WHAT ARE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS?

Perhaps now is the time in our history to ask the question: what is a belief and should that belief be legalized by law?

I submit that beliefs are personal.  Therefore, I do not agree that these beliefs should be legalized as correct, irrefutable, or the only way to see a person, place or thing.

In our country right now, religious beliefs are being placed ahead of all other beliefs, and in turn, are being given legal status over and above the fundamental premise of our country, which promises to afford equal access to all without discrimination.

A religious belief is a personal conviction that has evolved over time after having been sorted through by various human beings from many alternate possibilities.  These same beliefs are regularly open to reinterpretation as times and people change. In most instances, certain religious beliefs are a requirement of membership in various churches and congregations.  And it is fair to say that no two churches believe the exact same dogma, although many claim a common history.

America's "freedom of speech" allows one to speak his beliefs through words and through protest (actions), but when it comes to legally denying another citizen that which is accessible to everyone not of the particular group in question, a dangerous line is crossed, and one group is denied equal access over another.

We must not legalize a belief in a free land.  Hitler legalized beliefs.  Mussolini legalized beliefs. Apartheid legalized beliefs.  Slavery was a legalized belief.

Each of the above denied another person or group that which the denier enjoyed to the fullest.

We cannot, we must not, take this route.

Compassion, tolerance, openness, and knowledge.  These first.

And always: Do no harm, do not judge (the most oft forgot religious belief).