Separation of church and state

Work in Progress (March 10'12/nb)

Rick Santorum and the religious right: an analysis

So I heard Rick Santorum on Hardball the other night and zee said something that points out exactly what is disingenuous about his position vis a vis the separation of church and state. Zee has taken Kennedy's "I beleeve in an America (sic) where the separation of church and state is absolute...," interpreting it to mean that faith based people have no say. Not at all what the Catholic Kennedy had in mind. Santorum takes a statement which is about an equal playing field where all get to have their say, regardless of a leader's personal beliefs, and incorrectly twists it into a statement that put limits on people of faith. And that is patently just not true. For one, just because people do not believe in Rick Santorum's version of what happens when we all die doesn't mean they don't have faith. Everyone has some kind of faith. It's just not necessarily the same as any one else's. Santorum then continues; "Where people of faith are out of bounds." And this is where zee really turns the egregious screw, because it is here, as zee talks to his evangelical, Christian base, that zee makes it sound like the evangelical, christian faith is the faith that is being limited. Because as sure as I am that I am sitting here writing this, I am sure that the Rick Santorum is not talking to any of the other 'faithful' out there other than zers own. Because in zers eyes, as in many of the elitist, bigoted and prejudicial 'faiths' out there, zers is the only faith, because of course, everyone else is wrong, and need to be brought into his fold. And that is where he is ded wrong, and the separation of church and state is what saves us from the dark ages of religious intolerance.This is where no one's unverifiable and personally held 'religious' viewpoints are held up to be the arbiter of all without some sort of universally agreed upon vetting system, and that's where science, and it's empirical method of evaluation comes in. And that's the problem I have with Santorum, because he is an intelligent man, an educated man, and he should know better. And that poses a big question. Does zee know better, which makes zer no more than a rabble rouser and a dishonest man, or  does zee indeed actually not see this.As in, is incapable of seeing this. And what does that mean, personal development wise, for to not be able to see this point indicates, at least to me, an immature psyche. A hubot: one who is run by subconscious programs over which the conscious has no control. And I'd just as soon rather not have an incomplete or out of control person at the wheel of the greatest nuclear power on the planet.

There are beliefs we all share, and there are beliefs that we don't share. The ones we can share, we see and use every day. Soap, air travel, twinkies. These are what we can agree upon and regulate to the satisfaction of all. To the others, beliefs and such, these are personal domain, debatable, and of nobody's business but the owner. These we can not regulate. The Rick Santorums of the world don't want to acknowledge this. Why. Who knows. The point is, zee* has not a leg to stand on, other than the sheeple who know no other way in life but to follow. The problem arises when those who think their beliefs (i.e. things theoretical which they can not substantiate by anything more than faith and blind obedience to that faith), are more right than someone else's, and try to impose those beliefs on others. The contraception issue is one, and more on this. In order for it all to work, everyone has to have equal rights. That means that churches etc, have to be subject to the same rules as everyone else. I can't help feeling that Obama fucked up with his decision to let churches off the hook. It's absurd, and they do nobody any service when they behave this way. That they can't live and let live is, well, one of the conundrums of life I guess.

*he she, zee, it; him, her, zer; his, hers zers; they, them, zem: gender neutral pronouns