The Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed into law by Indiana Governor Mike Pence last week has found support from a most unusual source — practicing Wiccans…. Dusty Dionne, a High Priest and High Summoner of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church…confessed that while he believes “these bills are horrible,” [and that] they do provide a unique opportunity for practitioners of his faith…. “If they are going to up this can of worms,” he said, “we are going to shove it right in their face.” For example, he explained, many Wiccans believe “that love is the law,” so while polygamous marriages are not a tenet of Wiccan theology, “whatever we want to do with marriage we can do. Carte blanche. If I want to marry a horse, I can marry a horse.”
Yes, Virginia, this is what can happen when you believe you have the right to elevate your religious faith and moral standards over those who happen to believe differently. There’s this little thing I like to call the Law of Unintended Consequences which holds that any action, no matter how well-considered or seemingly sensible, may have results no one could have anticipated.
For instance, Indiana’s chapter of the American Taliban- good, patriotic, God-fearing, anti-LGBT activists all- believed that their Religious Freedom Restoration Act would be a vehicle allowing them to marginalize the LGBT community. They may have believed RFRA would make it easier for people like themselves to hold others to their moral and ideological standards. Both those things may be true, but what they didn’t realize is that the fun would really begin once other people began to read and parse RFRA.
Sometimes, when you think you’re smart and savvy enough to dabble in social engineering, it can become a Pandora’s box of (often unanticipated and unwelcome) surprises.
It seems RFRA is so broadly written that “religious freedom” can mean just about anything. The new law has helped to spawn the First Church of Cannabis, which has every bit as much claim to “religious freedom” as any Christian Church. The church’s founder said he wanted to be part of a religion that was “based on love and understanding with compassion for all.” And so he did, no doubt leading to much weeping and gnashing of teeth among the American Taliban.
“If someone is smoking in our church, God bless them,” [Church founder Bill] Levin said. “This is a church to show a proper way of life, a loving way to live life. We are called ‘cannataerians.’”
This is what can happen when you forget- or worse, refuse to acknowledge- that the Constitution’s Exclusion Clause prevents laws from being passed that elevate the interests of any religion over another. Passing a law that impacts the majority religion may be permissible…as long as it has an equal impact on other religions. Even better, there’s no test that verifies what qualifies as a religion. ANYONE can call themselves a religion and claim the legal protection of “religious freedom.” In the eyes of the law, Christianity is no more or less valid than any other faith tradition- yes, that includes the First Church of Cannabis.
Not to be left out, it seems that Indiana’s Wiccans are about to claim their piece of the “religious freedom” pie. While generally agreeing that RFRA is a horrible cluster$#%& of a law, Wiccans say there are some aspects of the law they can use to their advantage.
“If they are going to up this can of worms,” [Dusty Dionne, a High Priest and High Summoner of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church] said, “we are going to shove it right in their face.” For example, he explained, many Wiccans believe “that love is the law,” so while polygamous marriages are not a tenet of Wiccan theology, “whatever we want to do with marriage we can do. Carte blanche. If I want to marry a horse, I can marry a horse.”
Wiccans would also legally be able to refuse drug tests in states with religious freedom laws, because “natural” substances like marijuana and hallucinogens are “herbs” used to enhance experience at officially sanctioned religious ceremonies. Moreover, Dionne explained, giving the blood or urine samples required for such tests would run contrary to their belief that the “body is a temple,” and “if you come for a piece of my temple, I can say no.”
They would also be free to dance naked on state Capitol steps so long as the moon was full, as a Wiccan holy text — “The Charge of the Goddess” — sanctions the practice.
Dancing naked on the steps of the state capitol? Cue the American Taliban having a collective myocardial infarction in 4…3…2….
If one sows the wind, one must also prepare to reap the whirlwind. When Indiana Christians determined they needed something to make them feel better about their fears and prejudices, they passed RFRA. They did so without fully understanding how it might come back to bite them…to their everlasting embarrassment. Religious freedom means exactly that; it’s not the sole purview Christians, despite what those members of the American Taliban might believe.
Sometimes when you ask for something, you get it…along with a raftload of unanticipated (and in this case, exceedingly humorous) side effects. Though I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: America is NOT a Christian nation; it’s a secular nation with an 80% Christian majority. Being part of the majority does not mean having the right to determine who gets a seat at the table…or what they do once seated. There is no right to claim the “religious freedom” to deny basic human rights to a minority class. When the American Taliban believes themselves to be above the law
Don’tcha just LOVE America??
