Today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, which sought to limit reproductive health care coverage of its employees based on religious freedom. Let's just cut to the chase. This particular ruling may be about a very specific, "narrow" situation that will only happen on "rare" occasion. But as we all know, Supreme Court rulings are precedent-setting. It's a slippery slope that will allow certain "closely-held," "faith-based" companies to pick and choose what laws they will comply with, as long as they claim religious freedom as the reason.
I am a born-again Christian. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins. I believe He rose from the dead and that the way to eternal life with God is through a relationship with Jesus. I've memorized lots of Scripture, read the Bible cover to cover more than once, and been "slain in the Spirit" several times. But this is a whacked-out ruling.
Just because a company is owned by people with certain beliefs does not mean that company should be allowed to cherry pick which Federal laws it wants to or does not want to obey. Employment law applies to all employees; otherwise, what's the point?
Are we now going to see some extremist group thumb their nose at Equal Employment Opportunity law and keep their African American employees in the mailroom or deny them promotions because they believe that blacks are a lower order? Are Muslim-owned companies going to be free to hire only men if they believe women should stay indoors? Is Hobby Lobby now going to openly refuse to hire or promote gay people? Or to freely fire them (which is actually perfectly legal, since the Employment Non-Discrimination Act keeps failing to pass in Congress - not that it would matter, now that this ruling can be used to fight any lawsuit over it)?
A spokeswoman (woman!) said that this ruling is a victory for "all" people, no matter what your opinion. Never mind that that makes no fundamental sense - this ruling is only a victory for straight, fundamentalist men who think their beliefs should trump civic law. This woman might change her mind over Plan B coverage if her sister - or daughter - worked for Hobby Lobby and found herself pregnant after a brutal home invasion and it took several days wading through government bureaucracy to get alternative coverage.
When people decide which laws should apply only to others - or, as with marriage equality, which laws only apply to them - that is more a sign of the breakdown of democracy (or, dare I say, society?) than anything else in recent years. And much scarier than anything Ben Percy can think up. This ruling is truly frightening, because it is real.
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