How has religion attempted to force itself on the government and vise versa?
What is a way that religion has attempted to force itself on the government and a way that the government has attempted to force itself upon religion?
Is either one justified or are they unjustified?
Check out Falwell
I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!
– Rev Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved, 1979 pp. 52-53, from Albert J Menendez and Edd Doerr, The Great Quotations on Religious Freedom
Check out scary quotes
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/qframe.htm
July 29th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Check out Falwell
I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!
– Rev Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved, 1979 pp. 52-53, from Albert J Menendez and Edd Doerr, The Great Quotations on Religious Freedom
Check out scary quotes
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/qframe.htm
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July 29th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Religion has attempted to force itself on the government by protesting gay marriage because it does not agree with religious beliefs. The government has attempted to force itself on religion by making certain religious acts and rituals illegal. I believe the government is justified in its force because the acts that are illegal are ones that have a negative effect on this country’s incredible level of humanity.
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July 29th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
You are probably going to report me for this but it is my opinion and I have seen examples of what I am about to write.
Every religion known to man has tried to force itself on governments or just ordinary people in some way or another but mostly that theirs is the only true belief. This has caused more wars than any other reason in history.
Governments try and force themselves on religion to get that religion to back them in their ideas and the promises they make to the people to make themselves appear legitimate. This has also caused a lot of wars usually revelutionary ones, so it all goes back to religion again.
Don’t get me wrong I do believe in good. I just think that all religions have a good in mind but that the forcing of their way of life on other people or organizations is wrong. I’d give my life for any of these people to live their lives and beliefs as they wish. I just think they are all right in certain ways and wrong in others. I try to take the best I can from each and live that as I personally believe.
I can’t say this is true of governments. Politicians don’t impress me and as such none of their ideas or ideals do and I wouldn’t give my life for one as such. I have my own ideas and ideals and these are the ones I’d give my life to keep.
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July 29th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Religion has always tried to influence (even take over) government.
The Enlightenment was the beginning of the end for religious power in the UK and despite bishops in the House of Lords it has very little influence today.
In the rest of the World (e.g Iran) it is still a malevolent force. And ironically in the secular US were the constitution guarantees separation of church and state it still finds ways to influence decisions.
From a "believers" point of view pretty much anything is justified, from murder down. All they have to do is convince themselves "God wants it".
As that is an entirely personal fantasy, although usually justified by some arcane reference to a "Holy Book" – anything goes.
For the rest of us, it is totally unjustified and should be ferociously resisted. We have plenty of examples of religious states, past and present – and they ain’t pretty.
The only obvious example of a state manipulating religion that I can think of is Stalin suppressing the Russian Orthodox church and making it’s remnant a puppet of the regime.
But religion can have such a powerful hold over people, I’m sure it has been attempted many times. But religions are a belief system, so on the whole, quite hard to manipulate.
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July 29th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
The religious left is doing just that all the time Look at the Rev J Jackson and the Rev Al Sharpton
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