The Post I Never Wanted to Write
The US Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old precedent Roe v. Wade this morning, erasing the Constitutional right to an abortion.
And they’re not done. “Justice” Thomas, in his concurrence, encouraged the Court to overturn the precedents establishing the right to access to birth control, to private consenting behavior among adults (in other words, preventing government from regulating your sex life), and to same-sex marriage.
Just to be clear about where we stand as a community, here are planks 8-11 of our 13-point Statement of Political Values, approved by the Council of The Atheopagan Society:
VIII. Body sovereignty is paramount, particularly with respect to reproductive choices. Only the individual can make choices for their health and body except in the most extreme cases such as to protect public health (e.g. control of infectious diseases) or that individual’s safety (e.g. in a mental health crisis).
IX. Sex, gender and gender roles are independent of one another and to force them into the rigidly distinct categories to which they have been misattributed by many of our forebearers is harmful.
X. It is morally necessary to condemn ‘white supremacy’, racism, misogyny, patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, fascism and all other forms of bigotry and hatred, and to reject all claims of ‘natural law’ used to defend or support ideologies of bigotry and hatred-supporting pseudoscience, such as ‘eugenics’.
XI. It is our duty to stand with the marginalized and oppressed, as well as with allies who seek to tear down the structures and institutionalization of oppression, in order to create a more just, kind and egalitarian world.
This spells out pretty clearly where we as Atheopagans see ourselves on these questions. And what is happening at the Supreme Court is terrifying.
I am furious. I am scared for my fellow citizens whose rights are being stripped away.
I am sickened and saddened and appalled.
Mark Green
Author of ATHEOPAGANISM: An Earth-Honoring Path Rooted in Science, Mark Green is the initiator of the Atheopagan path and editor at the Atheopaganism blog. With co-host Yucca, he records the weekly podcast The Wonder: Science-Based Paganism, makes YouTube videos, and creates materials and resources for practicing Atheopagans. He volunteers as a staffer to the Atheopagan Council to support the growth of Atheopaganism throughout the world. In his home of Sonoma County, California, in the occupied ancestral lands of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples, he is best known as an activist and founder of Sonoma County Conservation Action, the largest environmental activism group by membership on the North Coast of California.
3 Comments
Yvonne Aburrow
Well said 👏👏👏
Glenda
Thank you for taking a stand. We need allies, not just for the fight, but for our mental health. It is heartbreaking to read the stories of people who feel abandoned by their families and spouses while they mourn their loss of freedom and demotion to what essentially amounts to cattle.
I am fortunate to live in an “echo chamber” where the people I love stand by me, and where the organizations I am a part of have expressed their support. It truly makes a difference.
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