Here's something to consider...
Our American court system requires proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order to convict. This burden is not fool-proof being that we have innocent people incarcerated, and guilty people walking free. Yet, its our attempt at honest, stoic fairness. As a nation, we pride ourselves on this very evidencial attempt at seeking truth and finally passing judgement. One might even be inclined to say that the majority of Western culture has utilized this "fair" court of law to establish order.
Its a noble attempt! Although vigilante justice may have its place, it is fueled by emotion. Truth does not harbor emotion. If your neighbor steals the plastic Santa in your front yard, it does not matter that he did it out of jealousy. It only matters that he did it. Your options are, A) take his Jesus and manger hostage until he delivers Santa back to his mighty sleigh, or, B) take him to court and deliver the burden of truth about his actions. I would like to see this handled outside of the tax-eating court system, so I say you take Jesus and wait for his next move. But, the court system is available to mediate these disputes, and this system is conducted in a rational, logic-oriented manner.
This leads me to the point of my rant. If we have a court system, rooted in Western culture, that feeds off of logic, evidence, and proof, why do we allow other influencial portions of our society to skate by these requirements? Why is their no accountability to truth when it comes to religion? Why is faith allowable evidence in the case of Christian values? I recently read that 77% of the United States is considered Christian. Why does it suffice to have an American court system that requires reason beyond a reasonable doubt, yet an American religious mainstay that does not? The court system is playing poker with the fate of a human life as much as religion.
Let's set my personal views about religion aside, because the truth value of religion is not at stake here. What is at stake is the means in which we as a nation and a Western culture have decided to come to this conclusion. I refuse for a minute to believe that of the 77% of Chrisitan believers in this country have come to this conclusion because they have grilled the evidence. As I see it, this conclusion is reached due to lack of zeal to question religious authority. We are raised as Christians, so we simply move along as such. We rarely ask why the New Testament goes from Jesus at birth to Jesus in his mid-ages, without explanation of his youth. We rarely ask how it is that one can have water splashed on his forehead at an early age as an induction to Heaven, yet fall from grace if he has pre-marital sex.
Understand, I am taking a hard line on the Christian religion with the two examples provided. Both examples could take on their own essays, and I realize that its easy to throw out shots without providing evidence. But, I am not disputing religious truth value in this case. That is not my focal point. The point is, if you believe that corporal punishment is unacceptable by your neighbor, you should also believe it to be unacceptable at your own home. Consistency is the operative word here. Question religious beliefs in the same way that you question innocence in the social setting. Religion has a HUGE influence on our social structure, and so does our court system.
Why do we handle these cornerstones of Western culture so differently?
No comments:
Post a Comment