The Religious Life
Bin Laden
Whenever I take students to the Pentagon 9/11 memorial I try to leave time for a brief discussion of Osama Bin Laden’s reasoning as we cannot defeat our enemies unless we understand them.
His worldview was informed by Sharia, a so-called religious and moral code which acts in place of civil and criminal law.
Religion, interpreted by those in power, dictates the boundaries of individual freedom and expression.
In the U.S. we enjoy inalienable rights found in our Constitution, one of which is the free exercise of religion and also the exclusion of government from involvement in it.
Free exercise of religion is not only permitted but welcomed though it cannot proscribe our liberty in a civil society.
In Bin Laden’s world, religion is center stage, the basis for all thought and action.
Kim Davis and Charee Stanley
Kim Davis
On this 14th anniversary of 9/11, Kim Davis and Charee Stanley remind us of the wisdom of civil liberty versus religious fervor, regardless of the brand being peddled.
Davis, a Christian county clerk, denies the right of civil marriage to homosexuals.
Charee Stanley
Stanley, a Muslim flight attendant, alleges employer discrimination as her job requires her to serve alcohol, something her religion does not permit.
Dare we point out that Davis is not being asked to marry a homosexual and Stanley is not being asked to consume alcohol.
Their respective religions require them to impose their moral beliefs randomly onto others unfortunate enough to come into contact with them in the public realm.
Bin Laden would be elated: religion becomes the basis for civil life.
Davis and Stanley deny others some aspect of civil society or assert special privileges as evidence of their piety and faith.
Is it the act of infringement on other’s rights that brings the glow of godly satisfaction?
A Liberalizing Instinct
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson once said, “We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”
He is, in part, referring to the ever-liberalizing instinct of democratic peoples over time.
Our own history, even with its fits and starts, has been toward greater equality and freedom for all.
We extend protections and atone for past indiscretions.
Hate to say it, but some of those barbarous ancestors to whom Jefferson was referring are right out of the bible and other religious texts.
Democratic and human equality cannot square with texts condoning slavery and stoning.
Those who apply ancient religious edicts to others in a civil setting are in for a rough time, one they deserve, as the hallmark of our society is freedom and tolerance rather than religious repression.
That’s what ISIS does.
The anniversary of 9/11 provides a moment to celebrate how we have gotten it right much to the dismay of Bin Laden and his adherents.
As Chief Justice John Roberts says, “We are a nation of laws.”
Those laws are the guarantee of civil equality and justice in a society which properly tolerates the free exercise of religion rather than a bowing down to it.