God Bless Secularism
God Bless Secularism
According to Wikipedia, “secularism”:
“asserts the freedom of religion, and freedom from religion, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions.”
In 2006, shouldn’t this be one of the guiding principles behind any western liberal democracy?
Everyone has their own conscience and surely our government and politicians owe it to all of us to permit us to exercise it?
Having had the experience of both being brought up in a religion-obsessed society and now living in a completely secular country, I would give an unqualified “yes” to both questions.
In Hungary, the churches attempt to influence government policy and there are those, especially within the Reform Communion, who have aligned themselves too closely with Magyar uber-nationalism. The predominant church in the country, the Roman Catholic, has tried to input a religious significance into the 1956 Uprising commemorations this year, where quite clearly none existed and with the previous right-wing government, tried to steer social policy on such matters as abortion and contraception.
But in the state’s constitution and in daily practice, the country is 100% secular; 100% religious freedom and 100% freedom, if you want it, to ignore the moral teachings of the various churches on matters of conscience.
Bit of a contrast to my homeland.
As a child I lived in a DUP Fiefdom, which in practical terms meant no swings, swimming, pubs opening, shopping or basically fun on a Sunday. Although I was brought up in an evangelical household, my parents were (thanks be to Allah) liberal enough to allow the televison to be watched on the Lord’s Day; I daresay if the Mad Mullahs in Castlereagh Town Hall had had the power, that would have been blocked as well.
Did it strengthen my faith, make me a better Christian? Of course not. It primarily made us all a bit more devious to find whatever entertainment legal or otherwise we could have on a Sunday. My beliefs have been formed by what my parents told me,the example of their own lives and my own inate sense of what is morally right and wrong.
But let’s not be too hard on the oul FPs and Dupers, it’s not just them laying down the law.
Northern Ireland (like Hungary) is a deeply conservative place. But whereas in Hungary the religiously motivated don’t attempt to impose their values on the the rest of the population, in Northern Ireland, on many issues of conscience, the citizen is relieved of their responsibilty to decide for themselves what is right and wrong for them as an individual. Take for example the question of abortion, the law specifies:
“An abortion is only available in Northern Ireland if:
·The girl has a serious medical or psychological problem that is endangering her life if she continues her pregnancy;
·The girl has severe learning difficulties;
·The Doctor's detect abnormalities in the foetus;
In few cases, women will be offered an abortion if they have become pregnant as a result of rape”
Very narrow guidelines, away from which the woman is being denied her essential freedom of choice. And does it stop N.Irish girls from having abortions in England, Scotland and elsewhere? Of course not, so the attempt to restrict who can have an abortion is not, in fact, reducing the numbers who do so, simply transferring the *problem* onto other regions, which all seems a bit hypocritical to me.
By all means, as has happened in Hungary, be graphic about the physical and mental trauma that an abortion may involve, but in the end, everything being equal, the choice should be left with the person most affected, not the local MP or Priest, but the woman herself.
The question of abortion is, of course, only one of the battlefields in which the churches and their devotees are trying to impose their views on the wider population; in the Northern Ireland context, the segregation of the education system along religious lines, Sunday Observance and the Licensing Laws, are some of the others
Let’s have more information and open debates on these matters , more debate about our responsibilities to wider society, more information upon which to develop our own individual ethical and moral standards; but ultimately,as I said at the beginning of the post, in 2006 in every case involving personal conscience, I believe that the powers that be should trust their citizens to make the correct decision based on what their own conscience tells them is right.
11:32 AM | Permalink | links to this post
According to Wikipedia, “secularism”:
“asserts the freedom of religion, and freedom from religion, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions.”
In 2006, shouldn’t this be one of the guiding principles behind any western liberal democracy?
Everyone has their own conscience and surely our government and politicians owe it to all of us to permit us to exercise it?
Having had the experience of both being brought up in a religion-obsessed society and now living in a completely secular country, I would give an unqualified “yes” to both questions.
In Hungary, the churches attempt to influence government policy and there are those, especially within the Reform Communion, who have aligned themselves too closely with Magyar uber-nationalism. The predominant church in the country, the Roman Catholic, has tried to input a religious significance into the 1956 Uprising commemorations this year, where quite clearly none existed and with the previous right-wing government, tried to steer social policy on such matters as abortion and contraception.
But in the state’s constitution and in daily practice, the country is 100% secular; 100% religious freedom and 100% freedom, if you want it, to ignore the moral teachings of the various churches on matters of conscience.
Bit of a contrast to my homeland.
As a child I lived in a DUP Fiefdom, which in practical terms meant no swings, swimming, pubs opening, shopping or basically fun on a Sunday. Although I was brought up in an evangelical household, my parents were (thanks be to Allah) liberal enough to allow the televison to be watched on the Lord’s Day; I daresay if the Mad Mullahs in Castlereagh Town Hall had had the power, that would have been blocked as well.
Did it strengthen my faith, make me a better Christian? Of course not. It primarily made us all a bit more devious to find whatever entertainment legal or otherwise we could have on a Sunday. My beliefs have been formed by what my parents told me,the example of their own lives and my own inate sense of what is morally right and wrong.
But let’s not be too hard on the oul FPs and Dupers, it’s not just them laying down the law.
Northern Ireland (like Hungary) is a deeply conservative place. But whereas in Hungary the religiously motivated don’t attempt to impose their values on the the rest of the population, in Northern Ireland, on many issues of conscience, the citizen is relieved of their responsibilty to decide for themselves what is right and wrong for them as an individual. Take for example the question of abortion, the law specifies:
“An abortion is only available in Northern Ireland if:
·The girl has a serious medical or psychological problem that is endangering her life if she continues her pregnancy;
·The girl has severe learning difficulties;
·The Doctor's detect abnormalities in the foetus;
In few cases, women will be offered an abortion if they have become pregnant as a result of rape”
Very narrow guidelines, away from which the woman is being denied her essential freedom of choice. And does it stop N.Irish girls from having abortions in England, Scotland and elsewhere? Of course not, so the attempt to restrict who can have an abortion is not, in fact, reducing the numbers who do so, simply transferring the *problem* onto other regions, which all seems a bit hypocritical to me.
By all means, as has happened in Hungary, be graphic about the physical and mental trauma that an abortion may involve, but in the end, everything being equal, the choice should be left with the person most affected, not the local MP or Priest, but the woman herself.
The question of abortion is, of course, only one of the battlefields in which the churches and their devotees are trying to impose their views on the wider population; in the Northern Ireland context, the segregation of the education system along religious lines, Sunday Observance and the Licensing Laws, are some of the others
Let’s have more information and open debates on these matters , more debate about our responsibilities to wider society, more information upon which to develop our own individual ethical and moral standards; but ultimately,as I said at the beginning of the post, in 2006 in every case involving personal conscience, I believe that the powers that be should trust their citizens to make the correct decision based on what their own conscience tells them is right.
11:32 AM | Permalink | links to this post
