Purity Culture and my Religious Freedom.

Alexis de Toqueville writes in 1835:
“In the United States it is not only mores that are controlled by religion, but its sway extends over reason… So Christianity reigns without obstacles by universal consent.  Thus while the law allows the American people to do everything, there are things which religion prevents them from imagining and forbids them to become.  Religion, which never interferes directly in the government of American society should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions."
 
The UN Human Rights Committee notes that Article 18 (on religious freedom) “protects theistic, non-theistic, and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.”

Freedom of religion also means my right to be free from religion.  This seems to be addressed in the UNHRC comment above, but as Toqueville describes, the matter is thorny when the systemic principles embedded in our institutions are pre-disposed to accept the moral authority of a particular religion.  For example, the influence of medieval Christian purity culture on North American notions of sexuality and the control of women have directly resulted in the stigmatization of birth control, which seems to be a ‘secular’ issue when presented under the purview of healthcare but is actually directly an infringement on my freedom from religion, since its roots are religious in nature.  

To give you a specific example, I have a pocket-sized computerized gadget that tells me every morning if I am fertile that day.  With greater accuracy than the effectiveness of a condom, I can know which 6 days per month not to have sex.  What a revelation.  I had to order this from Germany, because my supposedly ‘secular’ public government doesn’t understand how to objectively examine its archaic underpinnings and let me choose how to regulate my own body by my fragile little female self.

Can we please have the courage to step away from the oppressive aspects of our religious institutions to create a more just society?  If you truly have love and faith in your religion, then allow it to be the best it can be.