People of faith are not, after all, asking people to subscribe to their theology; they are asking them to subscribe to their public policy views, and to respect their rights to participate without their religion being impugned. This is not too much to ask in a democracy.
– Ralph Reed
It’s a whole new world out there. So many ideas, so many school of thoughts when it comes to everything under the sun. One of the hottest one is when it comes to politics, government and policy making.
I never thought my blog on Deped’s removal of the God-loving in their vision statement would cause much stir that an open letter from a group of secularist and an article in rappler mentioned me as demonizing a group who don’t believe in what I believe in (which of course is misquoted), to stir up controversy in social media.
When we start sharing a biblical worldview, it is without a doubt that people would disagree. I get that and I know that. And honestly, there is no end to the debate. Who is right and wrong will not be the concern of those who are against the worldview we are holding. It is about getting our ideas out there without being labeled as self-righteous, haters and anti-Christian.
A worldview that has a religious flavor in it is dismissed as mystical, irrational and something our lawmakers must avoid. The result of this is a false dichotomy between faith and public life. So in a way it is saying leave something so valuable to you privately and don’t let it out in the public square while on the other hand, secularist and others could bring their arguments in public. It is double standard and it is a dangerous precedent to lawmaking and policy making. What we tend to forget is that religion has given us some of most cherished absolute truths in our history as a nation, which we gladly legislate.
– All men are equal because God created them in His image
– Taxation derives from the consent of the governed
– Slavery is evil
– Human life is sacred
I hope our brothers and sisters who don’t share our faith and worldview would also respect our views – it is a democratic country anyway