From: "CS"
Subject: George Washington
George Washington said don't let people fool you into thinking they're true Americans by using "patriotism" to hide behind when saying church should not mix with state. Our founding fathers knew what they were doing when they included religion in government. Problem is, since we've stripped it of religion, we get what we have today. And it will only get worse.
Actually, George Washington said nothing of the sort. It's curious, though, that CS seems to think that it is unpatriotic to object to mixing church and state. The "Founding Fathers" didn't include religion in government - on the contrary, religion was specifically excluded from government. Religious tests for public office were banned. No religion and no gods were cited as being the basis for the political system being set up. No religion was given a privileged status over any others.
CS complains about the government being "stripped" of religion, but if this is a problem that needs to be corrected there is no way to integrate government and "religion" in any general sense. No, some specific religion and some specific set of religious beliefs need to be used. But which religion? Which religious beliefs? And upon what authority can the government base the claim that this religion and these beliefs deserve to be encouraged, endorsed, and supported by the power of the state?
Personally, I don't see any valid basis for such a move. I also don't think that the country is any worse off for drawing a clear line between political and religious authority.
More selections from the Agnosticism / Atheism Mailbag...
No comments:
Post a Comment