Today in the NYT Stanley Fish talks about religion and the "liberal" (free) state:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/religion-and-the-liberal-state-once-again/?hp
¡Finzamos!
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1 comment:
This article is realy interesting, and offeres quite a few valid points. If everyone could view politics as a "liberal" (as defined in the article), I think that things would run much smoother and there would be WAY fewer problems (e.g. this law discriminates against my religion). I understand that, in some religions (including that which I am :-D) say that you should be showing your beliefs at all times, not just in the seclusion of your home. In spite of (pretty much) impossibility of this thought, the idea is a great one.
Later in the article, a ruling is discussed in which cultural beliefs were determined to be valid and prevented a man from being charged with a certain crime. This makes me think of Mormons. It's not that I have anything against Mormons, but they suit my purpose in this blog... They believe in having more than one wife. Great.. except that it's illegal in the U.S. So, is the government supposed to make an exception because of this religious belief? I'm not one of those people that (as noted in the article) automatically thinks that someone else's cultural practice is wrong, but I do think that rules are rules and, when your visit or move to a country (be it the U.S. or any other country), you have to follow the set rules. The government can't just go making exceptions for every little different belief held by every immigrant and/or religious sect. It would be chaos! Not only that, but people would definitely begin to abuse the law in this case. It would be all too easy to say "Well, I'm a Mormon, and we believe that's right". Then what? Would the court have to have legal documentation that you have been a Mormon for x amount of time? As harsh as it sounds, we can't make exceptions for every culture and rule. Like the article portrays, in a "liberal" nation the laws should be made (almost) without regard to distinct religions. Otherwise, there would be no real laws at all.
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