Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Separation of Church & State

So I'm not a big fan of organized religion. I do not believe the idea proposed by the religious right that the founding fathers intended us all to be Christians. They didn't base our Constitution on any ideas found in the Bible - sorry, no matter how much that idea is repeated, it will not become truth. And yet, I've found a deep and personal spirituality that has lead me to read, learn, pray and meditate. I believe I had a connection to the divine as real as the orange I had for breakfast.

And then I see this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101158649&ft=1&f=1001
A public park in Utah has the 10 Commandments posted. A different religious group offered to place a monument to their religious pillars and was denied. According to the Supreme Court, the state has the right to deny their offer to place a monument, at their expense, in the park.

How is that not the state's endorsement of one religion over another?
Can't we all just leave our spirituality, prayer books, stars of David and veils at home? Doesn't it make one more pious to believe and act according to one's faith when there is adversity? Staying true to one's god in a prison cell is easy, it is when out in the world, exposed to different ideas and temptations where the difficulty arises. If you never have the choice of buying, eating or obtaining bacon, does it make your kosher diet more or less pure than he who has to deny himself the bacon when it is being fried up in the kitchen? Not that I'd want to be exposed to cooked bacon all day long - but I can choose NOT to buy it, cook it or go to establishments that serve it.

Do we need the 10 commandments in the parks, the courthouses and in our schools? Does it really make us more devout? Does the extremist government of Iran generate more pious citizens? I don't see where it adds to our civic life. If fact, I see it only as a detriment.

No comments: