Not much
Submitted by A.I. Watcher on September 10 2001 17:30:08
In reply to I hope this makes sense submitted by Forgiven on September 10 2001 16:45:11
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Actually, in NYC, there used to be quite a debate about Sunday opening hours. Most stores were not allowed to be open on Sundays. Seeing as there is a large Jewish population in NYC, this was not a popular law. Jews, of course, would rather have Saturday off. (The state assembly at the time was dominated by upstate, Christian members. The imbalance between the majority city and minority upstate voters has since been corrected.) I believe that New York did the right thing and got rid of the laws. Now people can decide for themselves about days off and not be forced to observe anyone else's religion. Regarding Blue Laws, where I come from, they refer to rules about stores being open on Sunday or alcohol being sold on Sunday. I oppose them if one argues for them on religious grounds. I can't see any valid secular argument for restricting alcohol sales on one day of the week and if that one day happens to be the Christian holy day, then I am suspicious and I believe rightly so, that Christians are trying to force their moral or religious views on people who don't share those views. Regarding pornography, I don't agree with the feminist argument but I suppose there's nothing wrong with making it. Regarding the Chrisitan views on chastity, I don't care. I'm not a Christian. If you want to be chaste, go for it. If you think that porn is unhelpful in that pursuit, then stay away from it. But that argument has no business being foisted on people who don't share your religion or its views on chastity that stem from your religious observances. I happen to think that pornography can be a wonderful way to celebrate and enjoy human sexuality. If you don't agree, fine. Just leave me alone. Regarding slavery, I've studied the Abolitionist movement thoroughly and I've read many papers and speeches from the time. The arguments made were practically all secular and humanitarian. In the South, churches preached FOR the continuation of slavery. It took a war to settle the issue and a lot of death. Nobody who took a serious interest in the era could think that it was about religion. It was societal and humanist. In this discussion, however, I have to almost laugh at your example. In this case, we're talking about Christians trampling on the rights of queers - NOT helping them to enjoy civil liberties. Chrisitans are attempting to SUPPRESS rights and they're using their religion to do it - just as Christians in the South used THEIR religion to try to keep slavery going. So, I don't think you've made an argument. You've pointed out a lot of examples of Christians using their power to try to interfere in others' lives. |
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