allowed them to become more accepting of us. We have made huge leaps and bounds towards equality, but the question I'm raising is how much further do we have to go?