Balance Between the Constitution and Respect for Culture
- added October 28, 2007
- 3 responses
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- mfarrell1
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- Prayer in School (88)
- bv (45)
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From what you say, I am actually unclear as to which side of the issue you come down on.
I don't know that you can actually "balance" The Constitution. The rights guaranteed by the Constitution are absolute.
The Bill of Rights makes it very clear in the 1st Amendment which says, in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."
You mention that "Christian communities" need respect." I think "Christian communities" have the right to express themselves in their homes, under a tree, in their churches, and so on. However, they don't have the right to impose their beliefs on others, or in a public school.
The reality is that "Christian communities" probably need to learn to respect the limitations placed on them by the 1st Amendment. While they are free to practice their religion without fear of any persecution, they are prohibited from imposing that religion upon anyone else through state-sanctioned methods.
By the way, why is it that only "Christian communities" need respect? What about Hindus? Muslims? Jews? Wiccans? Rastafarians? Pagans? Atheists? Agnostics? Taoists? Zoroastrians? Buddhists? There are plenty of other religions in this country and in this world worth of respect. It's another reason they don't belong in the public schools, because exactly whose beliefs would we instill? -
I agree that we can't religious groups impose their beliefs on others through public institutions. What I mean to say here is that I think that at times those of arguing against issues like prayer in school take our comments/demands too far in a way that is counterproductive and hypocritical. I feel like the important issues like keeping prayer out of public schools and keeping religion out of government get dragged in the mud when we fight over trivial details like a town hall in a 99% christian town putting up a light up santa claus in the front yard. I also think that alot of time those of us on the left who are always complaining about cultural sensitivity in regards to the way we deal with religious cultures in other nations dont always show the same courtesy to religious cultures in our own nation. I think that making sure we allow the christian community to express itself publicly in appropriate ways strengthens our arguments to restrict innappropriate expressions that we feel violate the 1st Ammendment.
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The Christian community can express itself publicly in its churches, in their homes, on it's front lawns, in malls if the owners wish, but not on public property like Town Hall. Just because a town may be 99% "Christian" doesn't make it right. What if the town was 99% Wiccan? Or Buddhist? Or Zoroastrian? Or Shinto? How would that 1% Christian minority feel about the Town Hall decorations then?
I know it's not about voting, but it's about protecting minority groups from oppressive majorities, and this author said it well:
"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)." - Ayn Rand
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