"Life is what passes you by as you are planning for the Future."
Unknown
Religon in the Political Arena
You know, it is really amazing what one thinks of at 3am when suffering from sleeplessness...For some reason I starting thinking about religion in poitics and realized that I am ready to see a Jewish President of the United States. Actually, I would really love to see an Atheist. Why? I think it is time to break the Christian political chain of power. Do you really think we would see a "National Bible Day" if we had an Atheist in office?
I am keeping a close eye on the 2000 elections because I am hearing some disturbing rumbles from the Republican party. Bush has already come out and declared that he wants to use public tax funds for religious organizations. He believes that giving this money to the religious groups will allow them to furnish social programs that will benefit society. These religious groups will not be allowed to postulize, however, but I doubt anybody will "object" to opening and closing prayers with the occasional "Jesus loves you" tossed in since after all, the religion is being nice for hosting the shin-dig.
All this begs another question, which religious groups will be allowed access to MY tax dollars? If this passes, I really hope the Pagan community comes forward to demand their fair share, so we can see if this absurd law will be practiced equally. I already object to the Ten Commandments being posted in public schools, now you are telling me that I will have to help fund Catholic functions as well? The church already demands at least 10% of your income (heck, one of the local Catholic churches in my town has a yearly budget of over 3 million...) so why do they need my money as well? I thought charity was supposed to be voluntary, not manditory.
If we had that aforementioned Atheist president, do you think he would approve this type of measure? Or do you think he/she would just laugh themselves into tears... I think questions such as these help put these type of measures into perspective. Because the Presidents are coming from the Christian population, they think nothing of funding their religious backgrounds. It makes sense, but the other religions become excluded to the point the ACLU has to become involved. Geeze, with this type of antiSeparation Church and State policies, I think the ACLU should just rent a space where the Supreme Court resides. It would save them the hassles of running there every time Congress is in session.
Anyway. Does religion need to play a part in politics? No. Not really. Why do I think this? Government is not here to teach us moral lessons (that is why we created religion), government is here to allow us to live together in peace and have decent roads. Religious bodies teach ethics while government sets monetary standards. Can you say "Separation of Church and State"? There is a reason for this. When our founding (mostly non-Christian) fathers created the Constitution, they remembered quite clearly the religious squabbling that occured in Europe because of the mixing of religion and government. Anybody remember Bloody Mary? They did not want to see this happen in their fledgling country, so tried to create a standard that would not allow this to happen again. Sadly, over time, many of the Christian political aspirers hoped that Americans would forget their history, and would believe the shtick that America was founded by "Christian" ideals. This is so far from the truth as to be laughable, but how many students sleep through American history because it is boring?
The only way to put these absurd falsehoods to rest is if we relearn our history. Re-Read the Constitution and pay attention to Supreme Court rulings. One city had to remove the Christian fish from their government documents because it seemed to establish Christianity as the religion of choice. Despite all the harassment and public ridicule, one Wiccan woman forced a city to uphold federal law. Isn't it amazing? One lone person forced the public to remember that we are supposed to be religously neutral in politics. Too bad the Republicans are not bothering to read the Constitution and are focusing on only one of the many diverse sects of religion. Don't they realize it will only boil down to then deciding which branch of their faith should rule? That they would then have to discriminate among their own followers? Anybody remember the bloody Protestant and Catholic wars??? Anybody??
Religion is such a primary aspect in our individual lives, but it rarely has a place in government. Government does not exist to teach us heaven and hell any more than a minister has the right to set a system of national weights and measures. Keeping the two separate is the only way we can start establishing each religions right to exist equally with each other. We live in a free society...we assume...so why do we only allow one religion to determine our laws? Become an informed voter. Go to every election you can. Question those who want to establish your laws and see if they really have your best intentions at heart. After all, if you don't vote....don't bitch.
To flip through the pages of my BOS faster...
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Brightest of Blessings