RELIGIOUS ISSUES

It’s another of my pet peeves. When I hear someone say “[such and such] is a religious issue” invariably they infer the opposite is not. Like my asking yesterday what is not a moral issue (see yesterday’s blog post), what is not a religious issue? Is there anything that does not have a religious component?

It is my observation that when someone attempts to make a distinction between the religious and the secular, they are actually nearly always making a distinction between Theist and Atheistic viewpoints. In fact, it is my perception that a large percentage in our society wrongly equate Atheistic positions as non-religious. However, despite Theistic and Atheistic beliefs being at opposite ends of the spectrum, they are both religious. For example, many people would acknowledge that praying before a football game is a religious act. But omitting prayer before a football game is an equally religious act. They are merely conflicting religious viewpoints.

So when someone speaks of getting religion out of the public sector, take a second look at what is being suggested. It is not a secular proposal – the mere mention of religion belies the fact that the issue in question is indeed a religious one, and the debate is really which religious viewpoint should be given precedence. Unfortunately, Atheists are increasing forcing their religious viewpoint down the throats of the majority under the erroneous notion that Atheistic positions are non-religious. A coin is money no matter if it comes up heads or tails. If something is religious, so is its opposite.