It's very difficult to discuss universalims without getting wishy washy. I don't mind rambling a bit to start a conversation.
I don't think there is any question the aclu supports anti religious tolerance more than it encourages religious respect. It does nothing to promote respect for other religions and encourages people to use free speech to defame religious points of view. They only instruct through negatives and deconstruction from an extreme liberal pov. It is hardly constructive to people respecting different religious practices. At the end of the day, all that is left is the
If we are willing to remove God and spiritualism from schools, then should we remove all philosophy? Why should children be exposed to the writings of Marx, Kant, Socrates, Plato, or any other influence with whom we disagree? Why should we be tolerant of political or philisophical dissention? I would be appalled if they taught my kids about Marxism in school, yet I have studied about Marx and all the political philosphers in college. In a liberal arts environment, pluralism is attained by studying many different philosphies, artists, writers, musicians, scientists, etc... Every part of culture has been based on different inspirations of God to motivate new levels of awareness and tolerance. Today, we are letting the aclu though police do the opposite by rejecting all books and thoughts that remotely pertain to religion or spiritualism.
I personally enjoy Buddhism, yoga (which is an essential part of Hindu religion), and many different aspects of spiritualism. Many of the yogis I know turn to paganism and other alternative forms of spirituality based on the 4 directions of the universe. Call is Wiccan if you like. It's all fine with me, whatever makes them happy. If they want to enjoy their crystals and talk about zodiac signs, let them chat away.
How is spiritual discussion any different than political discussion? We accept secular or political information because the aclu hasn't banned it. Anything is alright as long as the words God or Jesus is not in the book. Why aren't we questioning the government's political influence on our children? They are endorsing their own interests to teach kids about political philosophical philosophy. Ironically, the ACLU is playing the mind police of the government, which gets the bogus protection of the courts backing the separation of church and state. Only the interests of the State are still standing.
Personally, I think it's is an utter contradiction of free speech that the only message getting through to our kids is passed through the aclu approved list. I am fundamentally opposed to everything they stand for in the way of alternative rights like gay marriage, abortion, and many other issues. I hardly want the aclu deciding what is ok for my kids not to read in school. They would have them reading Marxist statements that religion is the opiate of the masses, or some nonsense like that. The more religious information that aclu keeps out, the larger the role of the government. Personally, I hate to see our traditions of free speech and religious freedom isolated and discarded by the aclu.
Free will is the rational decision that people exercise to follow good morals, laws, values, and ethics as part of functional society. People have the free will to be obedient, or not. Although the aclu may not want to remove all structure or information, they want to remove all religious order. I don't know who they think is going to provide any dialogue on morals, laws, ethics, and religion other than the government. I could give a shit about my kids learning about what Kant says about utilitarianism if they are not taught anything about obedience and free will. I guess we should start removing all the books like Canterbury Tales, Paradise Lost, and all the literary masterpieces that mention God. We lose touch with many of the epic masterpieces of art and literature.
I hardly think that religion is a requirement for free will and obedience. It's just an expression of faith and logic, as the pope puts it. If we protect religion from it's own intolerance, it is no different than political debate. We need to reconstruct religion in a spiritual environment that is clearly protected from intolerance. Religion needs spiritual integration to make the great religions tolerant of each other. I am perfectly intent to reflect of religious books, arts, and beliefs without going to church or invalidating other people. However, in this psychotic bipolar division of our society between liberals and conservatives, people have been duped into believing that intolerance is unavoidable. That is precisely why we need philosophy and religion - to encourage people to use free will to be obedient to universal interests of hope and faith.
I probably keep repeating the same pov so I will only make one more comment. We shouldn't be making blasphemous religious comments about a person's religious beliefs anymore than we should be making sexist remarks about women at work. There should be some legal protection against slandering peoples' beliefs just like we protect their sex and race. It's time we started calling out this no class behavior. We have gone to shocking lengths to cover up this harrassment of people's right to religion in our society, thanks to the aclu serving up big government's interests by promoting the separation of church and state.
|
