I was skimming through some religious topics through google and I found something very interesting. Apparently, anti-abortion and Christian license-plates can be bought for a premium in some states, yet there are no pro-choice license-plates available. Is this unconstitutional? My first instinct was to not care about license-plate sales, but I think this issue goes much deeper.
I believe if the government would offer any sort of religious paraphernalia, they should offer all (or at least, most) of beliefs. But more than that, I think no religious related items should be sold in the first place. Even in a small instance like this, religion should remain separate from government. Of course this isn't happening right now, it would be near impossible for a secular presidential candidate to win. But the reason why I think they should be separate goes back to our definition of religion by Geertz. Religion gives 'powerful and persuasive moods.' Obviously, for different beliefs, the moods and ideas will be different from each other. And since we live in a diverse country and world, how could we say that one religion is capable of choosing what is right?
On the other hand, I also believe that even an athiest or agnostic couldn't lead a country perfectly. I've been reading some atheist blogs lately and many of them seem quite hostile towards other religions (one stating that it is even foolish to respect beliefs of higher powers). So perhaps no one is suited to run a country perfectly. And perhaps different religions will always clash. But at least give the non-christian side a chance to argue their beliefs on their license-plates as well!
Yeah, I think that there is extremism on both sides. Church and state should be separate when it comes to laws and rulings, but I also think that it's important to be able to express one's individuality (even though the anti-abortion stuff is creepy).
ReplyDeleteI do feel that the church and the state should be seperate but I feel that that is a difficult thing to do considering this nation was built on religion. I mean it says "In God We Trust" on the dollar bill. So religion and the government are tied in pretty closely and its going to take a while before they can be seperate.
ReplyDeleteim not sure where to start i argee with you on something. like a athiest or agnostic could not run this country that would be terrible. but as far as church and state i think then can go hand in hand on some issue like the pledge of allegience and some other topic but i wont go into them now maybe it will be my blog for next week
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