by william e. kelly think about it
DENY ME NOT AND I WILL NOT DENY YOU! Like many of you, I have read and listened to the views expressed about the
nature of the free citizens in our great democratic society, their right to honor their religious beliefs and the rights of others to live out their own beliefs, religious or otherwise. Whether debating the civil rights of women, men, children, employees, employers or any other division, the issue of separation of church and state hangs in the background, as menacing as ever in our history for the 2016 national elections. If the roots of our democracy are founded on the acceptance of diversity and personal freedoms in the pursuit of happiness and well being, it is incumbent upon us all to draw a line in the sand that cannot be crossed, lest we wish to destroy either democracy, religion or both. If we are a democracy and not a theocracy, doctors and nurses cannot deny treatment, lawyers to defend, firemen and policemen to protect, teachers to teach, soldiers to defend and public shops and vendors to deny service based solely on religious beliefs. We are a nation of civil not religious law. Civil rights and freedoms are based on civil law not on religious doctrine. In our democracy, religious freedom and the freedom to be free of religion, have equal standing. Our rights as equal citizens under our civil laws are not conditioned on whether we believe or disbelieve any religion at all. The dilemma, is how as a democracy, do we separate church or religion from
state (as is legally required) and still honor the rights of any religion and protect its followers (as is also legally required) while simultaneously protecting the freedoms and civil rights of a citizen to remain independent of any religion? As I see it, we live in a democracy where civil rights are based on citizenship and not on religious doctrines. Because of that, we must consider two key reali-
DO WE SEPARATE CHURCH OR
THE DILEMMA, IS HOW AS A DEMOCRACY,
ties. The first is that as a nation we are united by our democracy and its ideals and not by religious beliefs. The second is that we are a nation of many cultures and beliefs, some religion-based and some not. The elephant in the room, is the inability to simultaneously accommodate freedom of religion and freedom from religion, to create a peaceful civil coexistence that supports democracy. Can we have it both ways and remain a democratic society composed of great and often contradictory or opposing diversities? That is a question which remains to be answered. While researching the definitions of democracy I found a
RELIGION FROM STATE... ”
quote in Defining Democracy on the What Is Democracy? website that seems most appropriate. “Freedom and de- mocracy are often used interchangeably, but the two are not synonymous. Democracy is indeed a set of ideas and principles about freedom, but, it also consists of a set of practices and procedures that have been molded through a long, often tortuous history.” (
ait.org.tw/infousa/zhtw/docs/whatsdem/ whatdm2.htm) A theocracy is a government which defers to
the interpretation of religious doctrine by a select few. Therein lies a dilemma. Religious persons and non-religious persons alike cannot threaten, deny and
attack the civil rights of the other and in the same breath cry foul when either goes on the defensive. The struggle can be summed up in the words of two cliches. The first is religious based, “Judge not lest you be judged.” and the second is a civil cliche, “People living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” The sum of both and the moral to be learned might well be, “Deny me not and I will not deny you.”
Think About It.
JANUARY 2016 | RAGE monthly 37
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