What about my right to enjoy the sacrament of Holy Matrimony?

You don't have to respect a persons views.
But should should respect someone right to have those views.

Probably the best thing I've read from you Mere.

What if my religion embraces cannibalism and genocide?

Well being the founders of this country used their religion as a guide to write our laws, I'd say most of them were influenced christianity.

But laws specifically made by christians, and using christianity as a defense for the reason to have the law:

Death penalty
Jim Crow laws
Slavery
Contraception laws
Sodomy laws
The halting of stem cell research
the teaching of creationism in public schools
the forbidding of teaching evolution in some schools
school prayer
defunding of planned parenthood
Barring women from gainful employment in churches
Churches exempted from property taxes
Liquour stores closed on sunday

really the list goes on and on. You can argue against a few of them, but 5+ will be left just from that list for you.

If people's random beliefs didn't greatly impact the law that affects me, I'd be more ok respecting someone's right to believe in blue martians or whatever they wanted. But since these certain religious idealogies effect me, they should at least be logical or reasonable to be made into law, whether I agree with them or not.
A good contrast to that is, I don't believe in trickle down economics, because in practice it doesn't work, but at least on paper you could come up with logical reasoning to show how it at least "could" work.

Death Penalty - How is this the the result of Christianity?

Jim Crow Law - According to Wikipedia it is a law that existed nearly 40 years ago and largely dealt with racial segregation? Can you elaborate on how Christianity influenced this? Or how this is relevant in current day?

Slavery - Elaborate. Also I said relevant laws. I'm fairly certain slavery in the US isn't a huge thing right now.

Contraception Laws - Eh, sure. That's one.

Sodomy Laws - I said relevant laws.

The halting of stem cell research - +1

the teaching of creationism in public schools/the forbidding of teaching evolution in some schools - both failures of US education system, it's laughable either of these things exist.

the forbidding of teaching evolution in some schools - like, say, christian schools? Wouldn't that make sense?

school prayer - once again a short coming of your education system.

defunding of planned parenthood - I guess, I'm not an American so I don't understand it fully.


Barring women from gainful employment in churches - What? Women have no trouble gaining church employment, just not as priests in most denominations. Kind of like how church doctrine might forbid abortion or enforce chastity. If the woman doesn't like not being a priest, switch denominations.

Churches exempted from property taxes - eh, sure.

Liquour stores closed on sunday - most stores close on sunday. Nice try, atheism.

I like how for the school ones you can't actually argue against them, so you just say "Your system sucks". They are laws enforced by Christianity, regardless of how stupid you think they may be.

As for stores closed on Sunday- Yes, most stores are, and you know why?

As for Slavery, Africans were heathens who didn't worship God and therefore did not have his divine protection. Even today some of the most avid racists are, sadly, Christian. About A YEAR AGO (not very long), in one of the Southern states, a preacher forbade a couple from coming to his church because they were a mixed race couple- One was white and one was black. Yes, it's one incident, but there are still people who hold this view and it is more often than not those of Christian faith. It's the same reason Christianity refuses to acknowledge that Jesus was actually probably black.

Also, say what you will about women changing to a different church, but it's a sign of backwards sexism in the church as well as in government that government has not forced the churches to promote people regardless of gender. This ain't the 1920's, we SHOULD have equal rights and are entitled to them by law. Yes, freedom of religion, but come now.

-It just baffles me how your country can't grasp the concept of public education. In Canada any religious symbols are strictly forbidden in public schools. Is your rational population really that powerless?

-Is sunday shopping banned by law in the USA? If not, it's off the list.

-Slavery still isn't a relevant law, kind of hard to include it on the list of "relevant laws influenced by Christianity".

It's a matter of church doctrine. The government has no place there. If all worshipping women want to leave the denomination, they are free to do so, other denominations can accomodate them.