I understand the points made by Brad Taylor in his letter regarding the 'tyranny of the majority', and of course he is right to point out that the majority (just like the minority) are apt to be tyrannical.
The first thing I must point out is that I am an Australian, and so have no say in the debate regarding the separation of church and state in the USA, and especially in regards to the American constitution. As I have stated privately to the Rev. Swank, and publicly in my articles, I don't see everything the same way as he does, but I do like to look at issues from a multitude of perspectives.
I come from a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious family. My son 'Raaqi', for instance, is a convert to Islam (just like his great grandmother was to catholicism) and together with his Indian wife, is an orthodox Sufi Muslim. Without her head scarf, I actually have no idea what my daughter in law looks like (although she once did give me a look).
I have met and spoken with many Australians who want to do away with Judeo/Christian presentations and references in public life in Australia, but I have never heard an immigrant do so. The issue is a passionate one for both sides, but it always seems to involve those with the Anglo Western Judeo/Christian background.
One year in my home town, a large shopping center (after 12 years) cancelled the local ministers fraternal's nativity scene at Christmas on the basis of not wanting to offend non-christians. However, that was promptly followed up with turning a public park over to celebrations for Buddha's birthday, and the following Ramadan, the streets were closed off for the Islamic March.
If you ask the regular non-christian immigrant how they feel about "Christian" presentations in public, they don't know what the big deal is about, after all, they knew they were coming to a Christian country and expect the people to indulge in such presentations. It doesn't offend them. If anything, they object to being used as pawns in an argument that is underway between two groups which (at face value) have the same ethno/religious background.
As long as the debate in America stays focused on the legalities or otherwise pertinent to the constitution, then I have nothing to say, but when the term "non-christian" is used within the context of a multi-religious society, and especially at the moment with so much ill feeling toward Muslims, it is misleading, in that it purports to relate to the rights of "other religious groups," when those same people are not claiming any extraordinary rights.
Moreover, there must always be a predominant social culture in any country, and social culture is usually tied to an historical religion. Communism has no religion, and did everything it could to destroy religion in China, and yet, even though it failed, and even though to a very large extent it succeeded, the social culture still winds itself around historical religion. Look at any Chinese festival and see its religious roots.
I say that there must be a predominant social culture, because the sociological fact is, that every person feels a need to 'belong' to the greater group, even if it differs from it in many respects. When there is a void, and especially in a situation where you have competing religious (proselytising) groups, a minority group will seek the ascendence and seek to rule. This is precisely why so many people are upset at Bush, because they see one stream of Christianity trying to influence government.
Personally, I feel that to effectively eradicate the Judeo/Christian historical roots, by removing them from public life, is to create a void that will be filled by, perhaps something that is far worse. I also believe, that the government must govern according to law, and the daily necessities of government, without being under any CONTROL of any religious party. This however means that "anti-religious" parties should also not have the government under control.
The removal of public religious presentations COULD be a first step toward a government THAT CONTROLS every religious group, just as it is done in China. That first step however, may also lead to a government that CONTROLS every person in society, and hasn't THAT issue already been hotly debated already in the U.S.?
R.P.Bendedek
Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. King's Calendar Social Commentaries
"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.
