Religion and Viewpoints
There was a superbly written letter to the editor in the Jefferson City News Tribune about Religion and the Government by gentleman named Larry Johnson. It was clear, well written, and obviously well thought out. (Here’s the link, but I’m not sure how long the News Tribune keeps an archive of their paper on line.)
It was about the most coherent letter I’ve read in quite a while – but I must respectfully disagree with the conclusion he’s drawing. I see the laws and court judgments that are doing the opposite of what he’s talking about. I’m sure I could Google and find half a dozen easy cases where people are trying to impose their religious beliefs on the public – first thing that comes to mind is the bloody Kansas board of education and the Intelligent design.
My problem is that I’ve studies history. I know that it’s easy for fundamentalism to lead to fanaticism. Fanaticism leads to persecution. Is it so hard to see the line? In the Thirty Years War people were forced to covert from Catholicism to Lutheranism, and then back – depending on which army was marching through at a time. More wars in history have been fought because of religious differences than any other reason. Freedom of Religion and separation of church and state mean something very important to me. It means that I have the right to practice what ever religion I choose to. I don’t want to see the marble carving of Ten Commandants in front of the courthouse. I also don’t want to see a carving of quotes from the Koran there. Or the saying of Buddha, or the Dalai Lama, or any other thing from any other religion you care to mention. The State should be …. not necessarily above religion, but not beholden to it either.
I have my personal religious beliefs. I belong to a church. I’m not interested in discussing them, and I’ll fight to the end to keep anyone from infringing on them.
Blah. Ok sorry, getting off the soap box now.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Hmmm, I really want to say “Amen” here, but that seems wrong somehow. Anyway, I agree completely!
March 20th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Im according with the post,,, but why talk about religion its always a problem???..
March 21st, 2007 at 9:00 am
The reason I think we need to talk about religion is that if we don’t talk about it, and get others to understand our views and beliefs, then that just leads to even worse misunderstanding and leaves the way open to fear and bigotry. I’m all for open discussion on this, and just about any other topic. My only problem comes with trying to discuss things with fanatics, because (to use my favorite definition of that word by the great Winston Churchill) “A fanatic is someone who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
(PS: I’m replying to the above comment on the off chance it’s not spam
)
(PSS: Ok, it/he just commented again word for word, so I’m guessing its a spammer.)
March 24th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
I totally agree that government should be separate from any and all religion. If 98% of Americans do believe in a supreme being as the author suggests, (though I don’t know where he gets these “facts”) this doesn’t mean they all believe in the same one or even only one!
I believe that in protecting our religious freedom, it is IMPERATIVE that our government not impose its own religious ideals.
April 9th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Mike, you’re right on as usual. The separation of church and state, and the freedom of (and from) religion are absolutely essential for the stability of our country. As you pointed out, even if the government were to promote ‘Christianity’ as the preferred religion, who’s version of it do you select? The Baptists? The Catholics? …the Mormons??? Religious belief is a deeply personal thing, and should not be regulated in any way what so ever by the government. The government has enough problems dealing with the secular side of running the country. Don’t let them start dabbling in theocracy as well. …and don’t get me started on the KBoE.