Words from a Mennonite who has wrestled with the issues of 'faith' and 'conscientious objection' his entire life.....
"Kim Davis has a fundamentally shallow understanding of what it means to be a conscientious objector."
If your faith is clashing with your job in these ways, it’s time for a new line of work.
It’s a pretty simple concept — and one that reveals the true nature of authentically grappling with holding religious beliefs that run counter to the way civil society is organized. As one Quaker explained in a patient blog post criticizing Hobby Lobby’s owners for taking their religious liberty fight all the way to the Supreme Court: “I know firsthand that it can be hard to pass up opportunities that violate your conscience. But that is the price you pay for conscientious objection. If you’re not willing to pay that price, you’re not a Conscientious Objector. Full stop.”
Though right-wing Christians are often quick to call out these sacrifices as proof they’re being discriminated against, this type of compromise from religious folks is routine. When you’re a member of a larger secular society that’s built on laws, taxes, and policies you don’t agree with, you won’t get everything you want all of the time. Members of the historic peace churches have a lot of experience with this. We may have secured the religious exemptions that allow us to avoid participating in U.S. military activity, but our objections to the political system aren’t limited to the threat of being drafted. Mennonites and Quakers don’t particularly like the fact that they continue to indirectly support violence, war, and oppression through their tax dollars, as well as through any other day-to-day activities that help prop up the government.
However, aside from the occasional stand against less than a dollar in telephone taxes, most of us begrudgingly accept this reality. Even the Amish, who have peeled off from modern society in nearly every way specifically to better adhere to their faith, still pay earned income taxes — they don’t pay into Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but only because they waive the benefits.
Living out your faith doesn’t mean always getting your way without consequence. And, subsequently, it isn’t always easy or comfortable. For instance, some pacifists who absolutely can’t reconcile paying federal taxes with their deeply held beliefs do engage in tax resistance, but at great personal cost to themselves: They intentionally make so little money each year that they don’t owe the IRS anything.
On the other hand, Kim Davis — along with the LGBT opponents who are lining up to support her as a civil rights hero — has a fundamentally shallow understanding of what it means to be a conscientious objector, and one that’s frankly a bit disrespectful to the people of faith who take these issues quite seriously.
Now, those of us who strongly believe in the right to religious objections need to know: Kim Davis, if you simply can’t abide participating in a modern society that allows same-sex couples to get married, it’s time to get serious. What are you willing to give up in return?
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/09/11/3700174/religious-accommodation-work/It’s a pretty simple concept — and one that reveals the true nature of authentically grappling with holding religious beliefs that run counter to the way civil society is organized. As one Quaker explained in a patient blog post criticizing Hobby Lobby’s owners for taking their religious liberty fight all the way to the Supreme Court: “I know firsthand that it can be hard to pass up opportunities that violate your conscience. But that is the price you pay for conscientious objection. If you’re not willing to pay that price, you’re not a Conscientious Objector. Full stop.”
Though right-wing Christians are often quick to call out these sacrifices as proof they’re being discriminated against, this type of compromise from religious folks is routine. When you’re a member of a larger secular society that’s built on laws, taxes, and policies you don’t agree with, you won’t get everything you want all of the time. Members of the historic peace churches have a lot of experience with this. We may have secured the religious exemptions that allow us to avoid participating in U.S. military activity, but our objections to the political system aren’t limited to the threat of being drafted. Mennonites and Quakers don’t particularly like the fact that they continue to indirectly support violence, war, and oppression through their tax dollars, as well as through any other day-to-day activities that help prop up the government.
However, aside from the occasional stand against less than a dollar in telephone taxes, most of us begrudgingly accept this reality. Even the Amish, who have peeled off from modern society in nearly every way specifically to better adhere to their faith, still pay earned income taxes — they don’t pay into Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but only because they waive the benefits.
Living out your faith doesn’t mean always getting your way without consequence. And, subsequently, it isn’t always easy or comfortable. For instance, some pacifists who absolutely can’t reconcile paying federal taxes with their deeply held beliefs do engage in tax resistance, but at great personal cost to themselves: They intentionally make so little money each year that they don’t owe the IRS anything.
On the other hand, Kim Davis — along with the LGBT opponents who are lining up to support her as a civil rights hero — has a fundamentally shallow understanding of what it means to be a conscientious objector, and one that’s frankly a bit disrespectful to the people of faith who take these issues quite seriously.
Now, those of us who strongly believe in the right to religious objections need to know: Kim Davis, if you simply can’t abide participating in a modern society that allows same-sex couples to get married, it’s time to get serious. What are you willing to give up in return?
