These are unnerving days for the cause of religious freedom.
I still feel a bit stunned by the fact that Mitt Romney felt obligated to give the "Hath not a Mormon eyes" speech in a major public address. (Although Mitt was not particularly eloquent, his followers regard his speech as something worthy of Pericles or Solon.) Why is such a lecture even necessary in this day and age?
I am more stunned by some of the commentary I've heard on the radio -- even on the "progressive" stations. The talkers, whether right-wing or left-wing, always draw a Falwell-esque differentiation between Mormonism and what they are pleased to call "Christianity." What's next -- drawing a distinction between Catholicism and Christianity? (Some fundies will do just that.)
Make no mistake: I think that Joseph Smith was a swindler, an obvious con artist, a scamster on the level of L. Ron Hubbard. Anyone who reads Fawn Brodie's work will come to a similar conclusion. (I have a soft spot for the "Spalding" theory of the Book of Mormon's origin, but that's a tale for another time.) Nevertheless, Smith founded a cult (or a faith: You choose the appropriate term) based on Christianity, as Hubbard did not. There is no reason to parrot the fundamentalist Baptists in drawing an obnoxious distinction. Mormonism is a Christian denomination. It is a tributary of a stream originating in Bethlehem.
I know for a fact that Hubbard was an even more outrageous fake than Smith was. (My source was someone who knew Hubbard "back in the day.") Nevertheless, the recent German decision to ban Scientology is indefensible.
Freedom of religion, like freedom of expression, must extend to those we consider mistaken or even obnoxious -- otherwise, the word "freedom" loses all meaning.
7 comments:
Just like you can't use the First Amendment to cry fire in a crowded theater if there's no fire, you can't use the First Amendment to have several wives at the same time.
Several decades ago, Catholics were permitted to eat meat on Fridays, but many Catholics still practice restraint or can't get out from under the indoctrination. Several decades ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon religion, accepted black people as members for the first time. Why did they exclude black people in the first place? It sounds like they were a country club, not a religion. Even the Professional Golfers Association of America removed its "caucasion" language from its restrictions before the Mormons. I don't know anything about that religion, although I've known Mormons, some very well and long, and I have a Book of Mormon that one gave me, which she inscribed. The Mormons I have known are very racist, and I'm the equivalent since I'm already extremely prejudiced against Mitt Romney only because he is an old Mormon running for President. Does indoctrination ever go away?
I was hoping this search would yield several dozen results, but ~10 is enough. Will we ever hear about these "tales for another time?" Or is it just a tease?
If I'm not mistaken, Joe used Dr. Stephen Jones' Mormon beliefs as a reason to reject his scientific credentials, as well as David Ray Griffin's theological writings out of a more mainstream tradition of Christianity (known as demonology) to discredit HIS work.
The fact is that Mormon beliefs, while quite fantastic once you hear of them in detail, are not especially more fantastic than the mainstream Christian traditions. Different in details, but not particularly different in kind.
If one so modern as Joe can use such distinguishing details of a belief structure to discredit a physicist and a philosopher as credible writers, why isn't it a suitable criterion for who is or isn't credible as a presidential candidate?
(Note, I believe it is not a suitable criterion in this latter case, just as it is not appropriate in the prior two cases I mention. I'm not sure the difference Joe would make of the 3 cases.)
I have the perfect canditate to run with Mitt as VP: Tom Cruise !
There are a great deal of secrets in mormonism- and one should not forget how Warren Jeffs was protected for so many years. He may be a fundamentalist mormon, but he is still a mormon. much more i could write on this so called faith, but the fact is brainwashing is immoral in my mind, and any organization that aggressively cuts one off from free thought and isolates a person within a theocracy should not enjoy the protections of religion.
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=527
Furthermore, the scientologists have gotten away with many crimes in this country. When viewing their history here, it is no wonder that other countries would not allow them to use the shelter of religion in their country. But more importantly- tax in Germany is much different than here-and they do not want Scientology to use this to their advantage-which is completely understandable when you consider that scientology is in many ways an anti religion -no "god" is involved in their "faith."
here is some info on German Tax system ( you can bet this is the heart of the matter):
Church Tax
A rather unique part of the German tax system is the ‘Kirchensteuer’ (Church Tax). The origins of the ‘Kirchensteuer’ date back to the early part of the 19th century when the churches were granted the right to levy taxes by Prussia partly as a way of compensating them for property which had been sequestered to help pay for the Napoleonic wars.
The churches’ right to levy the tax now forms part of the German constitution.
When filling in your tax form or on your first visit to the ‘Steuerberater/in’ you will be asked to nominate a religion. If you nominate a religion, you will have to pay ‘Kirchensteuer’. This means the tax authorities levy a 9 percent tax as a payroll deduction on the income of every Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish German who declares their religion on the tax forms.
If you have no religion, you say no. But you should be aware that the tax office can at some point follow you up and ask you to prove that you have no religion. This is relatively easy for Germans. They normally follow a formal process to step out of their church and have documents to prove it.
It can be a bit more tricky for those coming from other nations where essentially you simply stop or never start going to Church.
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=36&story_id=1955
But even here- often - your tax dollars are used to prop up their organization with programs such as narconon in government programs. And- Scientology does enjoy tax exemption in the US.
rob
Eric, I do get around to these "tales for another time." What happens, usually, is this: A post on a weekday reminds me of an interesting story which has nothing to do with current events. I usually tell such stories on the weekends, when fewer readers show up. However, the weekends often provide us with "current events" material. So it is pretty easy to get sidetracked.
I was just curious, the tales always sound so juicy. And I see you followed up on the Gore Vidal/Clay Shaw story, thanks!
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