As one of the least religious states in the nation, Maine is home to a thriving and active secular community. We seek to promote an environment in which religious freedom accommodates not just different varieties of belief, but absence of belief as well, and all viewpoints share equal respect and equal treatment under the law.
Maine’s organized secular community (Atheists of Maine, Downeast Humanists and Freethinkers, Maine Atheists and Humanists, Central Maine Skeptical Society, and Southern Maine Atheists and Secular Humanists, all of which are supporting organizations of the Secular Coalition of Maine) find last week’s Supreme Court ruling recognizing for-profit corporations as people with religious beliefs to be deeply troubling.
We believe strongly that women have a fundamental right to make their own medical decisions, and indeed that women and men alike have a right to make all life choices for themselves, without those choices being dictated or limited by their employers’ religious convictions. The Hobby Lobby decision not only gives for-profit corporation owners the right to impose their religion onto their employees, but it blatantly favors conservative Christian beliefs about sex and procreation over other religious beliefs, such as about blood transfusions or vaccinations (as spelled out in the majority opinion that religious objections to reproductive health would be entertained, but religious objections to other medical procedures would not). Endorsing one set of religious beliefs over others runs afoul of the First Amendment and the very notion of religious liberty. Furthermore, since the ruling the floodgates have opened on additional religious objections to the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act, LGBT discrimination, and more.
This ruling alarms all citizens who value secular government and understand why our founding fathers constructed a wall between church and state. Religious liberty should not be a privilege reserved for corporate entities and their wealthy owners. We urge everyone to join us in our effort to re-establish the right of religious freedom by contacting their local and national representatives.
Nancy Glista, Downeast Humanists and Freethinkers
Rick Eason, Central Maine Skeptical Society
Anna Marin, Maine Atheists and Humanists
Mary Auker-Endres, Southern Maine Atheists and Secular Humanists
Doug Bunker, executive chairman, Secular Coalition of Maine
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