Thursday, August 2, 2012

8-1-12 and the First Amendment. Win, lose, or draw?

Social Media has been active lately, all revolving around chicken.  Well, not really chicken.  About religious beliefs and whether people have a right to them.  If a private citizen was asked about his religion by a religious magazine, can you hold an entire company accountable?

Some organized boycotts.  I'm fine with that.  I've long said that.  If you don't agree with a company, don't go there.  If you don't like how Wal-Mart, for example, does business, don't write your congressman.  Just shop elsewhere.  Because it doesn't matter what you say about a company.  They are going to watch their bottom line.  So I love the fact that people are boycotting.

Others, to show their support, organized a day to do so.  Yesterday, people bought chicken.  We have three Chick-Fil-As locally.  At least one ran out of Waffle fries!  I have friends across the country who reported what theirs looked like.  A friend in Maryland went to one, and had to go to the Wendy's across the street, because they only give him and hour for lunch.  Wendy's, he said, was also slammed because of the overflow.  Someone in Louisville, KY said that local news reports were advising people to detour around every one of them in the city, because they were so packed that cars were blocking traffic in a several block radius of them. 

I wanted to see for myself.  I didn't want media bias or others propaganda.  I drove by the least busy of the three in my city.  Cars were wrapped around the block for the drive through.  Those going inside took up the parking lot of the restaurant.  And the McDonalds next door.  And the strip mall behind it.  And that end of the Target Parking lot.  And that end of the parking area of a kids' play place.  I know because I watched people walking to and from their cars.  I know because as I drove around, I looked in the window and saw that many could not even fit inside the fast-food place.  I've never seen so many people in such a small place.  I myself did not go in.  I couldn't have gotten inside.

As you know, I often report on the loss of freedoms, especially First Amendment rights.  This was a day for either side to make themselves heard.

And yet, this was also a day to watch religious freedom vanish.  Under ObamaCare, 8-1 was a day when religious associated charities and medical services are now forced to violate their religious freedom.  Catholics in particular object to birth control in all forms as a religious belief.  Now they are not just forced to distribute, but pay for something that violates their religion.  But this goes beyond just the Catholic Church.  According to the ObamaCare definition of birth control, this includes the so called "Morning After" or "Abortion" pill, RU486.  That's right.  Pro-lifers now have to pay for abortions. 

My question is why?  Yesterday, people were allowed to buy or boycott chicken, based on their belief.  But they are forced to purchase and distribute something that destroys a human being.  What's worse, this wasn't covered on the news because of chicken.

So Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Assembly were upheld yesterday.  But Freedom of Religion and the Right to Life were not.  Hm...

So what do you think?  Win?  Lose?  Draw?  I'm a natural pessimist, and I tend to value the unborn over waffle fries, so I'm leaning toward loss.  But please leave a comment letting me know what you think.  Start with any of the three options, then explain why.

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