Saturday, October 04, 2008 Libre: Religious intolerance By Mel Libre Seriously Now
BEING used to having an invocation delivered during gatherings, I am dismayed at most of the office meetings and public activities I attend in New Zealand since prayers are not said as a matter of practice. In a secular state, the separation of government and religion is consciously observed by most of the citizenry.
In a secular state, the display of religious objects in public buildings is unacceptable. Performing religious rituals in the presence of colleagues is perceived as insensitive to their rights or beliefs. Making reference to one’s faith in conversations or writings can be deemed as offensive.
There are various reasons for the separation of the State and the Church, including doing away with traditional religious values in favor of modernization, and protecting religion from government interference or vice versa. This separation principle also finds refuge in the United Nations' upholding the right to free expression of religious belief in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 2 forbids discrimination on the basis of religion.
During the four-day visit of Pope Benedict XVI to France in September 2008, President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the long-standing anti-clericalism hostility against Catholic institutions and teachings.
He said: "Religions, particularly the Christian religion with which we share a long history, are living heritages of reflection and thought, not just about God, but also about this core concern today about nature and the defense of the environment. It would be madness to deprive ourselves of it, quite simply a mistake against culture and thought." He said that he wanted "positive secularism which stages dialogue, not a secularism that walls out or criticizes."
For what has occurred in most secular states, not just France, is religious intolerance. One commentator writes: "Though the goal of a secularist state is to be religiously neutral, some argue that it is repressive of some aspects of religion. Ostensibly, it is equally repressive toward all religions in order to equally protect all from interference by others."
The subtle, if not open, religious intolerance of some secular states makes these nations of little difference from those countries that persecute people for their religious faith and practices which, as reported in 2000 by the US State Department, include China, Myanmar, Iran, Iraq and Sudan.
Reacting to Sarkozy, the Pope said: "New reflection on the true meaning and importance of secularism has become necessary…The Church does not want to take the place of the State." The Pontiff has declared that ongoing secularization to be a fundamental problem of modern society, and has made it the goal of his papacy to counteract secularism and moral relativism.
There should be a strong effort not just among Catholics, but other faiths as well towards positive secularism and religious tolerance. It could begin with keeping traditions. Americans should continue printing "In God We Trust" in their monetary bills. New Zealanders should continue singing "God Defend New Zealand."
Filipinos should continue believing in the letter of the Preamble of their Constitution: "We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society." Let us be reminded: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." (Psalm 33:12)
All must continue to invoke God not just in confines of their homes and churches, but in public functions as well where two or more people come and gather. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)
