Monday 25 June 2007

One justice away...

This is really scary.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2829599695690924108


Edward Tabash gave this speech to members of the Center For Inquiry during a recent cruise in the Galapagos.

(via RichardDawkins.net)

Here's the Q&A session:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4191917977194347234


I hadn't realised that the separation of church and state in America was so precarious. If the US becomes a theocracy in just a matter of months, what hope do we have of avoiding global holy war?

4 comments:

  1. Your kidding right ? The US is in no danger of becoming a theocracy because unlike the athiests and the lefties in the US those accused for formeting theocracy respect the constitution there.

    The US is in much more danger of becoming activily hostile to religion before it is in danger of becoming a christian theocracy.

    Heck it is in far more danger of becoming an Islamic theocracy.

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  2. Jason: please present your evidence for this assertion. Thank you.

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  3. Brain, most christians don't want to live in a theocracy. Unless you mean something for "theocracy" like, "A nation in which christians have some say in the process by which laws are made".

    If that is what you mean then you don't know what a theocracy is. Christians in a democracy have everybit as much right as anyone else to seek laws in line with what they believe provided they are within the bounds of the process.

    This of course means that laws regarding abortion or pornography and so on are fair game because they are not a state enforcement of a religious point of view.

    Unless you would concede that laws allowing such things are likewise enforcing a different religious point of view. You need to be consistent.

    Most people who trumpet fears of theocracy mean something like "christians seeking to have laws passed that agree with their worldview". But this is not a theocracy.

    Apart from a tiny fringe movement called "christian reconstructionism" or "Theonomy" I don't know of any christians that seek anything that even resembles the imposition of anything that looks like theocracy.

    If you think another supreme court judge that took a conservative stance would usher in theocracy then you don't know what the word means.

    When you see something like you see in Iran coming into play, then you have a theocracy. Short of that it is not theocracy, and short of actually breaking the law and stepping outside of what the law allows (which in terms of the first ammendment would not actually be in breach except for the formation of a federal church) christians are actually explictly allowed to participate in the political process just as anyone else is.

    If you don't think christians should let their beliefs inform how they vote and what they vote for, then you are actually arguing for an explict atheocracy. Which would be hypocritical.

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  4. Paul as you can see, Separation of Church and state is VERY important to Americans. Jason understates the problem a little -- the fundamentalist christians are a small group, unfortunately the nation is so divided that that small group has swung the last few elections and are directly responsible for the nightmare of the last six years.

    Recent history has proven they are dangerous and weather they have a LEGAL right to preach politics from the pulpit is a legitimate question.

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