Teacher Guilty of Blasphemy
A Saudi teacher was convicted of blasphemy, and sentenced to 750 lashes and 40 months in prison.
Although this is a strict example, it does show the possibilities of what happens when a state truly is a theocracy. According to some, our country was founded on Christianity, which harbors much different rules than Islam. Since the rules are much different, this could never happen.
That is a short sighted statement, as the Christian Bible does condone stoning, and many other barbaric practices. (To this day my favorite example is if one rapes someones virgin daughter, his sentence is paying her father 50 sheckels of silver, and marrying her.)
When dealing with a text that is thousands of years old, one must remember that the writings are based on what was considered to be the norm of the times. This is on a social and scientific level.
It is incidences like the one involving the teacher in Saudi Arabia, that causes so many liberals like myself, to object to some of the arguments that plague the news today. While we may or may not have our own spiritual beliefs, we do not force them upon others, or wish them to be forced on others. This is why we protest the inclusion of teaching creationism (i.e. intelligent design) in schools, the addition of "under God" in 1954 to the Pledge of Allegiance, etc.
What we seek is not a godless nation. We seek a government that does not acknowledge a God, but allows any individual within it to worship the God of their choosing. I will always view the seperation of church and state as a strength of this country, and one of the principal reasons why we have grown so strong as a nation.
Many other countries fight civil wars for decades due to religious reasons. Modern Iraq is a religious battle, between Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and Kurds. The former Czech republic was a religious battle. We have continued to grow and prosper because of our seperation of government and an individuals religion.
Ones religious beliefs are very deep, as they should be. My own beliefs are strong, and I am glad to be able to choose them, and not have them forced upon me by another man or by my government.
We fight for our right to choose, and your right to choose. By acknowledging a particular God by government, we all lose that right of choice.
Although this is a strict example, it does show the possibilities of what happens when a state truly is a theocracy. According to some, our country was founded on Christianity, which harbors much different rules than Islam. Since the rules are much different, this could never happen.
That is a short sighted statement, as the Christian Bible does condone stoning, and many other barbaric practices. (To this day my favorite example is if one rapes someones virgin daughter, his sentence is paying her father 50 sheckels of silver, and marrying her.)
When dealing with a text that is thousands of years old, one must remember that the writings are based on what was considered to be the norm of the times. This is on a social and scientific level.
It is incidences like the one involving the teacher in Saudi Arabia, that causes so many liberals like myself, to object to some of the arguments that plague the news today. While we may or may not have our own spiritual beliefs, we do not force them upon others, or wish them to be forced on others. This is why we protest the inclusion of teaching creationism (i.e. intelligent design) in schools, the addition of "under God" in 1954 to the Pledge of Allegiance, etc.
What we seek is not a godless nation. We seek a government that does not acknowledge a God, but allows any individual within it to worship the God of their choosing. I will always view the seperation of church and state as a strength of this country, and one of the principal reasons why we have grown so strong as a nation.
Many other countries fight civil wars for decades due to religious reasons. Modern Iraq is a religious battle, between Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and Kurds. The former Czech republic was a religious battle. We have continued to grow and prosper because of our seperation of government and an individuals religion.
Ones religious beliefs are very deep, as they should be. My own beliefs are strong, and I am glad to be able to choose them, and not have them forced upon me by another man or by my government.
We fight for our right to choose, and your right to choose. By acknowledging a particular God by government, we all lose that right of choice.
posted by Michael at 11/18/2005 03:02:00 PM
Times
1 Comments:
this is just going to make my god more angry.
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