Now the Patriot Act is in place and working, is Religious Freedom under threat?

Question

Freedom of Association, Freedom to worship through your chosen religion are now questionable under this Act.

Answer 1

Um the patriot act isn't "working" at all.
It does nothing to protect americans while taking away thier rights.
After all, Ben Franklin said it best; "those who would surrender thier freedoms for a measure of security, deserve neither"...
He was right then and he's right now.

Answer 2

Your freedoms are always under threat, always have been, and always will be. The Founding Fathers realized this when they authored the Constitution. The Bill of Rights is just a piece of paper when it really comes down to it. No law guarantees your rights, and no law can take them away.

With the introduction of the Patriot Act, nothing fundamentally changed. The government can now legally do things they couldn't do before, but they were always able to do them.

It is each person's responsibility to defend his/her own freedoms and rights. As soon as you rely on the government (or anyone else) to protect them for you, you've already lost them and just don't know it.

Answer 3

Regardless, it is really only Chrisitanity that is under threat. This society, while not nearly as secular as Europe, is becoming more and more anti-Chrisitan.

The reason is simple, because Chrisitans are a loving, peaceful, religious group, who when under persecution are taught to defend themselves with the Word of God and not with weapons. This is not the case in other religions, like Islam, where fighting for liberation from persecution and to put a stop to heresy are commonplace. With religions like Judaism which excludes or rather esteems certain races, these religions are not an apparent threat because the number of followers is small.

The persecution has only begun, and it will most certainly get worse, this is probably a forecast that we are nearing the time of the Tribulation and the antichrist.

The government would never dare to try to stop Muslims from doing what they want, God forbid they might attack us.

Answer 4

Interesting question.

The Patriot Act was made/passed by people who are primarily (if not all) Judeo-Christians. I don't see Christians or Jews as suffering any potential limitations on their RELIGIOUS freedoms as a result of its passage.

(Though we ALL are suffering from limitations on our general Freedoms, with a government that can seize our library and medical records, can record our phone calls, etc.)

Muslims, however, already face a lot of discrimination and are considered suspect by our government, whose Puritan roots also makes them suspicious of "new" religions like Wicca, Voudoun, Ba'hai, etc.

It could very well be that people of non-Western or minority (in America) religions will face further persecution because of this legislation and the whole social atmosphere in D.C. right now.

As a Buddhist, my concerns are currently focused on putting pressure on China to Free Tibet, before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If you don't know anything about the violent Chinese occupation of Tibet, the massacres of monks and nuns that happened there, or the Dalai Lama, who lives in exhile, take a chance to research the topic, if you can.

Answer 5

Depends on the religion. I don't see that Religious freedom is under threat so long as one is of the same mind as the one's who presented the Patriot Act. Look at how Homosexual Marriage was handled. Rev Phelps attacking dead American soldier's families at their funerals, etc.

It's a sad, pathetic situation we've gotten ourselves into.

Answer 6

They were under attack long before the Patriot Act. Prayer in schools, 10 commandments in courts, etc.

Answer 7

Of course, the patriot act allows them to go after anyone. They will wire tap and watch any group they want. Very few controls. It is not just Islam they are watching.

Answer 8

I think we should consider profiling and Mosque infiltration. Al Queda is known for defiling Mosques and subverting religious activity. You are a secular guy and believe in the seperation of the Church and state. Apply your wisdom to the Mosques.

Answer 9

All of our freedoms are under threat.

Answer 10

The answer is yes. This is just one of the very small steps in the process of eleminating all religion. See the book of Revelation in the Bible. Chapter 17 :18 the Harlot mentiond here represents Babylon the Great - the world wide organization of false religion. The nations will plunder the material wealth of all false religions and completely do away with (Revelation 17:17 17 For God put [it] into their hearts to carry out his thought, even to carry out [their] one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished.) Chapter 18 tells of the total Distruction of Babylon the Great. Jesus fortells of these last days at (Matthew 24:1-14 1 Departing now, Jesus was on his way from the temple, but his disciples approached to show him the buildings of the temple. 2 In response he said to them: “Do YOU not behold all these things? Truly I say to YOU, By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.”

3 While he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?”

4 And in answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads YOU; 5 for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 YOU are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that YOU are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

7 “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. 8 All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.

9 “Then people will deliver YOU up to tribulation and will kill YOU, and YOU will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name. 10 Then, also, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and mislead many; 12 and because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off. 13 But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved. 14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come. )

You can learn more about our present times mentioned in the Bible as these "last days" (2Tim3:1-5 1 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up [with pride], lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away)

at the website: http://www.watchtower.org/