美国国家公共电台 NPR In Religious Freedom Debate, 2 American Values Clash

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Let's back away from the news for a moment, back away from individual stories to see a theme that many of them share. It's like we're backing away from a tree to see the forest. The theme is a conflict between core American values, religious freedom and equality. NPR's Tom Gjelten has been covering this story. Hi, Tom.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE¹: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: So what are some of the news stories that share that theme?

GJELTEN: The most recent example is we've heard about a draft executive order from the White House that's floating around that would effectively bar the government from punishing people or institutions who support marriage exclusively as between one man and one woman.

INSKEEP: And that's being cast as a religious freedom measure, I guess.

GJELTEN: This is in the name of religious freedom. It's produced a lot of controversy². We could still see something coming out of that.

INSKEEP: And there's also legislation that would do something similar. Is that right?

GJELTEN: Similar language from Ted³ Cruz. It's called the First Amendment⁴ Defense⁵ Act because, again, it's about the idea of religious freedom.

INSKEEP: And we've seen numerous news stories that feature that phrase religious freedom in recent years. So is this just about last November's election then?

GJELTEN: No, not at all, Steve. There's a culture war in this country. Americans in recent years, as you know, have become more secular⁶. They don't go to church as often. Bible reading, prayers in public are now frowned upon.

And, of course, in addition to that, a lot of people have become much more supportive of LGBT rights. And in reaction to that, biblically conservative Americans feel that their faith is under assault. And so there is a real reaction to those trends. That's the background to this.

INSKEEP: People are saying, if I have to interact with certain people in certain ways, it's a limitation on my religious freedom. Is this really a religious freedom issue, though?

GJELTEN: Well, the First Amendment to the Constitution says government can't establish a religion, but neither can it limit the exercise of religion. And that's the issue here. What does it mean to be free to exercise your religion? It's not about what you can believe. It's whether you can act on those beliefs.

INSKEEP: What's an example of that?

GJELTEN: Well, take adoption⁷. In some states, it is illegal to turn down a same-sex couple when you're placing children for adoption. That's discrimination. But in the Catholic church, the sacrament of marriage is defined officially as the union of a man and a woman. So a Catholic adoption agency is torn between its faith doctrine⁸ and what it sees as a faith obligation to help orphans⁹. I got this from Stanley Carlson-Thies. He's the head of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance.

STANLEY CARLSON-THIES: One of the major activities of the church going way back was to look at orphans. And for that to be illegal unless the religious people change their standard seems to me an unfortunate way to solve that.

GJELTEN: So that's a religious freedom issue. Where adoptions¹⁰ are concerned, will Catholics be free to act according to their religious belief?

INSKEEP: Although if you're a same-sex couple, it's an equality issue. Because you say there are all kinds of parents, and why shouldn't we be able to adopt like anybody else?

GJELTEN: You shouldn't face discrimination because of your sexual orientation¹¹. That should be illegal. Here we go to Karen Narasaki from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

KAREN NARASAKI: I can't think of a single civil rights law that doesn't have some people who are unhappy about it, right? But once the country has said, well, we believe that people who are LGBT need to be protected from discrimination, then how do you make sure that happens?

GJELTEN: And can you do it without trampling¹² on someone's religious freedom? I put this to Charles Haynes. He directs the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum here in Washington. He argues that religious people are entitled to what he calls a claim of conscience.

CHARLES HAYNES: We may not like the claim of conscience, but, you know, we don't judge claims of conscience on whether we like the content of the claim. We are trying to protect the right of people to do what they feel they must do according to their God. That is a very high value.

GJELTEN: Now, what's interesting here, Steve, is that Haynes says this even though he's actually a supporter of LGBT rights.

HAYNES: Nondiscrimination is a great American principle. It's a core American principle, as is religious freedom. When you have two important American principles coming into tension, into conflict with one another, our goal as Americans is to sit down and try to see if we can uphold both.

GJELTEN: Both religious freedom and equality.

INSKEEP: That's what you say the divide is. But to what extent is this really a debate between religious people and secular people, if we would?

GJELTEN: Well, there actually are secular people on both sides of this issue. And there are religious people on both sides, including on the anti-discrimination side, like the head of the Episcopal Church in the United States, Bishop¹³ Michael Curry¹⁴. He spoke¹⁵ recently on this, saying he does not see a religious freedom problem in America, not like in other parts of the world, where Christians¹⁶ face real persecution¹⁷.

MICHAEL CURRY: I'm not worried about my religious freedom. Really? I get up and go to church on Sunday morning, ain't nobody stopping me. My freedom to worship is protected in this country, and that's not going to get taken away. I have been in places where that's been infringed¹⁸. That's not what we're talking about.

INSKEEP: It's not because some religious conservatives say they want more than the freedom to worship.

GJELTEN: That's right. They want the freedom to exercise their faith every day of the week, even if it means challenging this idea of equality. I go back to Stanley Carlson-Thies from the Religious Freedom Alliance.

CARLSON-THIES: We can't use equality to just wipe out one of the rights or say you can have the right as long as you just exercise it in church, but not out in life.

INSKEEP: OK. If you can't do that, how do we resolve the issue?

GJELTEN: We may not be able to. There's going to be a lot of tough fights in the legislatures around the country and in the courts. You know, some judges say if you tell one group of people they can act in accordance with their religious beliefs, you are effectively establishing a religion. Others say that protecting a set of beliefs is not the same as protecting a particular religion.

For some guidance here, I went to John Inazu. He's a law professor at Washington University who has written a lot on this question. His view is that this tension is so profound that a resolution is unlikely, at least in the short term.

JOHN INAZU: There were efforts early on about some kind of compromise. I think those are less and less plausible¹⁹ as time goes on. It's hard to see in some of these cases how there would be an outcome that is amenable²⁰ to everyone. And so I think we're seeing these cases with us for a long time.

GJELTEN: Not a lot of hope for compromise. When both sides see themselves as standing²¹ on moral or religious high ground, changing minds, Steve, is not easy.

INSKEEP: Tom, as always, thanks.

GJELTEN: You bet.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Tom Gjelten.

(SOUNDBITE OF RYAN HELSING AND MATTHEW SETZ' "LAYERS")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

9 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

10 adoptions   

n.采用，收养( adoption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
• The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年，收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网

11 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

12 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

13 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

14 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

17 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

18 infringed   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的过去式和过去分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Wherever the troops went, they never infringed on the people's interests. 大军过处，秋毫无犯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was arrested on a charge of having infringed the Election Law. 他因被指控触犯选举法而被拘捕。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

20 amenable   

adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的

参考例句：

• His scientific discoveries are amenable to the laws of physics.他在科学上的发现经得起物理定律的检验。
• He is amenable to counsel.他这人听劝。

21 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。