Arthur Schopenhauer, the German philosopher (1788 to 1860)
said:
“All truth passes through three
stages. First, it is ridiculed, second, it is violently opposed, and third, it
is accepted as self-evident.”
If we are intelligent we should be able to run through these
phases quickly. It takes discipline. The self-evident stage can be acquired
almost instantly if we pursue truth, research, read and do our homework. It is
fun most of the time. It is hilarious when you meet someone not at your stage!
Sort of like the public’s current understanding of national
economics. They keep confusing micro economics (personal, home, single
business) with macro economics (national, international, central banking policy
function). They also feel churches have the right to free speech as though it
is freedom of religion; the two are not the same. Theology and the practice of
it are free under our constitution. Exercising religion as politics is not
protected under the religion clause. Violate this and pay taxes, people!
Think homosexuality is a sin; that’s religion. Think civil
rights pertains to gay people? That’s truth and quite self evident. If you
think otherwise, you are confounding religion with politics. Uh-uh! Our nation
used to think women and blacks could not vote. How wrong we were then!
Global warming? Time will tell eventually. Yes this may be
cyclical in thousands of years, but we can speed the cycle by polluting the air
and upsetting nature’s balance.
Evolution or intelligent design? Religion again. Tread
carefully. Believe as you will, and live as you will. But leave others alone
while you are doing your thing.
President James A. Garfield said:
“The divorce between Church and
State ought to be absolute. It ought to be so absolute that no church property
anywhere, in any state or in the nation, should be exempt from equal taxation;
for if you exempt the property of any church organization, to that extent you
impose a tax upon the whole community.”
There are preachers and churches today which believe their
voices should be heard on political matters. That’s fine provided their voices
urge their followers to live as they believe and direct. It is not alright to
lobby legislative bodies to make rules, regulations or laws that require others
who do not believe to live as the lobbyists decree. That is clearly mixing
religion with state. Our constitution and court rulings have kept this
separate. The lines are blurred over time until core issues that matter are
threatened. Such is the case today. We must ensure separation of church and
state. Both can exist peacefully side by
side.
If not we could become a theocracy. Think Saudi Arabia , Iran ,
Iraq and much of the Middle East . Is that what we want? Do we want an American
Taliban? I think not.
So, preachers remain in your pulpits. Write your sermons for
your flocks. But stay out of our state houses and Congress.
There are those who think I repeat myself. I admit that I
do! Because the threat of slipping into state sponsored religion appears to be
ever present. If the matter is settled, then why do we continue to jab at this
truth?
The boundaries are clear. Truth will out!
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