Religious freedom

{{religion}}
{{hatnote|This article is about the abuse of the concept of freedom of religion as a cover for intolerance. See [[Freedom of religion]] for the real thing.}}
{{cquote|It’s not freedom when you are advocating taking away the liberty and rights of other human beings. It is not religious, especially not “Christian,” to be intolerant and bigoted against your fellow citizens.|||Joan E. Dowlin<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-e-dowlin/the-hypocrisy-of-religious-freedom_b_7663824.html |title=The Hypocrisy of ‘Religious Freedom’ |author=Joan E. Dowlin |date=07/02/2015 |work=[[The Huffington Post]]}}</ref>|||}}

'''Religious freedom''' was originally synonymous with [[freedom of religion]], the basic right to choose which [[God|deity]] (if any) to worship. However, more recently, the phrase "religious freedom" and its variation "religious liberty" have been hijacked by the [[Religious Right]] and twisted from their original meaning into disingenuous [[code word]]s referring to a self-drawn license to discriminate and [[Irony|control]] other people's lives in the name of one's own preferred ceiling [[cat]].

==As a synonym for "freedom of religion"== 
{{Main|Freedom of religion}} 

==As a political code-word== 
{{cquote|All of the Republican candidates for president talk endlessly about “religious freedom,” but as usual what they really mean is Christian privilege.|||[[Ed Brayton]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2015/12/11/the-christian-rights-hypocrisy-on-religious-freedom/ |title=The Christian Right’s Hypocrisy on Religious Freedom |author=[[Ed Brayton]] |date=12/11/2015 |work=Patheos}}</ref>|||}}

The phrases "religious freedom" and "religious liberty" are often invoked, with the retention of the sense mentioned in the previous part of the article, as a euphemism for a mandate to control the lives of [[other]]s and force them to adhere to the tenets of one's own religion. The use of the phrase is a manifestation of a [[persecution complex]], and it allows the perpetrators and advocates of intolerance and oppression to [[DARVO|portray themselves as victims]] whose basic rights are violated by any movement toward equal rights for other demographics, e.g. [[LGBTQ]] people being able to marry the person of their choice or being protected from workplace discrimination, women making their own decisions on [[abortion]], [[transgender]] people living as their identified gender, couples using [[birth control]], unmarried people having sex, or students not being forced to undergo [[Teach the controversy|intelligent design lessons]] or participate in [[school prayer]]. In short, this use of the phrase "religious freedom" is less about advancing true [[freedom of religion]] than about [[Hypocrisy|undermining this very principle as it pertains to others]].

In 2016, the Chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission wrote in a government report that "the phrases 'religious liberty' and 'religious freedom' will stand for nothing except hypocrisy so long as they remain code words for discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Christian supremacy or any form of intolerance."<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/religious-freedom-code-word-bigotry-christian-supremacy-us-civil-rights-commissioner-martin-castro-169370/ |title=Religious Freedom Is 'Code Word' for Bigotry, Christian Supremacy, US Civil Rights Commissioner Says |author=Brandon Showalter |date=9/9/2016 |work=Christian Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/8/religious-freedom-religious-liberty-just-code-word/ |title=‘Religious freedom,’ ‘liberty’ just ‘code words’ for intolerance, U.S. Civil Rights chairman says |author=Mark A. Kellner |date=9/8/2016 |work=Washington Times}}</ref> In 2017, the [[Donald Trump|Trump]] administration designed a so-called "religious liberty" executive order which, sure enough, uses this concept as a cover for further entrenching Christian privilege and the ability to discriminate against LGBTQ people, women, and children in foster care.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-religious-liberty-executive-order-reject-national-prayer-day-1000-faith-leaders-freedom-a7716971.html |title=Donald Trump's 'religious liberty' executive order rejected by 1,000 faith leaders |author=Charlotte England |date=5/4/2017 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

==See also== 
*[[Conservative correctness]]
*[[DARVO]]
*[[Freedom of religion]] 
*[[Homophobia]] 
*[[Hypocrisy]]
*[[Persecution complex]]

==External links== 
*[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-emily-c-heath/how-to-determine-if-your-religious-liberty-is-being-threatened-in-10-questions_b_1845413.html How to determine if your religious liberty is being threatened in just 10 quick questions] 
*[http://www.mekabay.com/opinion/religious_freedom.pdf Religious Freedom?] by M. E. Kabay, PhD, CISSP-ISSMP

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Political euphemisms]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Reverse discrimination]]

Categories: Conservative deceit, Conspiracy theories, Homophobia, Misnomers, Political euphemisms, Political terms, Reverse discrimination