The Tyranny and Intolerance of Religious Fumdamentalists

Why is it that religious fundamentalists, whatever the religion, are not happy having the freedom to follow their religious dictates , but feel compelled to impose those dictates on the rest of us?

This tendency raised its ugly un-American head most recently following the Supreme Court's  decision declaring gay couples have the right to marry (Obergefell v. Hodges). Fundamentalist Christians   were outraged. Some government officials said they would refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because it was contrary to their personal religious beliefs. Some business owners proclaimed that they would not sell flowers, cakes or whatever for gay marriage. A conservative Catholic organization (catholicvote.org) used their money to produce a hateful anti-gay marriage commercial.

Why all this furor and fear?  No one is forcing Rick Santorum to marry another man. No one is forcing a Christian to attend a lesbian wedding. No one is attacking the marriage of a good Baptist man and woman.Why do they feel threatened?

The apparent answer is that they want to impose their religious convictions on the rest of us. If they believe same-sex marriage is an abomination, they want to mount a crusade to make the rest of us conform to that belief.

 If fundamentalists believe the biblical creation account, they want our common public schools to teach their version. If some Catholic bishops believe contraception is a sin, they  want to impose that belief on employees and deny them access to medical contraceptives. If fundamentalist Muslims believe  that Sharia law is the path to everlasting glory, they want Sharia Law to replace civil law. I'm guessing here, but I suspect Jewish fundamentalists believe that all males should be circumcised. Other fundamentalist religions believe young women should be circumcised.

In addition to the attempts of fundamentalists and their GOP puppet politicians to impose their beliefs on the rest of us, they are also intolerant of the religious beliefs of others. The most arrogant example of intolerance is the claim that the United States is "a Christian Nation." Although it may be true that a majority of US citizens claim to be Christian, that fact does not make our country a "Christian Nation."  Unless our Constitution is replaced, our country will never be a Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Mormon nation.

In case there was any doubt about that, in 1797 President John Adams submitted the Treaty of Tripoli to the US Senate which unanimously approved it.  The treaty reassured the world that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

The beauty of the United States and its Constitution is that the government will not tell you what to believe, but by the same token you must tolerate your neighbor's beliefs.