----- Original Message ----- From: "Nathan Newman" <nathan at newman.org>
> Most people, no the overwhelming super-majority, are religious in this
> country. The question is why the fanatic minority, which had
miniscule
> cultural and political power in general mid-century, has been able to
vault
> to the center of political power to the extent that the President
states
> that Jesus is his favorite philosopher and critical biological
research is
> disabled in the name of fighting cloning's assault on god's law.
===================
Part of that answer is the churches aren't taxed. Who invented that part of the trade-off as an aspect of the wall of separation of C&S?
> I appreciate Justin's argument against religious coercion in schools
and
> that is fairly fought in the name of free expression (I am far more
> favorable to that half of the religious clause of the First Amendment)
but
> banning all government support for voluntary religious activity,
especially
> when done in a multitude of diverse religious schools, does not seem
like a
> liberal value. Trying to suppress religion just seems to encourage a
> counter-reaction looking for similar coercive activity against liberal
> values. It just keeps the cycle going.
=============
Maybe it's just part of the aspcets of illiberalism that liberalism uses to protect itself from a far more noxious and encompassing illiberalism. We critique incessantly the illiberalism of US 'foreign' policy, but I see no reason to apologize for using the liberal state to protect secularists from the 'fanatical minority'; camel's nose in the tent and all that. Let's talk about all the religious citizens who support the most heavily armed imperialist project in world history; we need to get to the collective psychosis of that before we even bother with school vouchers.
>
> There is a long liberal religious tradition in America that sought
balance
> between secular government and tolerance for religion as a vital part
of
> peoples lives. The hardline secular position just drives those folks
into
> the arms of the fanatic religious minority.
>
> --- Nathan Newman
====================
And that fanatic religious minority is driving many citizens back towards secularism and pluralism and we should ride that wave. Billy Graham's son has nowhere near the following of his dad etc. etc.
Ian