Hunter Klemetson
Schneiderman
English 1101 4B
16 January 2015
Proposal
Throughout history, people of America have often been discriminated against as a result of religion playing a role in American politics. Bans against discrimination have failed to pass as a direct result of religion. If they had passed, people such as Jennifer Maudlin would not have been fired after telling her employer that she had gotten pregnant while she was working at a religiously-based community center (Inside). If those bans had been allowed to be put in place, we wouldn't be seeing social service organizations that receive government funding deny services to same-sex couples in the name of their religious beliefs (Using). A solution needs to be introduced that
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The government simply cannot control what a place of worship is preaching to their congregations unless it has a direct threat to the safety of people. It's also a violation of the separation of church and state, because the separation of church and state means that one cannot influence the other. This solution wouldn't be effective because although it helps to slow the spread of damaging beliefs, it doesn't help to stop it. Individuals still hold their own beliefs, no matter what their religion tells them. All in all, this is an ineffective solution. The solution that would be the most effective at halting discrimination as a result of religion would probably be educating religious people about discriminated groups by diversifying television shows, ads, and various other public avenues and having people who are part of discriminated groups talk to religious people about their lives. Having more diversity in televisions shows, ads, and other public avenues would mean that there is more representation for discriminated groups in society. After being exposed to this diversity, society would be more open to accept them since they are being seen …show more content…
With this solution put in place, people would be happier to be productive members of society. The two other solutions which are plans to pass laws would only serve to take discrimination from one group and put it onto another, which doesn't solve the problem. They would also be costly, because laws take money to pass. The final solution would not require any more money to be spent than is already being spent. America can look forward to a brighter future if this solution is implemented.
Works Cited
Cauthen Kenneth. "Church and State, Politics and Religion." Religion and Politics, Church and State. 14 May 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015
"Inside Out and Pregnancy Discrimination." ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.
"Santorum distorts calls for church-state separation." USA Today 29 Feb. 2012: 8A. Global Issues In Context. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.
"Using Religion to Discriminate." ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.
Vavreck, Lynn. "How Same-Sex Marriage Effort Found a Way Around Polarization." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Dec. 2014. Web. Jan.
The Myth of the Separation of Church and State retrieved on January 7, 2005 from: http://www.noapathy.org/tracts/mythofseparation.html
Proponents of a highly limited separation of church and state often argue that America’s founding fathers would be appalled at the extent to which the Judeo...
Mueller, Arnold C. "Religion in the Public Schools." In Church and State Under God, ed. Albert G. Huegli. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2004.
With careful consideration of these arguments, the separation of church and state is not only favorable to the American society but also essential to have a functional governmental democracy. For hundreds of years the Federal Government has had separation between organized religion and government functions which, has shown to best protect the religious freedom of the American people and protect the rights established in the constitution. Therefore, the current establishment of se...
Lampman, Jane. Christian Science Monitor. “New scrutiny of role of religion in Bush’s Policies”. March 17, 2003.
...e underestimate the influence religion has on American politics. According to public opinion polls, at least 40% of voters subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Bible and thus, 40% of voters are conservative Christians. Wald and Calhoun-Brown reveal the Christian Right is "closely allied with the Republican Party" (206). “Stealth campaigns” (219), led by committees who hide behind soft names like “Focus on the Family”, ultimately seek to eliminate same-sex marriage, women’s rights, and more. For example, while Concerned Women for America sounds like a women's right's organization, the 500,000-member committee focuses primarily on lobbying antigay and prolife legislation. Along the same lines Focus on the Family (founded 1981 by James Dobson) and the Traditional Values Coalition (formed in 1989 by Pat Robertson) are also advocates of the anti-gay movement.
Thomas, Oliver "Buzz". "How To Keep The 'United' In United States: Coping With Religious Diversity In The World's First 'New' Nation." Church & State Feb. 2007: 19+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
and religion. Should there be any real entanglement between “Church and State” at all? In a letter to a Baptist minister, Thomas Jefferson stated that, “the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” (http://www.free2pray.info/Danbury.html). The phrase, “a wall of separation between church and State”, is often quoted or referenced during discussions concerning the mixture of religion and politics. Politics and religion are generally perceived as two of the most controversial conversation subjects, often leading to heated debates over different issues. Yet, matters are certainly not any lighter, whenever you combine the two topics in a single discussion of their relationship to each other.
Today, if our government needs proof that the separation of Church and State works to secure the freedom of religion, they only need to look at the overabundance of Churches, temples, and shrines that exist in the cities and towns throughout the Untied States. Only a non-religious government, separated from religion could possibly allow such dissimilarity.
Nagourney, Adam. "Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay Marriage in California." New York Times. N.p., 7 Feb. 2012. Web.
Wilcox, C., & Iida, R. (2011). Evangelicals, the Christian Right, and Gay and Lesbian Rights in the United States: Simple and Complex Stories. In D. Rayside & C. Wilcox (Eds.), Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity in Canada and the United States. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press
Religious liberty in public life. (2010, 24 2010). Retrieved 11 24, 2010, from firstamendmentcenter: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/free_exercise/index.aspx
" Political Theology 10.2 (2009): 287-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. The Web. The Web.
...meone of their rights and taking them away. It is discrimination against whichever religion is not taught. While prayer and religion may help aid in development, not every child or every person will develop the same. Different backgrounds, including religion and culture, produce different results. Religion should not be allowed in public schools, it would cause more harm than it will do good.
In conclusion I argue that banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory. It is discriminatory because it denies homosexuals the many benefits received by heterosexual couples. The right to marriage in the United States has little to do with the religious and spiritual meaning of marriage. It has a lot to do with social justice, extending a civil right to a minority group. This is why I argue for same-sex marriage. The freedom to marry regardless of gender preference should be allowed.