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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (14305)	3/6/2000 10:40:00 PM
From: pz	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

Any predictions on tomorrows outcome? I say, my Governor George Bush Jr. will sweep the races. Any other predictions?

To: greenspirit who wrote (14305)	3/6/2000 11:36:00 PM
From: Dayuhan	Respond to of 769667

I think we've discussed it before, but the core problem of religious freedom is dealing with religions that require their members to violate the religious freedom of others. To take this to an extreme point: suppose members of a religion believed that their religion required them to convert others by force, or to invade the holy land and restore it to domination by their sect? Would we have to accept these activities as part of their exercise of religious freedom? The issues today are subtler, but not fundamentally different. An evangelist wishes to convert me; I am not interested. We have a conflict of rights: one person's right to preach to me vs. my right to be free of an unwarranted intrusion into my privacy. There is a fairly clear balance point: preaching from which I am free to walk away is permissible, preaching from which I am not free to walk away is not. This is why no member of any religion - including atheists - should be permitted to preach or pray to a school, or any other captive audience. Religios people aren't the problem in America. Bigotry, racism, and people intent of separating people into different religios stereotypes, thereby increasing divisiveness is. I agree. But there are religious groups - witness Bob Jones, et. al. - which not only uphold such separation, but believe themselves to be mandated by divine fiat to enforce it. Fundementalist Christianity is a part of our cultural diversity as a nation. Agreed. Must we tolerate the intolerant? Yes. Must we be eternally vigilant of their attempts to enforce their intolerance on the rest of us? Also yes. If Robertson and his ilk ever gain power, religious freedom in America will be a thing of the past. Please note that I am not saying, and have never said, that Robertson and company should not be free to practice and - within limits - preach the religion of their choice. But if a candidate makes a deal for the endorsement of a religious group - any religious group - the voters have a right to ask what the quid pro quo for that endorsement was. The candidate is not obliged to answer, but if he doesn't, he will suffer some loss of credibility.