If you look closely at America it may seem that we are taking huge steps. Most people would argue that they are positive steps. However, that could not be any further from the truth. Some may say that with the new health care reform being passed, progressive steps towards racial equality and constant advancements being made for the LGBT community, we are moving forward. However, we are also moving backwards.

In the spring 2008, the Iowa Smokefree Air Act was passed by the Iowa legislature. It seems weird to think that six years ago anyone could step outside and have a cigarette. It is almost unfathomable that just six short years ago someone at a table next to you could light up a cigarette and smoke it while they waited for their meal. Smoking is entirely legal and the people who choose to smoke know of the risks involved. Coming from someone who does not smoke, it is completely preposterous that the government can step in and regulate a privately owned business as to whether or not someone can smoke a cigarette inside of a privately owned building. But they did.

Let’s take the Supreme Court case Kathleen Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., currently under consideration. David Green, founder of the Hobby Lobby company, claims that his company should not legally be forced to provide health insurance which covers contraception pills. This petition for writ of certiorari states that, “[T]he Greens believe that human life begins at conception, that is, ‘when sperm fertilizes an egg,’ and they therefore oppose certain contraceptives on the ground that they prevent implantation of a fertilized egg.”

The entire issue is whether or not the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 should allow a for-profit organization to deny contraceptives to its employees in its health care benefits if it is against the religious beliefs of the head of the company. The argument in court takes place on Mar. 25, 2014. It is disturbing to think that the Supreme Court has the power to decide whether or not a business has to provide healthcare that provides pills that prevent the implantation of a baby in the mother’s womb after fertilization. But they do.

In 2014, Arizona stole the spotlight with their proposed bill SB 1062. The bill was an indirect response to Elane Photography v. Willock, which took place in New Mexico. Elaine Huguenin refused to accommodate a same-sex wedding because of religious beliefs and was sued for violating the state’s Human Rights Act. Elane Photography lost the case and New Mexico deemed that a business must comply with the New Mexico Human Rights Act, regardless of their religious beliefs. Elane Photography is not the only business currently under fire. Businesses such as a florist in Washington state who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding and a baker in Colorado who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple are also facing heat on the issue.

The Arizona bill stated that employers and employees would have “the ability to act or refusal to act in a manner substantially motivated by a religious belief, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.” Arizona Governor Jan Brewer believed that the final version of the bill would cause more problems than it would solve so she vetoed the legislation. Louise Melling, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, considers this a victory, saying, “Today’s opinion recognizes the sincerity of those beliefs, but makes clear that no one’s religious beliefs make it okay to break the law by discriminating against others.” However, stopping discrimination of sexual orientation is only creating discrimination of religious beliefs. It is simply another right being stripped from the American people. It is deranged for the government step in and try to regulate a private business. But they do.

These are just a few examples of the rights being taken away from us and the constant battles we all must face if we wish to be able to exercise our own opinions years from now. Until then, stand for something. Whether or not it is the popular opinion, stand for something, because I can assure you that when we stop fighting the good fight, we might as well just let the government set up camp in our homes and watch our every move. S’mores anyone?