04 July 2014

A deeply troubling set of answers in the U.S. Naturalization Self-Test

This morning Father Zuhlsdorf directs our attention to the Naturalization Self-Test 1 as found on the web site of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that posits the following four possible answers to the question, "What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?":
  1. freedom of speech and freedom to run for president
  2. freedom of speech and freedom of worship
  3. freedom of worship and freedom to make treaties with other countries
  4. freedom to petition the government and freedom to disobey traffic laws
There is one very large problem with this set of possible answers, which, if you know your history and your rights, if glaringly obvious and deeply troubling: none of the possible choices is correct.

Under the First Amendment, we enjoy both the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion, which is not the same as the freedom of worship. The freedom of worship, as was enjoyed during Communist Russia, only pertains within a building designated for worship, but does not extend beyond the walls of such a building. On the other hand, the freedom of religion extends wherever a person is because it recognizes that religious faith must, of its very nature, influence and direct every aspect of life, from work to play to study to life in the home.

If the freedom of religion can be taken away, then every other freedom can also be taken away. This is the warning the U.S. Bishops have been declaring for the past several years through the Fortnight for Freedom campaign. It is a warning we would do well to heed.

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