Religion and the State
Created | Updated Mar 30, 2002
If I was religiously inclined, I'd call today Easter Sunday. Whatever my religious leanings, though, those claiming to represent the citizens of this country have seen fit to maintain a regime forcing the observation of today and last Friday, as well as the 25th of December, as special occasions, when all non-essential commercial activities are forbidden, and any breach of this is punishable by a fine. In a country where the largest religious group is, by far, the non-religious, it is absolutely disgusting that the government would seek to impose a compulsory religious celebration. In fact, I am disgusted when a government imposes any sort of moral standard of living, esecially a government whose membership is not voluntary. The role of the State is not to instruct people on how to live their lives, but to facilitate a large number of people living their lives together. A government's role should be limited to the efficient maintainence of social infrastructures, and to allow its members the chance to interrelate to the greatest extent possible. Religion, like many other things, is an entirely personal matter. Decisions regarding the personal direction of my own life are something that I alone have the authority to make.
