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Conscience Magazine

Fundamentalists Don’t Own Faith

By Catholics for Choice August 22, 2016

Florin Buhuceanu’s article, “United to Fight Religious Extremism” (Vol. XXXVII, No. 1), correctly articulates the unfortunate reality that religion has been used by many extremists to further a fundamentalist belief system. This worldview attempts to pit lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights versus faith; the reproductive rights community versus faith; and the larger progressive movement versus faith. This conflict is not limited to Europe’s borders, but is a battle that many advocates of equality continue to fight in the United States today. The National LGBTQ Task Force is working tirelessly to change this flawed narrative. The truth is that millions of people fighting for social justice, including LGBTQ people, are also people of faith.

We all have intersectional identities, and our relationships with faith should not be pigeonholed into the static and regressive viewpoints shared by the loudest and most extreme religious voices. Faith is not the progressive movement’s foe. We must change the narrative to expose the reality that conservative voices of faith are fighting progressive voices of faith. We can all be simultaneous proponents of freedom, justice, equality and faith. I know this to be true, because I personally fight for a future that recognizes nuance and fosters harmony.

CANDACE BOND-THERIAULT, ESQ.
Policy Counsel
National
LGBTQ Task Force


Catholics for Choice

was founded in 1973 to serve as a voice for Catholics who believe that the Catholic tradition supports a woman’s moral and legal right to follow her conscience in matters of sexuality and reproductive health.