Religion may not be a matter of state power at the moment but there are people who want to use their form of Christianity to enforce control over society. Religion has to be a matter of individual choice and that choice should not affect anyone's standing as a citizen.
Another terrific piece for 2024, Virginia. Perhaps you would agree (having grown up as a Protestant) that in the American experience, Christian faith has been characterized not so much by individual feeling as individual action, as result more than impulse. To my mind, Brooks gets it backwards, in yet another fundamentally American way (which I totally cop to): confusing faith with feeling, elicited, at least in part, by the desire bordering on compulsion to feel better about oneself.
I read something many years ago, explaining American religiosity compared to Europe as the result of not having a State religion. Memory says that at the time, most European countries had State religions to the extent of some financial support which could be opted out of, but it's too long ago to remember any detail and I have no idea what things are like now. At any rate, it sounded plausible. The easiest way to make students hate a subject is for the teacher to force their particular version on the students.
Religion may not be a matter of state power at the moment but there are people who want to use their form of Christianity to enforce control over society. Religion has to be a matter of individual choice and that choice should not affect anyone's standing as a citizen.
Another terrific piece for 2024, Virginia. Perhaps you would agree (having grown up as a Protestant) that in the American experience, Christian faith has been characterized not so much by individual feeling as individual action, as result more than impulse. To my mind, Brooks gets it backwards, in yet another fundamentally American way (which I totally cop to): confusing faith with feeling, elicited, at least in part, by the desire bordering on compulsion to feel better about oneself.
Well put.
I read something many years ago, explaining American religiosity compared to Europe as the result of not having a State religion. Memory says that at the time, most European countries had State religions to the extent of some financial support which could be opted out of, but it's too long ago to remember any detail and I have no idea what things are like now. At any rate, it sounded plausible. The easiest way to make students hate a subject is for the teacher to force their particular version on the students.
So interesting, Virginia!
This was a wonderful article. Thank you.
Brilliant as usual
Thank you for the article and also CHER* lol
(*written on the blackboard in the ai image)
I love that you noticed that!