Religion is a divisive topic nowadays; people don’t just accept one another
By: Deja Nicole Greenlaw */TRT Columnist—
The Trump administration is becoming more and more of a nuisance to the rights of transgender Americans. It’s bad enough that we have to put up with “the Donald’s” lies, BS, and high drama every day, but now he wants to take away rights of transgender people in the U.S. He wants transgender people out of the military and he wants transgender people to be legally fired solely for being transgender. This is totally unacceptable and anti-American. If you take away the rights of Americans then you are anti-American. In this case, then, “the Donald” is an anti-American!
Who is pushing this nonsense? It is extremist religion or religious right. More specifically, it is the extremist Evangelicals. Now, I don’t care if these extremists make up any rules whatsoever for their church and themselves, but they cannot push their rules on the American people. This is the United States of America, not the United States of some religion. We should not tolerate these anti-American actions. Yes, because they want to take away our rights as Americans. These religious extremists are also anti-American!
How did these extremist Evangelicals get their voice? They got it from the Trump administration. Whenever a Republican is in the White House, these extremists—as well as other extremist groups such as white nationalists and the KKK—become emboldened. The reason why the Republicans warm up to the Evangelicals is that Republicans love the Evangelical vote. Previous Republican presidents have also warmed up to Evangelicals to get their votes, but these previous Republican presidents have just given lip service to the Evangelicals. Now, with the orange menace in the White House, the extremist Evangelicals have someone who will do their bidding. This has got to stop. These extremist religious groups must be put in their place for the good of America and the American people!
I am so sick and tired of extremist religions trying to place restrictions on my life, especially the restrictions placed on me because I am a transgender person. They have no right to do so. They think that they have God on their side. How come every religion says that they have God on their side? Do they think that they really have a special “in” with God? How about other religions? Do they say that the other religions don’t really have this “in” with God that they really have? Oh please!
They also say that America is a Christian nation. It’s not. America is a nation made of many different people with many different religions and some folks have no religion at all. Is it fair to push one religion’s rules on the whole country? How can they be so selfish and how can they feel so entitled to push their agenda on the rest of us in this great country, which built itself on freedom? This is the United States of America not the United States of Evangelical extremists.
These radicals need to understand just what exactly Thomas Jefferson meant when he spoke of what they call today, religious freedom. Jefferson noted, “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” These words are in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: “This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.”
Freedom of religion, as in the first amendment clause, also means that any American can practice any religion they want in the U.S., (please see the second part of the above quote.) Freedom of religion does not mean that any religion can impose any rules it wants on the American people. These religious fanatics need to understand this in no uncertain terms. Yes, they are trying to overstep their bounds and they must be put in their place.
How do we put these extremists in their place? Simple. Keep the Republicans out of the White House. Vote Blue! That will put the radical Evangelicals back in their closet. If Trump gets re-elected you can be sure that there will be more attempts to restrict transgender people, women, and other groups. Also, if he gets re-elected there will be more conservative justices on the Supreme Court to overturn the rights we currently have. We cannot afford to have any more conservative judges appointed to the Supreme Court! Let’s put extremist religion in its place by voting out the Republicans, especially this current Republican president!
*Deja Nicole Greenlaw is retired from 3M and has 3 children and two grandchildren. She can be contacted at dejavudeja@sbcglobal.net.
