Tolerance: A virtue that should be valued more
Perspective
Dan Ventucci
Issue date: 10/5/09 Section: Opinions
Take the abortion controversy for example. A majority of Pro-Life advocates are of a conservative religious persuasion. A lawmaker within that group will then push for outlawing abortion or at the very least further restrictions on the practice. The prime argument for this stance is that abortion is morally wrong. This is not a secular argument for his or her moral views are generated from religious faith. If the representative opposed abortion because it generates a great monetary cost to society or poses too great of a danger to the mother's health, that would be different. But those reasons are not at all what Pro-Life advocates express.
And making religiously influenced decisions is not a bad thing. I want people guided by a code of right and wrong to make the laws that society is asked to abide by. Yes, I might not agree with them on every topic. But, as a general rule, I want what they want; I would make the laws they make.
Returning to the statue of the Virgin Mary, I am not Catholic and I am not offended by the display of devotion any more than a Green Bay Packers jersey or an Eastern Illinois University hoodie offends me. They are a part of who people are. If the Newman Center wants to use the court directly in front of their church to display a symbol - admittedly a rather large symbol - of their faith, then who are we to tell them to remove it? Seeing as it doesn't infringe on my rights, it conversely strengthens them. If the Catholic Church can put up the Virgin Mary then Buddhists can roll out a statue of Siddh?rtha Gautama and followers of Judaism can erect a large Menorah. If we ban one then we ban them all and no one benefits. Everyone is allowed an equal opportunity. However, whether or not another religious group takes advantage of it is solely up to them. UIC finds pride in its diversity. Yet, diversity can never be achieved if we cannot express that which makes us different.
And making religiously influenced decisions is not a bad thing. I want people guided by a code of right and wrong to make the laws that society is asked to abide by. Yes, I might not agree with them on every topic. But, as a general rule, I want what they want; I would make the laws they make.
Returning to the statue of the Virgin Mary, I am not Catholic and I am not offended by the display of devotion any more than a Green Bay Packers jersey or an Eastern Illinois University hoodie offends me. They are a part of who people are. If the Newman Center wants to use the court directly in front of their church to display a symbol - admittedly a rather large symbol - of their faith, then who are we to tell them to remove it? Seeing as it doesn't infringe on my rights, it conversely strengthens them. If the Catholic Church can put up the Virgin Mary then Buddhists can roll out a statue of Siddh?rtha Gautama and followers of Judaism can erect a large Menorah. If we ban one then we ban them all and no one benefits. Everyone is allowed an equal opportunity. However, whether or not another religious group takes advantage of it is solely up to them. UIC finds pride in its diversity. Yet, diversity can never be achieved if we cannot express that which makes us different.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
History Matters
posted 10/05/09 @ 6:18 PM CST
Good missive! When the argument uses "separation of church and state" the person using that metaphor is usually turning it on its head. It came from a letter of Thomas Jefferson to describe ONE aspect of the First Amendment. (Continued…)
Post a Comment