Politics and Freedom of Religion

One definition of religion is that it is a set of values. To be sure, religious views are that those values are eternal in nature and given by God. In a very real sense, in the secular world a set of values or a belief system are analogous and could be seen as a "secular religion." From that perspective, it makes no sense that big businesses should be allowed to contribute to groups of their choosing while imposing tight restrictions on religious groups. True, big businesses don't claim to be non-profit in nature. However, many are utilities that provide things like electricity, telephone services, and so forth, which are in many ways so regulated by the government as to be almost an extension of the government itself. They obtain exclusive, monopolistic contracts, lobby to obtain favorable tax structuring, and have historically succeeded in raising prices with little resistance from government oversight, possibly because it equates to more taxes for the government. The proverbial fox watching the hen house.

If big businesses can contribute heavily to candidates and causes of their own choosing, in spite of their government ties that make such contributions a conflict of interest, then there should be no problem with private non-profit groups speaking out in favor issues which they believe are relevant. Such freedom was recently at issue when the Catholic church spoke out against statements by Representative Pelosi. Some argued—wrongly, I think—that this was church crossing into politics. A Catholic priest I think summarized the situation very aptly, as quoted here:

"To those that argue that a priest shouldn’t enter the political fray, he responded that “it was the Speaker of the House who started this; she, and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians, regularly cross over into teaching theology and doctrine. And it’s our job to try clean up their mess.”"

If politicians can cross into issues that are at the core of a belief system, then they should not be surprised when religion crosses into the political. It's the politicians who apparently don't see the line.

One of the key reasons this country was formed in the 18th century was to escape the oppression of religion by government in England. To have our modern government dictating what a religious group can or cannot say is a return to the same oppression of more than 200 years ago.

References
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDc4MmU1Y2E3YjMyNzdiNGI1ZDFhOTNmMTI4OWQyNDM=