Obama on religion and law-making

[Des Vize]

A quote of the week from the (British) National Secular Society:

"Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all."
(Senator Barack Obama)

--
Des Vize

www.the-brights.net
THE BRIGHTS: ILLUMINATING AND ELEVATING THE NATURALISTIC WORLDVIEW.
(A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview, free of supernatural and mystical elements.)

[John Shaw]

Perhaps if/when he becomes President we can hope for a more enlightened
Administration? Certainly more hopeful than anything George Bush has
ever said.

John

Des Vize wrote:
> A quote of the week from the (British) National Secular Society:
>
> "Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their
> concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It
> requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to
> reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I
> seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the
> teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why
> abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all
> faiths, including those with no faith at all."
> (Senator Barack Obama)
>
> --
> Des Vize
>

> www.the-brights.net <http://www.the-brights.net>

[John Murphy]

I'm skeptical, he's go to assuage the pressures of powerful lobbies who have no such interest. For example, how does he translate his unbridled support for Israel (god's chosen) in to something that is accessible to the non-religious?
Surely the opposite is required. That he acknowledge that his 'god given' morality is possibly flawed and that he needs to listen to the non-believers, rather than convince them that his 'god given' morality has some angle that makes it palatable.
John Murphy

John Shaw wrote:

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[Ken Spagnolo]

Obama is really just a status quo Democrat with better rhetoric.  More enlightened, yes, but as politically pragmatic as Clinton was.   Some things will change no doubt, but it will mostly be cosmetic.  His administration will only look revolutionary because of Bush.

Cheers,
Ken

--

I believe that one ought to have only as much market efficiency as one needs, because everything we value in human life is within the realm of inefficiency  – love, family, attachment, community, culture, old habits, comfortable old shoes.    - Edward Luttwak

[Robert McCormick]

Yes but remember that some of hte best years economically that the US has had came under the Clinton administration, so maybe he will be able to turn things around?

2008/11/3 Ken Spagnolo <k.spa...@pobox.com>