first, let me preface my thoughts with this: i am NOT against the equal treatment of all individuals under the law. what i am against, however, is an argument that is premised on the notion that church and state exist as two completely separate entities, as though they exist outside of the individuals that comprise them. but even more fundamentally, what frightens me is the militant attitude behind that argument that seeks to belittle and reject any belief that is not based in scientific/empirical evidence. it treats the dominant philosophy of logical positivism as the only legitimate way of looking at the world, and it is explicit in its determination that truth can only exist if it has been observed and is quantifiable. but we all know life is not that simple (and if it were, what of beauty? love? art?).
i implore you to ask yourselves, is not this worldview, this philosophy on life, it's own kind of religion? aren't the results of such thinking just as absolute, tyrannical, and intolerant as that of any other categorical religion?Â
separate church and state, they say, because the first amendment demands it. but how do we disestablish a new "religion" that worships chance, man, and science as the only things worthy of glory? "tolerance" does not mean agreement. what we all crave is respect and civility, and religious convictions deserve them, too.
