I’ve always believed that, being that we are part of a nation that includes in its first amendment the right to freedom of religion, this should also mean that no one religion should be emphasized; especially when it comes to the law and government in general, in fact it states this explicitly in the constitution. When it comes to religion and law, people only tend to see the second part of the excerpt above from the first amendment, “Congress shall make no law … prohibiting the free exercise thereof [of religion].” However, I want to focus on the first part of it, a part of the first amendment that many seem to conveniently forget, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” I touched on this briefly in my entry Making Judgments, but I want to discuss it more thoroughly here because there are a lot of aspects to it that, though they intersect and overlap, are nonetheless separately vital to this issue.
First, let me just say that I will try to keep my emotions in check while writing this, but it won’t be easy. As with all of the controversial issues I’ve discussed and will discuss, I try to address as many of the views opposing mine as I can in a short article, and since I don’t know all of these views and reasons firsthand I have to do a little research. In doing so I find that, particularly with issues involving religion, there are far too many ignorant people making too many ignorant arguments in support of it. Now I’m not just saying that these people are ignorant because of the fact that their views oppose mine. As I stated in my entry, Making Judgments, I respect the right of others to have differing opinions, no matter how much they oppose my own. Rather I find these people to be ignorant because they choose to ignore half of the issue and only look at the parts that they can successfully argue. Anyone who knows anything about successfully debating a controversial topic knows that it’s pretty cowardly to only bring up topics and sub-issues that you have a good rebuttal for.
All of that is to say, I don’t think anyone who chooses to only look at one aspect of an issue will be (or should be) taken seriously. That being said I will still address some of the forms of reasoning brought up by these people, because I’m sure there are others out there who will at least try to argue these fully.
Back, now, to the issue at hand.
One of the reasons that I’ve noticed is often brought up as an argument for religion having a part in government is the issue of morals. Essentially, the argument is that having religion in government will make the nation a more moral place with less evil. Now I have a couple of issues with this.
First, I’m just curious, do the people who use this reasoning assume that atheists are immoral? Well I suppose they actually may think this. But there’s a big difference between whether they think it to be true and whether or not it’s actually true. Anyone who’s ever been lectured on the dangers of making assumptions and generalizations knows that you cannot make assumptions about anything concerning an entire population of people (at least not without highly probable evidence, and even then it’s iffy). Therefore, this assumption cannot be made about all, or even most atheists. You can’t even really generalize this argument to any number of atheists because there simply isn’t enough evidence to support it.
I don’t think anyone will ever understand how much I had to narrow my mind to write that last paragraph. But I will not give anyone reason to accuse me of not addressing certain points, so I’ve done my best to do so.
Now, for what seems to me the most obvious flaw in this reasoning.
Let’s say (for argument’s sake) that I accept the premise that religion somehow equals morality in the government (it doesn’t but I’ll get to that in a second). Even if this were true, are the people who argue this point trying to say that Christianity is the ONLY (or even most) moral religion? It’s sad that no matter how ridiculous I meant that to sound, I know there are some highly bigoted people out there who honestly believe this to be true.
Well for those of us who are firmly grounded in reality, it’s quite obvious that this isn’t true in the least. The fact of the matter is, no one religion is more important or more moral than another. Furthermore, this nation is very religiously diverse (despite what some ignorant people may think). I don’t think enough people realize this, but forcing the people of a nation to follow the morals of any one religion in the form of law, greatly goes against the fist amendment.
Now back to another very obvious flaw in this argument. How can it possibly be assumed that religion in the law will make the country a more moral place? This reasoning works under the assumption that everyone and anyone will follow these laws for the simple reason that they are based on religion. This just cannot be assumed to be true, because again it goes back to the dangers of assumption. No one can assume that God has influence in everyone’s lives; in fact we know it doesn’t. We see it everyday. (I’m not saying this is always a bad thing. As I’ve always said, I respect the right of others to have their own opinions and this includes whether or not they choose to believe in God and religion.) So this point that religion in law will automatically equal morality in everyone, is highly narrow-minded. If people don’t follow laws now, why should anyone think they will follow them if religion has a higher influence than it already does?
I realize that I’m not providing any facts or statistics here, but in all honesty this stuff is common sense. It takes a very narrow-minded person to not see the obvious.
So as far as I’m concerned, this argument for religion in the government has no relevance. From the way that I’ve dissected this reasoning it can easily be seen that it is filled with ignorance. And ignorance — not a lack of religion — is what will make this country a less moral place.
– Layla
P.S. I hope I didn’t make anyone think I’m targeting Christians or Christianity as a whole. Let me assure you, I’m not. I am only targeting those people who are too ignorant to realize that the world is bigger than them. People like this do come from every religion and every culture, but as far as this issue is concerned, the majority of people who make these arguments are Christians. Again, that’s not to say that ALL Christians are like this. Just the ignorant ones.
Photo Credit: http://jfasd.org/2018/04/a-statement-on-the-establishment-clause-of-the-first-amendment/
My Alter Ego, Layla 