http://quietwatercourse.co.uk/2006/11/07/faith-and-society/ Buddhism, Taoism, Technology and whatever else comes my way... Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:04:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://quietwatercourse.co.uk/2006/11/07/faith-and-society/#comment-114 John G. Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:47:19 +0000 http://quietwatercourse.co.uk/2006/11/07/faith-and-society/#comment-114 The seperation of Church and State was designed to keep the government out of religon, not religon out of government. A person's religious faith, be it Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Atheist, etc., sits at the very core of a person's being. We can't expect people to "deny" who they are, or "put aside" their fundamental beliefs in some situations to avoid offending someone else who doesn't share the same beliefs. A society is much better off and vibrant when people have the freedom to share their beliefs openly, and have the freedom to advance those ideas (persuade) to society in general. As for government, the US government was built on Judeo-Christian values. Thank goodness the founding fathers were not afraid to inject their values and beliefs into the political system. From there these ideas got debated, modified, compromised in some areas and finally enacted. Are we as a society so afraid of religious input that we would rather supress them under the flag of Seperation of Church and State, then let them participate in the free marketplace of ideas? What then you say, about the minority point of view? Do we risk offending them? I respond back, do we risk offending the majority instead of the minority? No. We allow the minority the same access to Marketplace of ideas for further discussions and we don't force our own personal beliefs on them. I rather live in a society that embraces religious thought and participation, then a society that fears and supresses it. The seperation of Church and State was designed to keep the government out of religon, not religon out of government. A person’s religious faith, be it Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Atheist, etc., sits at the very core of a person’s being. We can’t expect people to “deny” who they are, or “put aside” their fundamental beliefs in some situations to avoid offending someone else who doesn’t share the same beliefs. A society is much better off and vibrant when people have the freedom to share their beliefs openly, and have the freedom to advance those ideas (persuade) to society in general. As for government, the US government was built on Judeo-Christian values. Thank goodness the founding fathers were not afraid to inject their values and beliefs into the political system. From there these ideas got debated, modified, compromised in some areas and finally enacted. Are we as a society so afraid of religious input that we would rather supress them under the flag of Seperation of Church and State, then let them participate in the free marketplace of ideas? What then you say, about the minority point of view? Do we risk offending them? I respond back, do we risk offending the majority instead of the minority? No. We allow the minority the same access to Marketplace of ideas for further discussions and we don’t force our own personal beliefs on them. I rather live in a society that embraces religious thought and participation, then a society that fears and supresses it.

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