ACLU to Defend Child Molesters Right to Attend Church

According to a new AP article, convicted child molesters have been banned from going to church because of the on-premise day care facilities operated by many religious organizations.  The argument is that the prohibition to be within a specific number of feet of minors is a fundamental violation of the religious freedom rights in the United States Constitution.

You all know I’m big on personal freedom.  That’s why I’m a fiscal conservative but social liberal.  I believe in the right of elderly patients to end their own life in the case of horrific chronic pain (there by the grace of God go I).  I believe that someone has the right to smoke or drink themselves to death.  Why?  Because I believe in the fundamental right of human beings to self-determination.  As a man, my choices should determine the outcome of my life.  The natural extension is that I should have the right to make bad choices, gamble away my money, get addicted to drugs, and blow my wealth on prostitutes.  (To anyone who knows me, all of those scenarios are absurd.  I can watch my investments fluctuate $50,000 or $100,000 a day but a $25 loss at a casino bothers me for weeks.)

This trait first started to surface back in college, when I was Student Body Treasurer.  I caught a lot of flack from a few friends of mine because I supported the right of a Christian group to have an exclusion of gay people in its statement of principals.  They missed the point: I also support the right of gay groups to exclude Christians who say their lifestyle is immoral (Personally, as a rich, white Christian male, I happen to fully support gay marriage and adoption but that’s not really relevant to the discussion).  As Americans, the right of association, assembly, speech, and religion are vital. The government should not have the ability to impose any value system upon another group and each group should have the right to determine what is right for itself.  The one exception to this has to do with employment discrimination because everyone should have the ability to earn a living if they are capable and willing to work.  Once someone starts a company and has over a dozen or two dozen employees, they should not be able to refuse to hire people simply because of their race, gender, political beliefs, etc.

So, what do I think of this?  I think the case is bullsh*t.  Society itself has a fundamental right to protect the life of its children.  These are convicted child predators that were sentenced by a jury of their peers.  They have every right to believe as they wish, have bible studies, and attend services or host them in their own home.  They do not have the right to be around children.

In this case, the ACLU is supposed to be supporting human rights.  Here, you have a question of the rights of two constituencies.  The physical protection of children from known rapists and murders should come first.  Period.  The way I see, the ACLU is actually fighting against the constitutional right of association.  Even if the laws are stricken, these churches have every right to ban the offenders from their private property and well they should.

Once I’m a bit older and the companies are publicly traded, I think I’m going to donate a giant block of my shares to create some sort of non-profit foundation that fights for human rights around the world (that and wildlife conservation).  The right of every one of those parents and the community as a whole is being violated.

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