Separation of Sense and State
Man oh man. How long has it been? It’s been… decades? No, years? Well not really, but it’s definitely been months since I wrote something. I certainly have my reasons. Work has been crazy, for one. Even more than it simply being crazy, I simply don’t have the same amount of free time at work to type up my thoughts. Of course I wasn’t spending hours writing at other gigs I held down, but I typically had time to jot down some thoughts, start a post, maybe add some context to something I’d started earlier, etc. Now? Naw man I’m at work work. Feel for me. That work work life also means I’ve been more tired at home. That’s a big issue when your home life consists of trying to make sure the 2 year old gremlins don’t chew holes through the walls or bludgeon each other silly with blocks, all while ensuring that the 8 year old does his homework and the 13 year old actually completes his chores and gets his study on. And then oh yea, I have a wife that at least on occasion likes spending time with me. Not only that, but my podcast is taking up a lot of my mental bandwifth each week as well as giving me an outlet to vent about this Wild Wild World we live in (heeeyyyy that’s the name of my show! Crazy!) So yea, it’s been busy. But I’m getting back in the saddle. I swear. So what got me out of hiatus today? Really it was just the desire to write about something, anything. So then, what was on my mind? Well lately I’ve been seeing a number of things in the news pop up regarding this idea of religion and the state. Specifically, I came across a comment that really… well, irritated me.
The article was an opinion piece in the New York Times titled ‘How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t’. Read the article if you’d like, certainly but that’s not what peaked my interest. Instead, it was a comment. Now this is dumb. I know it’s dumb. I am internet savvy enough to know better than to a) read comments on articles and b) actually care what people on them say. Quite frankly, reading comments on articles online has done nothing but chip away at the little faith in humanity I had in the first place. People, unfortunately, are not bright. They’re full of spite, rage, ignorance and anger, and the perfect place to poop those things out of their metaphorical mouth is in a comment section where you’re not held accountable for your publicly displayed stupidity. But I was pointed towards this article and this specific comment by some third party that I can’t recall right now. But I’ve had this tab open on my phone for weeks at this point as something in me has been longing to interact with it. ‘Write about it….write about it’ the voices in my head have been whispering to me. For some reason they sound like James Earl Jones and call me Simba too, but that’s besides the point.
As a strong believer in the separation of Church and State, I believe that religion has no place in political discourse. I am sick and tired of so-called Christians and other faith-based groups. using their religious beliefs to influence public policy. You want to pray. Fine. Go to church. You want to live your life in accordance with some religious belief. Fine. Do it in the privacy of your home. But, do not use your religious belief to argue that your right to free speech is infringed upon when you are asked to bake a cake for a same sex couple, provide birth control under your company’s health insurance plan, deny science, etc. In short, do not use your religious beliefs to deny my right to live as I see fit. To influence public policy which denies millions of women, minorities, and children, access to health care, abortion, voting rights, civil rights. I am simply fed up with the hypocrisy to the so-called religious people in this country preaching to the rest of us who simply want to live our lives freely and openly without the burden of dealing with someone’s else’s gods foisted upon us.
If this ain’t about the stupidest thing I’ve ever read! Look, if you’re someone who read that statement and found yourself agreeing with her, just please, stop a minute and breathe in some smelling salts and wake up from the nonsense. It is utterly ridiculous to state that religion has no place in political discourse. Why? Because religion informs morality and sense of right and wrong. Most political discourse has to do with what we be is right and wrong. You can no more ask a person with religious faith to somehow not take into account their personal beliefs on what is right or wrong than you can a non religious person. It makes no sense when any amount of logic or reason is applied. Some people still have the audacity to say things like ‘well my beliefs aren’t based on some outdated religion but on facts and reason’. Well, kind sir, that’s stupid. First, that’s a completely subjective statement that also isn’t true. Many people are in favor of the death penalty even though it’s costly and ineffective as a deterrent. Many people claim to believe that human life is important while being in favor of foreign actions that take human life, or abortion which also takes human life. Non religious people base their beliefs on whatever they believe is right. Whatever sounds good or makes sense. Well guess what? So do religious folks! We believe what we believe because it makes sense. Disagree if you want, I don’t really care. But what you can’t disagree with logically is that political discourse only works if people of differing opinions are able to, ya know, have discourse. And we can’t claim one person’s opinions are invalid because their morality is based on a religious faith. You can certainly disagree with those opinions, but to invalidate them is to be, well, unAmerican. So in short, do better, people.
