One of the most sacred freedoms that we have is the freedom to choose our own religious practices based on our own personal convictions. But in the current political and cultural atmosphere it seems that many have lost respect for this sacred right and are failing to realize that true freedom of religion means that you do not get a vote in someone else's faith.

In the most recent media firestorm and the assault on religious freedom, a gay couple recently tried to enroll the mother's young child in a private Catholic preschool in Colorado. Once school officials learned that the parents were in fact, not living by the tenets of the church and were engaged in an open homosexual relationship, they informed the mother that her child would not be allowed to re-enroll at the school. To spite the fact that the school is absolutely within their legal and ecclesiastical rights to do so, it has, of course, been used by those in the anti-catholic camp to criticize the church and to “demand” change of the policies.

Challenge yourself for a moment to put aside your personal views on homosexuality or your bias for or against the church, and think about the very basic issue that threatens the sacred freedom of religion. The Catholic church has very specific, and well publicized tenets. What they believe and what they stand for is clear to everyone; therefore, you have a very simple choice to make. If you can accept those tenets and agree to live by them, then you can choose to enter into the world of the Catholic church and all of its satellites. If you do not, then you are free to choose any other legitimate religion out there. If you do not care for the Bible's stance on homosexuality, then there are plenty of other religions or churches that do not enforce the Bible, or those who do not even go by the Bible at all and the freedom of religion is the guarantee that you can choose any of those other religions that you want. That is what the freedom of religion truly is, the freedom of choice.

What the freedom of religion is not, is getting a vote in another's faith. No one has the right to protest and complain against the church's decision or demand that they change to bend to outside rules. To do so is to fundamentally infringe on the people's freedom of religion and to actively advocate taking away the rights of those you disagree with. That is not at all what the freedom of religion is about. And, although I myself am not Catholic, I find it rather offensive that others feel that they have the right to force their will on people of faith and to take away their rights while at the same time screaming “discrimination” when they are in fact the ones interfering with the constitutionally guaranteed rights of their fellow Americans. Shall we also demand that all Hindus begin to eat hamburgers because the beef industry is offended or barricade a Mikvah because someone thinks its sexist?

Returning to the present incident at hand, when this gay couple enrolled the child in the school, they were made aware that only parents who were not willing to live in accordance to the church's tenants were ineligible to enroll their children in the school. So why then, did the mother of this child choose to blatantly violate the school's policy, only to later reveal the homosexual activity and cry foul when the child was no longer allowed to attend? Was this merely a media ploy to use the child as an excuse to offend the Catholic church and garner their 15 minutes of fame? Further, the school had the child's best interest at heart by stating that “To allow children in these circumstances to continue in our school would be a cause of confusion for the student in that what they are being taught in school conflicts with what they experience in the home”. This statement released from the Archdioces shows more concern for the child's welfare that the parent apparently did when they chose to put the child in this situation knowing what the consequences would be.

To act as if anyone from the outside has the right to complain about the inner workings of any legitimate religion or to mandate changes there in, is completely out of line and steps over the line into an unconstitutional attack on civil liberties. It is also important to note that once you decide to open that door, there is a very slippery slope waiting for you on the other side, and once you take away the freedom of religion from another person, sooner or later you will also fall victim to the onslaught of oppression. True freedom of religion means that you do not get a vote on another's faith, if you do not care for the tenants of a particular religion, move on to one more suited for you and leave others to worship and live as they see fit; and leave our children out of the battle.