🚀 go-pugleaf

scott@prism.gatech.EDU (Scott Holt) writes:


> Separation of Church and State is a myth in a democracy.

    No.  It's an incompletely achieved ideal -- or, if you will, a
direction in which to strive (if you happen to believe it's right.)


> a contradiction. 

    So what?  We all have ideals and duties that are in conflict with
other ideals and duties we hold at the same time.  It's probably a good
thing that the world works this way.  (Great Ghu spare me from other
people's completely achieved ideals.)


> If you are a member of a Church (or other religious body), you have a
> responsibility of faith to attempt to practice the moral ideals of
> your religion in every aspect of your life. This includes the decisions
> you make concerning the State. You have no choice to but to impose
> your religious morality on the State.

     ...while at the very same time, if you believe in fairness and 
religious freedom you have no choice but *not* to impose your religious
morality on the state.  Conflicting ideals.  There is no clean, elegant
programmer's solution to this kind of conflict.  You can a) sacrifice
one of your ideals or b) compromise both of them, and those are the only
choices there are.


> I believe that the constitutional provisions which have been interpreted
> as requiring the separation of Church and State were designed solely to
> prevent the Church INSTITUTIONS from becomming State INSTITUTIONS. These
> provisions were not, however, meant to prevent those who hold certain
> moral views (religiously inspired or otherwise) from imposing those views
> on the State.

     Probably correct.  Luckily there are enough committed people on both
sides of the issue so that it isn't likely ever to be settled, but will
remain an open question and a source of friction.  Freedom is in the friction.



| James P. H. Fuller, Research Coordinator     Soil/Water Biology Laboratory |
|                                              Institute of Ecology          |
| work: fuller@athena.cs.uga.edu               University of Georgia         |
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