[MD] Theocracy, Secularism, and Democracy

[Platt Holden]

I wonder if Obama and DMB would be so absolutist about religious freedom
being "unshakable" if a religion practiced human sacrifices?. Or encouraged
"honor" killings? Or treated women as chattel. Not too "intellectually"
justifiable if you ask me --.an example of tolerance as a moral imperative
run amok.

On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 10:20 PM, david buchanan <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> ... the Declaration of Independence .. freed intellect and DQ from
> political repression, leading directly to freedom of religion as an
> individual right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.  ...Unfortunately we
> are living the "social nightmare" brought on by 100 years of  "intellectual"
> control of society, beginning with Wilson.
>
>
>
>  President Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build
> an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero, saying Friday that
> "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in
> this country.""That includes the right to build a place of worship and a
> community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with
> local laws and ordinances," Obama said at a White House Iftar dinner
> celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. ...Obama, who said he was
> speaking both as a citizen and as president, invoked the attacks of Sept.
> 11, 2001, which critics of the Islamic center cite as the main reason for
> preventing its construction."We must all recognize and respect the
> sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan," Obama said,
> according to his prepared remarks. "The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic
> event for our country.""The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost
> loved ones is unimaginable," he continued. "So I understand the emotions
> that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground."But
> Obama argued that American ideals and the Constitution demanded that the
> project proceed."This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom
> must be unshakable," he said. "The principle that people of all faiths are
> welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their
> government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must
> endure."The proposed Islamic center has provoked vocal opposition from some
> families of 9/11 victims and other groups. Nearly 70 percent of Americans
> oppose the plan, according to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released
> Wednesday.
>
> Did you catch that salient contrast?
> "religious freedom must be unshakable,.. The principle ..is essential to
> who we are."
>
> "Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan..."
>
> From Lila, Chp. 24:
> "What passed for morality within this crowd was a kind of vague, amorphous
> soup of sentiments known as "human rights." You were also supposed to be
> "reasonable." What these terms really meant was never spelled out in any way
> that Phaedrus had ever heard. You were just supposed to cheer for them.
> "He knew now that the reason nobody ever spelled them out was nobody ever
> could. In a subject-object understanding of the world these terms have no
> meaning. There is no such thing as "human rights." There is no such thing as
> moral reasonableness. There are subjects and objects and nothing else.
> "This soup of sentiments about logically nonexistent entities can be
> straightened out by the Metaphysics of Quality. It says that what is meant
> by "human rights" is usually the moral code of intellect-vs. -society, the
> moral right of intellect to be free of social control. Freedom of speech;
> freedom of assembly, of travel; trial by jury; habeas corpus; government by
> consent—these "human rights" are all intellect-vs.-society issues. According
> to the Metaphysics of Quality these "human rights" have not just a
> sentimental basis, but a rational, metaphysical basis. They are essential to
> the evolution of a higher level of life from a lower level of life. They are
> for real."
>
>
>
> Moq_Discuss mailing list
> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
> Archives:
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
> http://moq.org/md/archives.html
>