RE: State atheism
May 1, 2013 at 1:07 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2013 at 1:16 pm by Anomalocaris.)
I disagree.
By themselves, good government and intrinsically proselytizing religions really can't co-exist for long while operating separately because the objectives and modes of operation of each is incompatible with the other. Absent some other offseting social forces, the proselytizing nature of the religion means any government that stays clear of interference in religion would eventually be subverted by the religion. They only thing that can keep separation of state and church even nominally stable is the presence of wide spread and studied disapproval of the religion amongest the fairly large and influential segments of society, and widespread and outspoken contempt of society for leveraging religion for political gains. So any good secular government must act to create and protect this social force for its own survival. This would then be seen as interference by state in the church.
By themselves, good government and intrinsically proselytizing religions really can't co-exist for long while operating separately because the objectives and modes of operation of each is incompatible with the other. Absent some other offseting social forces, the proselytizing nature of the religion means any government that stays clear of interference in religion would eventually be subverted by the religion. They only thing that can keep separation of state and church even nominally stable is the presence of wide spread and studied disapproval of the religion amongest the fairly large and influential segments of society, and widespread and outspoken contempt of society for leveraging religion for political gains. So any good secular government must act to create and protect this social force for its own survival. This would then be seen as interference by state in the church.
