Inside Report for February 28, 2008

• By BOB ANDERSON
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Feb 28, 2008 - Page: 7B

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A person does not have to agree with other people’s religious practices in order to support their right to follow those beliefs.

When Americans speak with pride of the freedoms that this nation offers, religious freedom should be at or near the top of the list. Escaping religious oppression was a reason many people came to this country and is why the Founding Fathers made religious freedom a constitutional cornerstone.

One person’s belief in supernatural powers often seems strange or absolutely wrong to another person. People who have never lived in a place where people of their own beliefs make up a small minority often have difficulty handling that concept about their beliefs.

The Livingston Parish Council recently remained silent on an issue of religious freedom when council members failed to repeal an ordinance they enacted last year prohibiting soothsaying.

At the time they approved the ordinance, some council members might have been able to claim they didn’t realize they were treading on the spiritual practices of others. After some Wiccans protested and even filed suit in federal court over the ordinance, the council can no longer make such a claim.

Even if no council members agree with the nature-based religion, it is a religion that has been recognized by the courts.

Wiccan headstones mark the graves of soldiers who have died in the service of their country while suffering the same pain as Christians, Jews and Muslims.

When religions get comfortable with their numbers, they sometimes take the attitude the state should adopt their religious beliefs and force everyone to adhere. Christians in the United States often criticize governments of other nations that take similar action in applying strict Islamic laws.

When public bodies cave in to pressure from one religion and make laws that outlaw the practice of another religion, they threaten all religions. Times and popular theologies change as do the makeup of councils and the populace that elects them.

In this case, the Parish Council’s ordinance is so poorly written that discerning readers would realize it threatens not only the practices of Wiccans. Any faith that includes prophesy and collects offerings should scrutinize the ordinance voted into law by the Parish Council last year.

Predictions by ministers that the end of the world is near or that certain actions by individuals will bring the wrath of God certainly could be considered soothsaying. Those ministers may be breaking the council’s ordinance. Should they be handcuffed and taken to jail when they pass the collection plate?

The ordinance outlaws the broad terms “soothsaying” and “clairvoyance” as well as a list of specific practices. Then it throws in the words “and the like” among the things prohibited. Presumably a deputy sheriff would decide what that means.

Taxpayers might question the council’s insistence on spending public money to fight a lawsuit on an issue that has no purpose other than to pacify a particular religious group.