Freedom vs. Religion … again

It would be inappropriate for a prospective employer to ask about your religious beliefs in a job interview, but after today’s ruling by the Supreme Court with regards to “religious freedom” trumping healthcare with regards to offering contraceptives, it’s almost a necessity for the interviewee to ask the same thing of his prospective employer…

Do you believe in a religion that has strong views with regards to medical care, be it contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization, blood transfusions, vaccines, antibiotics, or even any medical treatment in general in favor of The Lord’s Will to heal his true believers?

How about the CEO and Board of Directors??? What are their current takes on these life-altering medical procedures? And which of them have the most weight in terms of dictating religious policy for the organization as a whole?

Are there any plans to sell the company or change ownership in the next 20 to 30 years to another party that might decide “the corporation’s religious beliefs” no longer align with any that will allow me the proper medical care that I require or may require 20-30 years on down the road in my career???

If there’s any positive thing at all to come out of today’s ruling, it’s why it’s time for America to catch up with the rest of the civilized world and leave employer-sponsored health insurance behind in favor of a single-payer model that doesn’t leave employees at the mercy of their employer to determine the quality of medical care that they deserve. Sure, you could just pay for it yourself, except no you can’t because the current system so vastly favors those with insurance that anyone seeking care without inanely pays multiple times the fees that insurance companies have mandated for their own costs … that’s why it’s pretty much vital to have insurance in America today.

A business being able to declare religious beliefs as a reason for denying certain kinds of isn’t religious freedom, it’s religious oppression. Businesses should not have the right to dictate what kinds of medical care one of their employees are allowed to receive – that decision should be between them and their doctors. Either provide health insurance or don’t, but this idea that they can pick and choose which specific line items in a person’s healthcare needs that they’ll cover is appalling.

If you need to prevent someone else from doing something in order to express your freedom, you’re an oppressor.

Freedom of Religion means that our government cannot establish a national religion that all US citizens are required to follow … it’s kind of why our ancestors came over here from England in the first place. Yet with today’s ruling, your employer now is allowed to establish a religion for his business, and by simply working there you’re expected to follow it because that religion will dictate the type of healthcare that you receive.

Last time I checked, freedom is supposed to cover everybody – freedom isn’t earned by taking it from someone else.