pointed out to me by shy_kay

[winterbadger]

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050627fa_fact

This conjures up a number of reactions. Revulsion, fear, sadness, anger, pity. But most of all it brings me back to thinking about the role of religion in our country and in politics. That really takes some pondering.

Comments

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

I thought this paragraph was especially creepy (emphasis on these is mine):

When Ross was sixteen, she wrote in her journal, “I don't want to spend my life having crushes on different guys.” She pledged to “love Christ with my whole heart and not fall in love with a guy for five years,” a period that she chose after hearing a lecture that compared committing to Christ to sticking to a long-term business plan. Du Mée's courtship proposal came exactly five days before her pledge expired.

and this:

Patrick Henry's campus is small, with one main building and a group of dorms clustered around a lake; the kids call it "the fishbowl." It can be a competitive, anxious place. Many students schedule their days in fifteen-minute increments and keep daily checklists over their desks (do crunches, read Bible, take vitamins, study). “Everyone here is going for the same prize,” Abby Pilgrim, a junior, told me. “Nothing here is chill.”

As you know, I have trouble with religion and politics, a subject that we disagree on, but not a *lot* as I understand your points in prior posts. What bothers me the most about this is that it's almost like "over achievers for Christ" where religion isn't about faith anymore it's about who's more popular among the religious right.

[winterbadger]

Well, I think it's a glimpse into the subculture of "OK, we all agree about the importance of Christian conservatism having a leading role in government and society, but how's the best way to achieve that?"

I don't mind people's views of religion influencing their politics; in fact, I would rather people have an ethical foundation for policy than simply act on self-interest, and religion is the most common ethical foundation in this country. What I object to is people using policy to *impose* their ethical and religious views on others.

But does that really make any sense? Don't I really *want* people to use law and government to impose ethical principles on society, just ethical principles that I beleive in?

I started to write a reply to that, and realized that its somethign I really need to sit and think about, and write out later (on my own time :-)

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

What I object to is people using policy to *impose* their ethical and religious views on others.

Bingo! There's where we agree and I think in agreeing to this we can find a solution that would satisfy the both of us.