OK...its not like this is new or anything. There are several articles a week written about this, and I probably re-post most of them. But it means even more this week, with the arguments going on before the Supreme Court. There is a conversation we all sometimes touch on, but its rare that anyone grabs a bullhorn and shouts about it because there is a fear that we might offend someone - and there is the problem, because thats the conversation we need to be having, the one that asks the most important question we can discuss today: Why should we give a shit what your religious belief is or what it tells you to do? Neil deGrasse Tyson is coming close to making it a national conversation, but he is only skirting the edges, and that just wont do. Someone needs to explain why and how, in 2014, consideration and respect for anyones religious beliefs deserve the primacy they are given. Just what is it about the strength of someones convictions about information they cant possibly prove that gives faith such weight in public discourse? I might be convinced that what I think in the instant before I blow out my birthday candles will come true if only I close my eyes while thinking it and then dont repeat it, but do I have a right to insist that people apply that belief to public policy simply because Im really sure? Of course not. So why is it that we allow peoples beliefs in the veracity of a Middle Eastern fairy tale to dictate the course this nation follows, to the clear detriment of our children and our future? We have moved past the point were Because is a good enough answer, but Im still waiting for what they can offer in its place. salon/2014/03/26/why_religious_fundamentalists_are_so_excited_about_charter_schools_partner/
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 14:24:37 +0000