The following is a long response to a thread on someone elses page so I am posting it here. Jeffersons point is that Government noninterference in religious and personal thought is critical to have society work without coercion. Think for a moment all of the areas in which you as a liberal and me as a good conservative would probably agree and where the church was instrumental in positive change. Starting with the American move for independence from England the pulpit was used. The Abolitionist movement and the struggle for the end of slavery was fought largely from inside the Church.(In the South, justification for slavery was preached from the Bible also). the civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid movement. A lot of the Anti Viet Nam war movement received support from within the Church while certain Patriotic elements supported it. The point is that Congress shall pass NO LAW in other words it is not Constitutionally entitled to even have an opinion about not try to interfere in any way shape or manner the affairs of the church as it is a bastion of freedom from the overreaching arms of the forces of Government. Sometimes you will agree with what is said there and sometimes you may disagree but it is to remain unviable as a sanctuary from the thought police. Zappa asked who are the brain Police and at the time we thought it was and feared the forces on the Right but as too often happens we on the Left (and that is where I firmly was for decades) spawned Political Correctness and became that which we feared. For a classic example of how insistence on self preservation built upon the premise of moral superiority can go wrong go no further than the Russian Revolution where Lenin thought HIS version of Communism was superior and thereby justified eradicating The Trotskyites and all other variations. There is strength in diversity we as Americans should remember the centerpiece of 1960s Liberalism was the adage that I may disagree with you but will defend your right to your opinion. As Americans we ALL need to trim down the rhetoric and listen to those with whom opinions differ and look for the common ground, move on that and work to reconcile the other areas instead of concentrating only on our differences. The bottom line though is Historically the Church and the Public Square were the place for debate and dissemination of ideas and the Square has become the Media which costs money, or the social media which Government from time to time tries to push for control and the Church still remains as a place for people in the Local Community to express and debate ideas. For tax exempt purposes MANY organizations can be founded as tax exempt organizations using the Legal Code as the Churches so it goes BOTH ways. SO the big question is whether FREEDOM is important to preserve out of the control of Government. I say YES and do not have a problem with those who disagree with me having those same protections as any time anyone loses freedom it affects us all and we all lose freedom and so it goes till there is none left. In other words, when the least of us loses a freedom we all lose a freedom. Sorry if I have gone long but this is so important and we must all work together regardless of individual differences of opinion to preserve the right to express our different opinions, hopefully with respect but we even need to respect the freedom of the fringe elements embarrassing as they may be.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:33:35 +0000
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