Religious Freedom vs Religious Tyranny
The history of the American colonies is partly about religious freedom, meaning freedom to worship in your own way. The writers of the constitution were very aware of the problems caused by state sponsered religion as well as the conflicts between different forms of faith. Many of them were Deists, they believed in a creator but not a god as described by the many religions of the time. They wrote the constitution to prevent tyranny through government or religious establishments, they also wrote the constitution to make the government impartial (as much as it is possible for it to be impartial) to all religions.
The other bit that keeps being lost is that the constitution and federal law is the supreme law of the land. A recent case where Mennonites were being shamed by hair and beard cutting by a few members who ran rough shod over everyone else. The victims were taught to forgive and not involve outside help, but the local law enforcement was able to stop the abuse by arresting the group that caused a lot of hurt. This is a good example of religious tyranny and how the government protects the believers without having to be a part of the same faith.
The bill in the article is promoting a set of values over another set of values without actually increasing religious freedom, what it does is impose religious tyranny. In a multi cultural country with a wide range of beliefs it is better to be tolerant of the views of others and accept that what may be right for you may not be right for everyone. It helps to know that the old gods of mythology were worshipped with the same fervor and zealotry as people worship today. I can see the old gods in the night skies and know them for what they are, planets and stars but not deities.
