tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283876274950645902.post946826739575297213..comments2020-01-15T04:10:26.249-05:00Comments on The Political Doctor: I don't know what we're yelling aboutPoliticalDoctorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01004730229112746172noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283876274950645902.post-35572749141198489212012-09-14T18:36:11.436-04:002012-09-14T18:36:11.436-04:00Oops.... forget that last bit. Leftover of a prev...Oops.... forget that last bit. Leftover of a previous draft.PoliticalDoctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01004730229112746172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283876274950645902.post-34262298254392181532012-09-14T18:34:27.536-04:002012-09-14T18:34:27.536-04:00From a more theoretical standpoint, I actually com...From a more theoretical standpoint, I actually completely agree with your (apparent) position that the government should have absolutely nothing to do with religion, including taking a position on Jones' film, putting "In God We Trust" on the money, or allowing religious organizations tax-exempt status. The best response, I think, would be exactly what you typed, plus something to the effect of "The United States government takes no official position regarding Islam or any religion." But given the reality of our government's truth claims regarding Christianity, it would be ethically untenable for it to find that it could not comment on the film on the grounds of being religion-neutral.<br /><br />It's all about the tier of rules you PoliticalDoctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01004730229112746172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283876274950645902.post-65713134321183490802012-09-14T09:27:14.455-04:002012-09-14T09:27:14.455-04:00Is it proper for the government to decide what kin...Is it proper for the government to decide what kind of political (yes, criticizing Islam is political) speech is good and which is bad? The radical Muslims "feelings" aren't hurt - they are angry because they consider it blasphemy which should be punished.<br /><br />If the "official" position of the US government on, say, the Mormon practice of baptising the souls of the deceased, or the catholic belief that the wine becomes the blood of Christ, was that "it's a backward hateful thing" do you think people would be ok with it? It's a small step from the government saying that it thinks some kinds of speech are hateful to making such things illegal. <br /><br />The US governments proper response should be "we have many people of varying beliefs in America, and the government has no power to abridge the freedom of Americans to express those beliefs."nybhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06111907939712607618noreply@blogger.com