07-10-2022, 10:55 PM
(07-09-2022, 09:51 PM)Lucidus Wrote: God, the Holy Bible and interpretations of the Word; all things that lack grounding in reality as it pertains to their ability to be verified by any demonstrable method. That is to say -- propositions for which faith necessarily serves as the foundation for belief.
When it comes to the the political process -- religion should carry no more weight than astrology, telepathy, numerology, the paranormal, Flat Earth theory or Q-Anon conspiracies; all suffering from the same absence of naturalistic / scientific evidence.
However, the American political landscape is saturated with religious ideology and influence on the right; from the Republican voter base all the way up to the SCOTUS conservative majority. That saturation is fueled, in large part, by the notion that religious moral authority should supersede church - state separation; including the legislative and judicial process.
Pew Research polling has provided some rather disturbing results:
When asked whether the Bible should influence laws -- either greatly or somewhat; 67% of Republicans said yes, 68% of Christians, and 89% of White Evangelicals (who have become an incredibly vocal and powerful faction on the right).
In addition, 45% of Republicans believed that teachers should be able to lead students in prayer, and 60% thought religious symbols should be displayed on public properties.
Religion, and it's adherents / advocates, enjoy a privileged status that is wholly undeserved and nonsensical. It should zero place in the political - legislative - judicial arena, as it offers nothing more than affirmations of it's own validity, sans any real-world attestation. Yet, alarming numbers in one political party -- and their acolytes in all governmental bodies -- are not only accepting of the power and influence wielded by religion, but are actively pursuing ways to make it even greater.
The invocation of religion by anyone and in any aspect of lawmaking, legal interpretation, constitutional foundation, secular education, civil rights, bans, restrictions, environmental issues, etc., should be widely and profoundly rejected by all who value church - state separation and reality-based forms of evidence.
This is a most important time in America's history, as there is a very real desire for Christian Nationalism. The means for achieving said desire have been pursued and put in place in a very methodical fashion over the years. However, the effort is no longer one taking place in the shadows or behind closed doors; it's now very much out in the open and unapologetically brazen.
The goal of the religious right is to impose their morality on everyone; with that morality being derived from barbaric antiquities.
As a Christian myself, I have to say I find the idea of legislating sin to be quite a dilemma I currently find myself battling with.
When I was younger, I always believed that we should have laws that try to stop things like abortion from happening. But as I've gotten older I've found myself questioning this belief.
This really came about when I started thinking about sin as a whole and why ALL sin isn't legislated and why Christians such as myself seem to only cherry pick certain sins like abortion and why we don't look at legislating things such as premarital sex or even something as simple as just lying.
It got me wondering..... Does God really want Christians to legislate sin, or are we off base here? And if we as Christians are to believe that God wants us to legislate sin, I think that leads to a second question, which again I find myself struggling with, which is what is the appropriate punishment? That to me is a very important question I believe a lot of Christians might not ponder.
If you're going to believe that God wants you to legislate sin, you also then have to know what God considers an appropriate punishment, otherwise are you really asserting God's will, or are you simply following your own?
At this point, I'd say I don't really have a belief on the matter of legislating sin, but rather I have put my previous beliefs on hold until I feel I have a satisfying answer.
