Citing Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King as examples, Erika Christakis suggested as follows to Catholic opponents of funding abortions and contraception.
Let’s see what our society would look like if we all had the luxury of imposing our unfettered will. At a minimum, the Catholic bishops and employers resisting contraceptive coverage should be willing to pay for the care of all those unwanted children. Or perhaps they’d be willing to spend some time in jail in protest. At my taxpaying expense, of course.
Christakis may be in for a rude surprise when Christian clergy as well as orthodox Jewish supporters take her up on her challenge. The demonisation of religious faith and the marginalisation of believers has been advancing at an a dizzying pace in America. The liberal mainstream has its own religious canon of homosexual rights, abortion rights and the holy wall of the separation of church and state. Going against this modern day secular canon carries with it a lot of risk.
If the religious right in this country is given the opportunity to go to jail for its beliefs, that will be the day that the tide starts to turn.It will be a battle for the hearts and minds of the American people. And the secular humanists will lose.
