Nothing Was Delivered

Religion and sex. It never fails. When these two forces meet, things are going to get sticky (if you’ll pardon the expression). Both are deeply ingrained in our lives, we don’t know how to talk about either of them, and they intersect at strange and discomforting places—just look the different ways we use the word “ecstasy”.

Unfortunately, unlike with sex, we have not yet come to a consensus that religion should be practiced only among consenting adults. Instead, we see an incessant drum beat from those on the religious right to force their morality on the rest of us. Among the stomach-churning aspects of yesterday’s Hobby Lobby decision is the glee that the right feels in being able to impose their religious practices on the rest of us. The basis of the lawsuit was the belief, ostensibly held by a corporate entity that certain types of birth control are, in fact, abortion, and that abortion is bad. Never mind that these beliefs are horseshit. This horseshit is tied up in their identity as Christian dead-enders, and maintaining that status priveleged in our society above all else. It is more important than womens health or emotional well being, more important true religious freedom (you know, the kind where others religious views don’t dictate your medical options), more important even than consistant application of the law (this ruling explicitly exempted medical procedures such as blood transfusions—you know, the kinds that 6 elderly male Supreme Court Justices might end up requiring—from being subject to the religious belief test).

Don’t take my word for it, though. They’ll tell you right to your face. Their true, deeply held religious belief is that you’re a slut and fuck you.

My religion trumps your “right” to employer subsidized consequence free sex.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 30, 2014

It’s all there in one gloriously sociopathic sentence. His religion (not religion in general, mind you. Specifically his religion) is the primary concern here. If some woman out there was having sex without his say so, then he might have his feelings hurt, and that is unacceptable. Better, then, to open the door to employers getting to determine how you spend your earned compensation. Your boss finds out you went to see raunchy rom-com over the weekend? Maybe they’ll dock you $10. Sound crazy? Well so does fighting your employees all the way to the Supreme Court just to keep them from accessing doctor prescribed health care that you find distasteful. But that’s just what happened. In America. In 2014.