Letter: When religion becomes a weapon

I get a bit tired of some people trying to inject religious beliefs into law, or using their beliefs to oppress or discriminate.
People have to realize we are in America, not the Middle East, or any other country whose government is managed by religion. We are not going to change what other people believe in other countries, or what they do to one another because of religion.
Many oppressed people who fled Europe, for example, to escape religious persecution came to this country for just that reason, and many more arrived to escape tyranny and other radical governments.
Some people need to read the Constitution, because people like the clerk in Kentucky, who works in a public office, broke the law. She cannot use her religious beliefs to deny people their rights under the law.
She appealed to the highest court in the land, and lost, but would rather face jail than do the job she was appointed to do. If only she actually lived by her religious beliefs rather than used them as a sword.
The Constitution recognizes one’s right to practice one’s religious beliefs, but it does not permit anyone to use these beliefs to oppress, or discriminate against anyone who may not have religious beliefs, because this is what America is about.
Get over it and be thankful we don’t operate like some other countries do.
Joe Raines
Willmar