Posted: Feb 24, 2012 8:59 pm
tolman wrote:zulumoose wrote:Lion, how exactly does one impose church/state separation on personal beliefs?
Personal beliefs are personal, and unaffected by anything imposed short of brainwashing or drugs.
It is only specifically NON-personal aspects of belief, the aspects that affect others, that can be separated by a church/state ruling.
Hence the separation of church/state, INCREASES freedom of personal pursuit of belief by specifically NOT imposing the structures of specific belief outside a setting where they they are voluntary.
I think you're forgetting that in the feeble minds of some believers, the freedom they most want is the freedom from doubt that comes from having everyone else pandering to (ie 'respecting') whatever belief system they have chosen (or, more likely, have been indoctrinated into).
This is what I don't get. Even back when I was sent to a scary fundie school growing up they were very strict supporters of separation of church and state. Even they understood that freedom came from separation. The people who want pandering to their beliefs are really not thinking this through. I guess thinking isn't part of the equation for them.