lilithu said:
As long as it is legal, it is up to each person, according to her conscience, as influenced by her religious convictions, to decide what she will do. If it were illegal, that would be the imposition of the religious beliefs of one group (even if it were a majority) onto others who do not share those religious beliefs.
Illegality has already happened in America's past. For me it is not just an academic exercise--I am Native American and grew up within a tribal setting. The American Indians of the 1800s suffered from the Federal Government's attempt to assimilate the Indians into mainstream society. I have felt the residue of those actions in my life.
"For a long time the Indians, regarded as wards of the government, were confined to their reservations--sometimes behind barbed wire--and were often forbidden to leave them without a permit. Far from being given an opportunity to learn to manage their own affairs, they were treated as prisoners or children; the smallest detail was directed and handled for them by the agent. Their religious practices, ceremonies, and organizations were banned, and their children were taken from them, sometimes forcibly, and sent to distant all-Indian schools like Carlisle in Pennsylvania, where they were taught the white men's ways. Some of these Indians, as adults, eventually became assimilated into the white culture; others returned to Indian life on the reservations, and still others became hopelessly lost, unable to make their way successfully among non-Indians, and out of place and scorned when they tried to return to their own people. On the reservations, strong efforts were made to end tribal cultures and ways of life, but no satisfactory substitutes were offered. Traditional means of livelihood had disappeared, but no suitable new economy was introduced. The hunters and warriors, stripped of their dignity and self-respect, were given few manly diversions, and many of them, losing the respect of the women and children, sank into an indolence that withered their souls and turned them, ultimately, to alcohol as an escape and violence as an outlet for their hurts. At the same time, corruption and graft on the part of many agents and hostility and pressures from neighboring whites added to the demoralization of the beaten peoples." Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., The Indian Heritage of America (Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, 1968), pp. 349-350.
A short note on Josephy:
"Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., a leading historian of the American West, was the author of many award-winning books, including The Patriot Chiefs, The Indian Heritage of America, Now That the Buffalos Gone, 500 Nations, and A Walk Toward Oregon. He was a vice president and editor of American Heritage magazine, the founding chairman of the board of trustees of the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian, and president of the Western History Association. Josephy died in the fall of 2005...."
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/catalog/results2.pperl?authorid=53957
The alcoholism rate did climb to the point where some tribes registered a 100 percent alcoholism rate. Today it may be closer the the national average but still high enough to warrant programs on reservations.
The Mormons almost lost all of their church property in the late 1800s. The United States Supreme Court authorized the confiscation of church property and the jailing of individuals who practiced polygamy.
"The following is a timeline of events leading up to the suspension of new polygamous marriages in 1890. During this interval, many attempts were made to achieve statehood for the territory of Utah. All were unsuccessful -- largely because of the widespread practice of polygamy:
"1856: The recently formed Republican Party called, in its national platform, for the abolition of the 'Twin Relics of Barbarism, Slavery and Polygamy.' 5 [footnotes]
"1862: The Mormon practice of polygyny was criminalized by the federal Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law which President Abraham Lincoln signed into law on 1862-JUL-8. There were actually two unrelated federal laws often referred to as the 'Morrill Act;' the other deals with land grants for universities. 7 The anti-bigamy Morrill Act It made bigamy a federal offense and assigned a punishment of up to five years in jail and a $500 fine. The law also annulled all acts passed by the Territory of Utah's Legislative Assembly 'pertaining to polygamy and spiritual marriage.' Finally, in a direct attack on the LDS church, the law placed an upper limit of $50,000 on the real estate holdings that any one religious or charitable organization could hold in any U.S. territory. Any holdings over that amount were to be forfeited to the government. 'The law, however, was not enforced in the Utah territory because Mormons controlled the judicial system. ...Probate courts functioning as local tribunals had jurisdiction over most criminal offenses, and federal indictments for polygamy could not be obtained from grand juries composed of Mormons. ...Thus, despite Congress's efforts, the Mormon Church still exercised considerable control in the [Utah] territory.' 8
"1874: In a test case, George Reynolds, Brigham Young's secretary, volunteered to be charged under the Morrill Act. The Church had claimed that the federal government had no jurisdiction to regulate marriage and other internal church practices. They also claimed that the act was a violation of Mormons' First Amendment rights. He was found guilty, given a two year jail sentence, and ordered to pay a $500 fine.
"1879: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Reynold's conviction. They declared that the Morrill Act was constitutional, that the government had a right to enforce marital standards, and that polygyny was a barbarous practice.
"1880: LDS leader Wilford Woodruff submitted a revelation he had received from God to church president John Taylor and the Twelve Apostles. God promised retaliation against anyone who seeks '...to hinder my People from obeying the Patriarchal Law of Abraham...your enemies shall not prevail over you.' 5 (This religious law authorized plural marriages.)
"1882: The federal Edmunds Act amended the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law of 1862. It canceled the citizenship rights of polygamous Mormons. They were no longer allowed to vote, run for public office, or serve on a jury.
"1887: Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal that '...scores of the Leading Men of the Church [are] in prison and the Presidency and Twelve & many others in Exile for obeying the Law of God.' The federal government passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act as a supplement to the Edmunds Law. This authorized the government to disincorporate the Church and to confiscate its assets.
"1889: Wilford Woodruff, now president, received a revelation from Jesus Christ who promised that he would protect the church's practice of polygamy from attacks by the federal government.
"1890: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government could deny the right to vote or hold office to all Mormons who practiced the Law of Abraham, or who merely believed in plural marriage. Later in the year, they ruled that the Edmunds-Tucker Act was constitutional, and that the federal government could repeal the LDS' charter and dissolve the church. The situation had reached a critical point in the Utah territory.
"When the federal government announced that they would start to seize the temples, the LDS Church decided to obey the law. At that time, the Church received a revelation from God that changed church beliefs and practices. The fourth president of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, issued a manifesto (called the 'Great Accommodation') on 1890-SEP-24. It generally suspended the solemnization of new plural marriages for an indefinite interval.
"Woodruff wrote, in part,
"'And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land.'
During the next thirteen and a half years, 'members of the First Presidency individually or as a unit published twenty-four denials that any new plural marriages were being performed. The climax of that series of little manifestoes was the 'Second Manifesto' on plural marriage sustained by a vote of a general conference.' 9
"President Joseph F. Smith's later statement of 1904-APR-6 read, in part:
"'Inasmuch as there are numerous reports in circulation that plural marriages have been entered into contrary to the official declaration of President Woodruff, of September 24, 1890, commonly called the Manifesto... I, Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hereby affirm and declare that no such marriages have been solemnized with the sanction, consent or knowledge of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.' 9
"In spite of the denials, a few such marriages were apparently sealed as late as 1910 for trusted leaders of the Church. The polygamous weddings were generally performed secretly in Mexico or Canada.
"U.S. President Cleveland issued a statehood proclamation for Utah on 1896-JAN-4, six years after the manifesto was declared. Although no new polygamous marriages were conducted after the 1920's, existing plural marriages continued to receive strong support from the Church."
http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds_poly.htm
The bone of contention was over polygamy, a practice still observed in Islam (limit of 4 wives). The Holy Bible carried references to plural marriages.
"So David [king of Israel and slayer of Goliath] went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife [after he died] the Carmelite." (2 Samuel 2:2: KJV). Cf. 2 Sam. 5:13; 12:7-14; Gen. 16:1-16.
Communism is an economic paradigm, not a religious one. The government is neutral with respect to religion, not hostile. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the world. We have a plethora of churches, synagoques, mosques, temples, meeting houses. In Washington DC where I live there is a house of worship on practically every street corner. (I'm not kidding!) If our government were hostile to religion, that would not be the case. Heck, religious organizations even get tax exemptions. In what way is government hostile to religion?
