Freedom of ( from ) Religion.
The Supreme Court is going through its standard Ten Commandments/religion case for the year. The issue is whether or not the Ten Commandments should be displayed on or in public buildings. It is a simple no since the country is not strictly populated by Christians or Jews. Atheists, Hindu, Muslim, even Zoroastrian inhabit this nation. Would we exclude those groups. Would the court displaying these words follow them or the law of the land. This is the message sent by their display.
If you notice the fight is always in a region of the country known for religious fervor or hateful fanaticism. The people who champion this cause are those who also want creationism taught in the schools over evolution. The people I have spoken to about this that side with the display will always in the end sound as fanatical as the Islamo-Fascists I encounter here.
I am by no means lumping all people of religion in the fanatical life boat. The fact remains that those persons of religion that most followers of any religion are tempered by a respect for others beliefs. That's why in America we don't have open war in the streets over which Baptist minister has the better interpretation of verse or which rabbi hates Palestinians more or less.
If we continue to force the beliefs of a few individuals on the whole of the nation we sacrifice all the things I am over here trying to bring to the people of Iraq.
Freedom of religion is freedom from religion. I have a right to not have the government force their religious beliefs down my heathenistic throat. When the government begins to sanction the glorification of one religion they exclude the others; also if the include all religions (impossible) they will have to exclude mine as I have none. Either way some will be left out of the American dream because they forgot that Franklin and Jefferson were devout atheists.
If you notice the fight is always in a region of the country known for religious fervor or hateful fanaticism. The people who champion this cause are those who also want creationism taught in the schools over evolution. The people I have spoken to about this that side with the display will always in the end sound as fanatical as the Islamo-Fascists I encounter here.
I am by no means lumping all people of religion in the fanatical life boat. The fact remains that those persons of religion that most followers of any religion are tempered by a respect for others beliefs. That's why in America we don't have open war in the streets over which Baptist minister has the better interpretation of verse or which rabbi hates Palestinians more or less.
If we continue to force the beliefs of a few individuals on the whole of the nation we sacrifice all the things I am over here trying to bring to the people of Iraq.
Freedom of religion is freedom from religion. I have a right to not have the government force their religious beliefs down my heathenistic throat. When the government begins to sanction the glorification of one religion they exclude the others; also if the include all religions (impossible) they will have to exclude mine as I have none. Either way some will be left out of the American dream because they forgot that Franklin and Jefferson were devout atheists.
posted by Combat Doc at 2:21 AM
8 Comments:
I agree completely - will someone tell the President!
Well - I don't agree. I'm one of those rare conservatives who is not an atheist, agnostic or devout anything BUT I do believe in God and also the positive aspects of the effect Judo-Christianity has on our American culture. My understanding is that the Constitution does not prohibit the use of religious symbols or more`s but does prohibit the state(fed's) from establishing a sanctioned religion. I find the extremes of removing all things religious (Christian) from anything state sanctioned is contrary to our constitution and harmful to our society. The funny thing is that where all Christian symbols have to be removed there are schools teaching Islam (ie LA,CA) in the pseudo guise of culture. But bring a Bible into a public school and the sky is falling. So, you must not celebrate Christmas and never celebrate with anyone else nor take any holiday associated with any Christian holiday huh? Just wondering how far your atheism reaches? Not trying to be snarky....am truly curious.
The Supreme Court does not need religion because it is the ultimate judge over our laws. The advantage of the court is that it can evaluate our world in real time. We do not know the future of religion in our nation but we do know that it is discussed at least once a week in many of the churches throughout our country. Whatever the people want can be placed in a referendum, as we hear in politics about government. We can handle this struggle although it may last for many years. There are many words which we can presently use to denote our aspirations to achieve a better life for ourselves and those whom we dearly love. My religion promotes a rigorous education through grade school and the university. I seek the truth, but I also seek out what I should do with it. Overall the truth will benefit society and not place me in a jail cell for violation of our laws.
Here's my take on it...I think that no new items of religious context should be added to our public offices, although many places, including hospitals offer what was previously known as "chapels" and are now called "reflection" rooms.
But I think my point is that, historically, it may be completely impossible to remove all signs of "Christianity" from certain buildings. For instance, I live in a rather well populated area, but our county court house has been around for awhile and it has words from famous people as well as some scriptures inscribed on the blocks of the building. We're not talking separate monuments here, we're talking the whole building. On the freise at the top, I distinctly recall the words "In God We Trust..." inscribed in what I think are three foot letters. Clearly visible within a few blocks of the courthouse.
Is it your conjecture that these things should be sand blasted from the building?
I'm not a religious "nut" either, by the way. Frankly, I believe that no religion should be represented by the government or taught in schools that are not private and directly related to a religious entity. On the other hand, I remember having to read a number of works from Plato, to Socrates, to the bible to john locke, to Eurpopean philosophers, to confucious, etc in one of my historical literature classes. This was a "selected" class and not required.
I think if we offer courses on world religions and they are presented side by side in context with modern philosophers, this is not a bad idea, because, frankly, these "religions" are part and parcel of the philosophy that built modern civilization and effects us today. Nothing wrong with philosophy. makes you think.
By the way, my school only taught the evolution theory. We only hear about "creationism" in church. :) Just some thoughts from your friendly agnostic.
Once again you have spawned some exhaustive questions to make my brain hurt. I somewhat agree with Toni and definately agree with Kat. I will have to post these questions in my own blog to see if I can reconcile them with my own faith. Thanks for your great writing.
Freedom of religion is not freedom from religion.
So you're an atheist. You have no religion. (I would argue that you serve yourself, and you are therefore your own god, which could be called "Secular Humanism", but that's a discussion for another day.) You think that all aspects of government should eradicate religion from itself. How is Atheism neutral ground? No God whatsoever is incomprehensible to me. What right have you to tell me there's no God?
And like it or not, the majority of people in the United States believe in God. It's a few activist judges, being accountable to no one, that are making these rulings and going against the will of the people.
The Constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"
How do you justify congress making laws "prohibiting the free exercize" of religion when it clearly says they shall make NO LAW?
And I agree with Toni. How will law makers and judges determine what is right if there is no absolute morality? If we make our own morals, they are subject to change... Sure, pedophelia is seen as a horrible thing now, but who knows how far the morals could slip if you have no absolutes? I think most people would agree (even if they are not Jewish or Christian) that murder, stealing, and adultery are bad things. And I think that the majority or people would say that honoring your father and mother, and not coveting your neighbor's things are good ideas.
And by the way, Jefferson and Franklin were Deists, not Athiests. Deism is defined as "The belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation." (Dictionary.com)
Your comment that these cases only occur in places that are fanatically religious is not accurate. The ACLU is going all over the country trying to remove religious symbols from anything they can, by threatening lawsuits that small town (and even large cities) can't afford to fight. Case in point: in Los Angeles (hardly a citidel of fundamentalism) the ACLU threatened a lawsuit to remove a small cross from the city seal which was only one symbol among I think 26, including an image of a roman goddess (which they did not complain about). The city legistlature caved in to the pressure, they said, because they could not afford to fight it. It turns out that they willingly caved in, actually, as several law firms offered to assist the city pro-bono.
this is my thought...
This country was founded because of Christianity, and now the government wants to take it away? No...i Dont think so. Our finding fathers saught freedom from the king so that they could worship and love and praise God freely. You don't see Muslim or any other religion getting shut away. Why can schools teach evolution which to me is another religion but not Creation? Evolution is just a belief as well as any other religion, and the schools force this on students and dont even give them the other side to the argument. Anyway my point is that the government has no reason for taking aweay the Ten Comandments.
-Only a servant
Post a Comment
<< Home