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Insights into the Christian Right
Mar. 28th, 2005 11:59 pmMet up with a friend from high school for dinner. Let's call her Eve. We went to the same church together, too. It's funny, it's almost as if by staying in the area, her belief system hasn't changed either. She's still a born-again Christian and believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible, up to and including the Creation of the world in 7 days. She is also studying to teach high school chemistry.
Personally, I could not abide the contradictions between fundmentalist Christian beliefs and the scientific method, which is why I am no longer a Christian. At best, I'm an agnostic. I brought up the subject mostly because I'm so totally surrounded by people with similar political beliefs as me, and I just don't get where the Christian Right is coming from, despite having grown up surrounded by them.
( A summary of the discussion )
I still don't really grok the Christian right. But I consider Eve to be a fairly intelligent person, and our discussion gave me some interesting insights into the other viewpoint. I really do think she has the right to her religious beliefs. But I have the right to mine, too. And I guess it comes down to this -- the US is a democratic society, and if the majority of Americans hold a certain set of beliefs, do they have the right to impose that belief system on the rest of the country? Strictly speaking, perhaps they do. But the Constitution was also built to protect religious minorities in particular -- hence the the "no establishment of a state church" clause. Is the issue of evolution vs. creationism turning science into a religion? I really really hope not.
Personally, I could not abide the contradictions between fundmentalist Christian beliefs and the scientific method, which is why I am no longer a Christian. At best, I'm an agnostic. I brought up the subject mostly because I'm so totally surrounded by people with similar political beliefs as me, and I just don't get where the Christian Right is coming from, despite having grown up surrounded by them.
( A summary of the discussion )
I still don't really grok the Christian right. But I consider Eve to be a fairly intelligent person, and our discussion gave me some interesting insights into the other viewpoint. I really do think she has the right to her religious beliefs. But I have the right to mine, too. And I guess it comes down to this -- the US is a democratic society, and if the majority of Americans hold a certain set of beliefs, do they have the right to impose that belief system on the rest of the country? Strictly speaking, perhaps they do. But the Constitution was also built to protect religious minorities in particular -- hence the the "no establishment of a state church" clause. Is the issue of evolution vs. creationism turning science into a religion? I really really hope not.
