Swamp wisdomAlright, maybe that is a silly way to put it, but today's wisdom from on-high is an exploration of why the
is a great nation.
The answer is not that the people of America are smarter or inherently better. The answer is not a comment on the relative worth of the peoples. The answer, largely, has to do with the relative place religion occupies in the political sphere.
In many nations, political parties have strong religious affiliations. Policies are drawn from religious law. No matter how dominant one religion is as a demographic, the result is that public discourse is poisoned. If the basis of a debate gets boiled down to "God says X," then reason can not prevail. Reason is what makes a government great.
Faith can be a great force for good, but when it rides in the same car as government it turns to oppression.
And, it doesn't even make sense to pull the two together. If you believe you have the true word of God, why bother with the state? God will judge adherence to divine law in the end and deliver the kind of justice that needs to be dealt out. The state is a poor substitute for this.
When the state is too closely intertwined with the church it creates two camps within the nation: Believers and Infidels. The state enforces the law of the Believers. Many nations resolve this conflict with violence.
Only a fool would deny the role faith has played in solidifying the collective sense of right and wrong that is the basis of law, however moving past that is a dangerous exercise.
On the other hand, secular government is careful not to use the state to step on the toes of Believers of any stripe with prohibitions against their religion. Secular state also keeps off the toes of Infidels. This is because secular government is based on God's greatest gift to mankind: REASON.
Reason is the ultimate common denominator for our species. When we embrace it we create the largest community possible. When we compromise it we cut people out of the civil society.
Our founding fathers were wise to not mention God in the Constitution. They were wise to establish secular government. We would be foolish to throw away this gift.
In these difficult times it is tempting to run to God for comfort in all facets of society. Maybe this is a good thing, in all things save for one: government.
5 Comments:
Nice posting, I agree with the ideas expressed. Although there are threats to secular government throughout the world, here in the United States, the threat to secular government comes from fundamentalist Christians.
These conservative Christians frequently declare Christianity to be under attack. The enemy that they identify is the secular humanists, as if secularism is the polar opposite of Christianity. Secularism is not the same thing as atheism, and that is seemingly impossible for fundamentalist Christians to understand or believe.
If this nation were more evenly divided amongst religious beliefs, say 30% Christian, 30% Mulsim, 30% Hindu for example, we would see instantly that secular government has nothing to do with oppostion to Christianity. Secularism calls for religiously neutral public policy and government. The secularists would object as vehemently to attempts to hang passages from the Koran in public schools as they do to attempts to post the Ten Commandments in public schools and courthouses. Christians would suddenly find themselves allied with the secularists in opposing the over reaching policies made by the Hindus and the Muslims.
It is only because Christianity is so powerful and given such a high status by both our leaders and our fellow Americans that the Christians can not see how good they have it.
it was Jesus who said, "give to ceasar what is ceasar's" the ultimate separation of church and state biblical statement. the pharasees tried to corner Jesus with secular issues and when he replied with reason, they eventually had him crucified.
historically, those in power have dictated and justified actions based on their interpretations of religion.
i have been saying for years that "satan" or evil will not be found in the streets or even in government, but right there in the pews with my fellow christians.
Jesus said, "Only God can separate the wheat from the shaff." Jesus knew even back then that evil was more pervasive among the Sanhedron than the folks he was healing and loving.
i agree that christians in america have it good. but i have to disagree, the greatest gift God has given mankind is FREEWILL!
Interesting that you would draw a line between free will and reason. I would suggest to you that the two are so connected.
You can not exercise reason without free will. I would also suggest that you can not have free will without reason. For instance those that are mad have no reason, and without that reason, they can not exercise free will because they are slaves to their madness.
I think they are one and the same
obviously you haven't been to a pshyc ward lately!!!! to have free will and reason is truly a gift. but bush has free will, but i see very little reason! children have free will, but their ability to reason ( at least on an abstract level) is not fully developed. try taking a 2 year old to walmart and not buy a toy!!! i am not arguing against you, just giving you a little less of a black and white view. as a mother of 4 children, i can honestly say that while i had the freedom to reproduce, i just didn't have a reason!!!!
i'm not convinced god gives a hoot what kind of government his peoples employ as long as it provides for equality and justice under the law... as long as we are human, the system can attain the ideal but the practice will remain imperfect... that being said, it is my opinion that the only way to achieve this goal is through secular government... religious states fail repeatedly... and the current efforts of the religious right to overtake the american system is obscene and a blight onthe face of god
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