The Ten Commandments Monument
This is a very interesting piece of news about a decision made by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. It is always a wise choice to separate church and state. All governments are supposed to represent their people and should never be influenced by religion, for a very simple reason. This is because the people they represent come from diverse backgrounds with different faiths, religions and cultures. When an official body such as the government shows any inclination or bias towards supporting one particular religion over the others, this will inevitably result in inequality and discrimination against the other/minority religions. No government, leader secular or religious should ever condemn or speak against another religion or any religion. All leaders and role models should be fair minded, open and allow people to have their freedom of choice in religion. All religious faiths should be fully respected. Government and leaders must set the standard this way and there will be more peace. Religion will not be used to create more human strife. Religion should be used to create harmony, acceptance, love and tolerance.
This is not mere theory but proven fact. By looking at the examples of the past, in the history of the world, we can see clearly how the involvement of government in religious matters has caused great discrimination. For instance, the Central Tibetan Administration’s policy against the practice of Dorje Shugden has caused great suffering to Dorje Shugden practitioners within the Tibetan communities. The Tibetan leadership has criticized the Dorje Shugden faith and thereby created huge dissension, disharmony and segregation because of this.
I hope that all governing bodies will take this as a positive example and learn from Oklahoma’s decision to uphold the separation of church and state, so that they may serve their citizens more effectively and purposefully. Freedom of religion should be protected by law.
Tsem Rinpoche
BREAKING: Oklahoma Supreme Court Orders Ten Commandments Monument off Capitol
In a 7-2 vote, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled the controversial Ten Commandments monument sitting on the grounds of the state Capitol must be removed, News OK reports.
According to the report, religious monuments or the use of public money to benefit church denominations is not allowed under article 2, section 5 of the Oklahoma constitution.
On the negative side, this probably means the beloved Baphomet statue, made to protest the Ten Commandments, won’t be making an appearance on the Capitol grounds either.
But while the cloven-hoofed demon lord will be kept out of sight, what I do expect to see is intense conservative backlash. Religious and social conservatives are already having what must be their worst week in a long, long time.
And if history is our guide, we know the religious right considers it oppression when they are not allowed to be the one and only religion.
But taking down the Ten Commandments is the right thing to do. Our government is not supposed to support or sponsor one faith over another. The government is meant to be secular and separated from the church.
Anyone with a basic grasp of U.S. history understands this. Then again, Oklahoma is the state that tried to ban AP U.S. history courses because they “make America look bad.”
So.
H/T: News OK
[Source: http://bluenationreview.com/breaking-oklahoma-supreme-court-orders-ten-commandments-monument-off-capitol/#ixzz3ecyI7KeD]
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Interesting news …… Oklahoma Supreme Court had decide to separate religion and politics. The history of the world, we can see clearly how the involvement of government in religious matters has caused great discrimination among the communities. An example in the Tibetan Leardership , because of the ban on Dorje Shugen practice it cause hardships, suffering ,discrimination, disharmony, and many more. For the past decades , many of the Tibetans in exiles had suffered badly. Where religion is concern ,politics should not comes in. Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, and so forth without government influence and intervention. It also includes the freedom to change one’s religion or beliefs. No government should speak against another religion or any religion. Peace, harmony and happiness can only materialised with respect among and within all people. Everyone of us should be given the choice to what we want to pray.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Nationalism and Religious fervour have caused many disasters upon man, and many people have taken advantage of such dire situation for profit and influence. IN a multicultural and multi religious country, it can be quite detrimental and dangerous if government favours one faith above the rest.
Religion and politics have always been a tricky matter ever since human established the concept of leadership and governance. Historically, the ruling head or the ruling power has imposed their beliefs on their subjects. Can we successfully break out of this pattern without going into a more dangerous ground of becoming anti-religion?
The movie “The Book of Eli” comes to mind. In this movie, after the fallout – there was a attempt to burn all copies of the Bible in existence because humanity blamed it as the source and cause of war.
Do mankind need religion or has mankind created religion for selfish gain? Can humanity survive without religion? What kind of world would we be living in without religion?
Personally I agree that religion and politics should not mix and that a governing power or a ruling head should respect all religion and allow freedom of practice with harmony. In reality that is sometimes only theoretical because we are not robots, we are human. We have our individual beliefs, preferences and prejudices. We created rules and constitutions and political systems in our best attempt to be fair and unbiased but it will never be perfect because to err is human.
I see a flaw in Oklahoma’s decision and what it can potential incite. In our progress I don’t think we should disregard decisions of the past. Meaning Oklahoma can ruled to never again have religious monuments in Capitol but should not remove what was previously erected. This is giving respect and acknowledgement to the past, a reminder so to speak of the change that was made and is to come. By removing that Ten Commandments Monument, what do we remove next to prove fairness and a non-bias governing body? How far do we go? Should all public religious monuments be eradicated and only allowed indoors?
This is an interesting news. Not many countries or rather government bodies actually practice what they preach or claim to uphold. Many prejudice and bias views are still apparent although they claim to be democratic. So it’s really good to know that a state such as Oklahoma being true and respecting their people’s rights to religious freedom.
Religion and politics should never be mixed and always separated. Any true democratic government that is for the “people” would naturally protect its people to ensure peace, harmony and hence prosperity in one’s state.
The State of Oklahoma truly respects the freedom of choice of faith of its people. It safeguards this freedom by not allowing even the state to, in any way, influence this choice. Hence the removal of the Ten Commandments. This is the right way to go. The Government should not influence the choice of faith of anyone, directly or indirectly.
Likewise , the CTA should not influence or coerce people against Shugden.
Thank you Rinpoche, for sharing this great piece of news.
One of the things that I like about the US is the freedom of speech and the practise of human rights. They have come a long way to be where there are and continue to improve as any developed country would.
I agree with the reporter of the news that politic and religion should be separated. The spiritual and secular methods are very different and it is not advisable to use both together in either setting. This will create a lot of confusions and conflicts to say the least.
This article has reminded me on an earlier article written by Rinpoche on similar subjects which I believe many will be benefitted from reading here https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/are-you-secular-or-spiritual.html.