“I Believe” The Supreme Courts’ Own Pandora’s Box

The expected Monday ruling by the Justices on the ‘religious rights’ of companies versus federal laws has the potential to be ground-breaking decision. Regardless of the decision there will be lots of subsequent efforts that will enrich the lawyers. The problem that is facing the Justices may actually not be the one that they are ‘narrowing’ their sights upon. Do companies, even tightly held family businesses, have the right to indiscriminately apply their religious beliefs, tenets and views with exemptions from federal laws/regulations? The question is not whether the companies and their particular owners have religious views that conflict, in their opinion, with an aspect of a federal policy. This may be the issue that is discussed in the media, that the suit and its arguments are fashioned around, or that the parties involved want the issue to be; but the issue that the Court should be considering in its assessment of the suit ought to include the ‘unasked’ and ‘un-presented’ question of who and how does a ‘religious’ belief get defined and assessed as being a ‘valid’ belief?

Is the Supreme Court willing to rule that ‘religious’ beliefs trump law in any area? Or is the Court somehow going to try and carve out a small, narrow, and single-issue oriented decision that will fundamentally (not meant in a religious context) establish a crack in the foundation. A religious belief would seem to be recognized and honored by our Constitution as something an individual is allowed to have and live by within their own life without interference from the Government. However, at the very moment and boundary where the individual’s beliefs intrude into the lives of others, America decided that the Government and religion will take separate paths. So when the companies’ owners want to be exempted from the federal mandate on healthcare rules we are staring straight down the dividing line. The owners believe in a pro-life view which they now want extended to the lives of their employees.  It doesn’t matter if the employees have a comparable view; it doesn’t matter if employees’ view are also religiously based yet are pro-choice or if agnostic/atheistic are violated by definition from that of the owners.

Let’s set aside the question of the employee’s rights to their religious or non-religious views versus the owner’s, because I am sure every American will agree that a company’s views take precedent over their employees just like the feudal lords views superseded the serfs [I could have used a more American reference, but why muddy the issue?]. So let us look just at the dimension of ‘religious’ correctness of doctrine.

The ‘religiosity’ of a view being relevant in the applicability of our nation’s laws is the introduction of the very malicious cancer that the founding fathers were fortunately able to foresee and build into the social and civic structure of our government and society. Keeping religion out of politics has been a dismal failure, but keeping it out of our laws has been at least more often than not a successful ‘holding ground’ effort. When discussing the freedom of religion right, it seems that people think of and distrust the government’s intruding on our religious rights but there was as important (maybe even more feared) risk of religious intrusions on our government. This second dimension of religion and government is the one that the Court is placing on the altar of their wisdom. Whether they sustain the letter and spirit of the founders’ vision or sacrifice it to a vision that they have misunderstood will be at the center of their ruling. Each side of the argument will of course see their view as being consistent with the “original intent” argument which logically means that that view is not verifiable as a “true” intent. This decision must ‘look to the future’ because that is where the consequences will occur and that is where the wisdom or folly of the Justices will fall; that is also where the rest of us must live with their decision be it good or ill.

Now I always know what the right interpretation of religious views should be. That is because I know that my beliefs and faith are true, right and come from the gifts that God has granted me. So if the Justices could just assure me that my views were upheld and applied than I would have no objection or problem with ruling that ‘my individual freedom of religion’ rights were protected. However, since I find the religious views of others often in error of a rational religious doctrine, even one that is purportedly the same as my own, I do not see how others can be allowed to influence a public policy which has any impact upon me and my rights both religious and non-religious. Now being an open-minded person, it does occur to me that there might be at least one other person in the nation that may have the exact same view as me regarding their rights yet not agree with me on my religious views. This does create a certain irresolvable conflict of whose views are paramount. I of course think mine should be but perhaps you might think that yours are.

 Where might religious beliefs come into conflict with local, state or federal law? Could anyone possibly have a religious view that could be applied to an exemption or to a compulsion on:  taxation, government funding of programs, entitlement programs, medical research, criminal codes, property, drugs, …  [by now you may have a few of your own areas that you think the government may be in violation of your religious views and need to be exempted from something because of it].

Now what about the ‘who gets to decide’ if a religious belief is an accurate interpretation of a particular religion’s doctrine? What religions get recognized? Whose religion has precedence over others? If I share a religious faith but disagree with one or more members of that particular faith, who gets to decide? A recent study of Catholics in the US indicates that they don’t follow several of the positions of the general leadership of the Church. Even the Pope’s views are not absolutely concurred with by his hierarchy. The reason that there is a myth about Pandora’s box is that even a very long time ago there was a need to remind people that that are consequences to actions, and that sometime you can’t undo the action.

In the Christian faiths there is an answer to this issue in the Bible, it strange that no one has brought it up.