opinion

FINE: Misguided laws betray both religion and liberty

As a fourth-grader, I was troubled by the Pledge of Allegiance. Every day, the class would stand and recite — robotically, it seemed to me — the words that had been drilled into us: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

As a student obsessed with words, I couldn't figure out why our primary promise was to be loyal to a piece of cloth, and only secondarily to the country itself. And I didn't understand why my teacher seemed to spend more time making sure we recited the pledge than on making sure we knew our history and civic duties. But most importantly, the promises didn't ring true. Thirty years later, they still don't. The concepts that millions of children recite on a daily basis may be worthy aspirations, but they're not quite grounded in fact.

Liberty and justice for all? Not for victims of sex trafficking and forced labor. Not for same-sex couples who live in one of the 13 states where they are not allowed to get married. Not for citizens who are profiled by police or nonviolent offenders languishing in jail because they can't make bail.

Indivisible? Hardly. At every turn, our leaders are trying to divide us. In a way, it's understandable: Nothing motivates ordinary Americans to donate money to the perpetual campaign like demonizing someone on the other side of the aisle, whether that's Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.

Even those who've gotten out of the game benefit from pitting us against one another. Witness Republican also-ran Mike Huckabee shilling his latest book, "God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy," telling anyone who will listen that the real Americans live outside New York, Los Angeles and Washington. As though the people in those quintessentially American cities are not quite as American as people who live in towns no one wants to visit.

Now you've got business owners who are, under cover of so-called religious-freedom laws, intentionally turning away potential patrons and patients.

Like the co-owner of an Indiana pizzeria who announced that catering a gay wedding would be against his religion, as if preparing food for someone isn't just a cash transaction, but the chef's seal of approval for the diner and everything she stands for. Or the Michigan mechanic who said his Christian beliefs mean he'll turn away liars, thieves and gays, and offer discounts to gun owners. Or the Pennsylvania public school nurse who reportedly refused to treat a student who didn't stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.

But it's not just bad business and bad medicine — it's bad faith.

Religious liberty empowers each of us to follow our deeply held convictions and carry on the traditions we hold dear. It shouldn't be used to deny others that same right.

As nuns, gurus and the Hard Rock Cafe say, "Love all, serve all."

M.J. Fine is regional community content editor for the Courier-Post and Daily Journal. Reach her at (856) 486-2418 or mjfine@courierpostonline.com.