Today I am supposed to show my support for a World free of theocratic control. I promised Maui Girl I would be part of a blog swarm that will blanket the blogosphere with opinions and views as to why having religion and government intermingled is not a good idea. I am supposed to champion the Constitution and the clause that separates Church and State.This is fine and all. I do think religion has no business sticking it's nose into the secular affairs of governing. Religion just muddies those waters. But I cannot in good conscience use the Constitution as my reason. There is serious debate as to exactly what the founders meant. I figure they purposefully left it ambiguous because of the pressures from the religious zealots back in the day. They didn't want to alienate everyone completely. No, the Constitution is out. A fine document, but in this regard, it lacks certainty and clearness of intent. It would appear most of them leaned away from any theocratic influence, but they did not clearly spell that out. Besides, common sense and historical perspective would indicate Theocracies are a bad idea. Worse political structure ever devised by Man.
Theocracies just scare the Hell out of me. Religious zeal allowed to run rampant and unchecked has a way of getting entirely out of hand. Basic freedoms we take for granted are at first limited and later eliminated. History and current theocracies in other parts of the World prove this out. Religion and government are a volatile mix. Life becomes black and white without the greys that are really what make up our lives. Dissent is not tolerated. Free exchange of ideas are stifled. Cultures under the harsh hand of religious law often move backward as the rest of the World moves forward. There are no "Good Old Days". Mankind always does better when we move on. When a culture attempts to move backward or possibly worse, maintain status quo's that do not embrace the flexibility all countries need to grow, the culture becomes gentrified into two classes. Theocracies are a sure recipe for this kind of social structure.
5 comments:
You sure called it. Theocracies end up excluding God rather that putting Him as head of the government. God is simply an excuse to further the political aims of the organization. Iran is executing people for 'waging war against God' meaning against the current power structure. And just wait until the Pat Robertsons take over USA.
I have always liked the bumper sticker that said, "When Religion Ruled The World, They Called It The Dark Ages"
Seperation of church and state and let's keep it that way. And kindly close down C-Street.
I don't know, government by random number generation would be pretty confusing, too. But at least we'd have booze.
Any belief system which claims to 'know' anything, without allowing for dispute, is a failed system.
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