A Response

“Without a system of belief to live and govern by, there is no meaning in life. Without meaning in life, Lucifer and his ilk have purchase in our heart.”

Yanno, I can’t agree with these two statements. I’m not agnostic or atheist, but even I can see we don’t need a system of belief to give meaning to life. The meaning of life is shaped by each person’s survival needs. For some, physical comfort is enough. For others, only spiritual peace has any meaning. There is no single system of belief that can support every single person, offer them meaning in their lives, and be applicable to governance.

We certainly don’t need any single system of belief to set the standards for governance. Governance is determined by property and survival, which doesn’t need any belief in higher powers or spiritual beings to set in place equitably.

As for the second statement, that a lack of a system of beliefs that gives meaning to life prevents “Lucifer and his ilk” from having “purchase in our heart”s – I have no clue what you really mean, but I’m guessing you mean that a system of belief is needed to keep people fearful and obedient to whatever your religious leaders say your God wants them to do. In my experience, that’s what most people mean when they say that a lack of (their) religion makes people evil (turning to “Lucifer and his ilk”). If I’m wrong about what you meant, please feel free to correct me.

In my experience, it’s idleness and boredom that spawn mischief, not lack of religion. Allowing people the freedom to learn and be and do goes further to preventing what passes for mischief and evil in this country, not ever more restrictions and limitations.

I’m talking about “systems of belief” which is religion, and you’re talking about “belief in something”, which doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with religion.

I’m also talking about government, not personal lives.

Shared faiths work in small communities, but when you get larger, you need something less restrictive and more flexible than many religions can be. This is why a “system of belief” isn’t adequate to governance, and why a “system of belief” shouldn’t be the guiding force behind structuring government.

The primary goal of government is to allow diverse people to live together, not always peacefully, not always comfortably, but always just and fair. This is why government can’t distinguish between race, color, creed, sexual orientation, religious preference, age (except in the case of minors, who lack the education, skills, and experience and so have parents to speak for them until they attain their majority), fashion sense, health, wealth, or occupation. I may have left something out. But you get the drift. Government can’t operate in a manner that is prejudicial towards any group or class of its citizens, and therefore cannot be restricted to a single “system of belief”.

Governments deal in property – real property. Lives are property. In America, each person owns their own life (except minors who are owned by their parents – and they buy their freedom by growing up, and women who marry and are owned by their husbands – I know people will argue about this, but as long as the laws on the books allow husbands to determine the wife’s birth control decisions, employment, and residence, she is owned by him. A lot of marriages are between equals, and the spouses frequently discuss these sorts of isues and decide together, but if the husband ever wanted to, he could place a lot of these restrictions on his wife – legally.). When someone damages your property – your spouse, your child, your home, your cow, your car, your tree, your job, your leg, your dog, you get the idea.

Government regulates manufacturing because the processing can cause property damage and the end product, if defective, could cause property damage. Trade agreements ensure that no one takes a damaging loss. Roads are kept in repair so trade can take place and people can accomplish tasks that improve their property and value – because citizens who are undamaged and productive are frequently wealthy (or at least comfortable), and that makes the country productive and wealthy. A benefit is that a comfortable citizenry is an easy one to supervise and mediate.

There is no need for a system of beliefs to make a government work well. Our government isn’t perfect because it does still distinguish between various classes of its citizens, gender makes a difference, as does sexual orientation, color, creed, and health, among other things. We’ve allowed our “systems of belief” to skew and weight government to favor one group over another, and that’s where the friction and conflict comes in. Property isn’t being equally protected.

Individuals, families, and small groups need religion – but that’s a whole other topic.