Freedom from religion, too?

Why not?

The changing face and place of religion as covered by certain media outlets recently has not only Arab patriarchs and dictators thinking twice.

Paul Haggis, noted screenwriter, producer, director and now Scientology apostate says in an article in The New Yorker:

“For ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego,” Haggis wrote. Before the 2008 elections, a staff member at Scientology’s San Diego church had signed its name to an online petition supporting Proposition 8, which asserted that the State of California should sanction marriage only “between a man and a woman.” The proposition passed.

As Haggis saw it, the San Diego church’s “public sponsorship of Proposition 8, which succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California—rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state—is a stain on the integrity of our organization and a stain on us personally. Our public association with that hate-filled legislation shames us.” Haggis wrote, “Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent.” He concluded, “I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.”

Frank Schaeffer, noted author, Christian and "religious right" apostate in the Huffington Post writes:

What do you think the reaction would be from "respectable" conservative religious and political leaders if -- since 1982 -- over fifty American couples had been convicted of murdering their children in "Muslim religious rituals?" What would Glenn Beck be saying?

Yet according to the New York Times there have been at least 50 convictions in the United States since 1982 in cases where medical treatment was withheld from a child for "religious reasons." And there have been hundreds more cases that weren't brought to trial out of over solicitous "respect" for religious freedom and parents' rights.

And that's just the killings in the name of God done in the Evangelical/fundamentalist and so-called charismatic community where medical care is withheld from children while parents "trust God" to heal them. That doesn't even touch the bizarre world of other American cults, tax-deductable cults that is...

While The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reveals in a survey recently (the Summary of Key Findings can be found here) that, apparently, "many Americans struggle to answer basic questions about faith, even their own."

Atheists and agnostics reportedly "scored best," overall, on the various questions.

Can I hear an - "IRONIC?!"
Or, at least a - "THAT'S SAD!"

And ABC News with Diane Sawyer in a report by Dan Harris and Maggy Patrick last evening notes:

America is the most developed nation when it comes to religion. It has a dynamic, competitive religious marketplace -- which means it has winners and losers.

According to a report by the National Council of Churches (NCC), the biggest losers are the mainstream Protestant churches -- the Presbyterian Church, Methodists and Lutherans are all showing a dip in membership.

While each of them are down just a few percentage points (the data was compiled in 2009 and reported to the council in 2010) the declines have reached into the double digits over the last decade. Some of them are responding with ad campaigns.

"I think one of the things about mainline is that because it was the dominant church for so long, it took for granted that it would be publicly valuable," said Rev. Serene Jones of the Union Theological Seminary. "To suddenly find yourself no longer the big guy on the block, meaning you suddenly have to start figuring out who you are and explain yourself."

The NCC 2010 report summary can be found here.

So, yes, by all means, freedom from religion, too.

Especially, as religion continues (everywhere?) to figure out, exactly, WHO and WHAT it is.

Oh, and please continue to add to that mixture: "What can you do for me?"

No doubt, JFK (among others?) must surely be spinning under (blissful?) eternal flames:

And lest anyone not notice, how about Ronald Wilson Reagan versus Ron Reagan, (Jr.)?

What a dialogue that might have been (is or was)!

Until next time . . . be good to each other.