Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Freedom {preposition} religion

This from Bill Moyers on the recent episode regarding contraception, insurance, and Roman Catholic teaching and practice is a fine analysis that hangs on which preposition is inserted between the words freedom and religion.  The liveliness of American religion is stimulated in large degree by the tense circumstances generated by inserting both of and from.  The first amendment promise of freedom of religion (free exercise) is linked with the promise of freedom from (non-establishment).  While the initial scope of this was limited, over the decades we've expanded from the specific legal guarantees to more general cultural expectations that require frequent negotiation.  The freedom to exercise (to believe and practice) one's own religion, does depend on freedom from coercion that forces one to subscribe to the beliefs and practices of another religion.  While this may seem, to many citizens, obvious in the realm of governmental authority, the rub comes in other arenas, most specifically in "faith-based" institutions such as Roman Catholic hospitals.  What Moyers points out about Obama's recent efforts is that the president is offering a plan that preserves the rights of the individual while not forcing the institution to compromise its policies.  Would that all similar conflicts about for/from could be so neatly addressed.

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