Impositions

There are things in this country that I think should change.  Those changes are primarily to allow individuals to have more rights, despite their beliefs or past actions.

Some policies in this country restrict a persons rights without an offsetting public benefit.

However, there are some compelling public issues that require some infringement on an individual's rights.

Take infectious diseases.  If we have a safe method to prevent them it is the public interest to make everyone do it.   Its the price you pay to be part of society.  If you wish not to participate, take appropriate steps, but don't continue to be a health hazard when you don't have to be.

Similarly, a woman has the right to decide what she does with her own body, but at some point an unborn child has to be considered.  In some states we see legislation saying that once a fetus has a heartbeat, it gets some state protection.  Is that point meaningful in any definition of when a fetus turns into a person worthy of state protection?  Its not viable on its own.  Of course many anti abortion advocates argue that it is a person upon conception.  This is primarily a religious based argument and should have no place in a government discussion.  The idea that a women can be forced to do this would seem to make her less than a person.

I think when someone allows their religious beliefs to influence their positions on public policy they are on thin ice.  Imposing your beliefs on someone else is as wrong as them imposing their beliefs on you.  We saw a lot of scare campaigns about how our last president was going to impose Sharia law, which wasn't close to true.  Would that be any worse than someone imposing some Christian value system on everyone?  There are moral and social values that rise above individual religious beliefs.  believe what you want, but let everyone else do the same.