Why are non-Christians always so worried about Christian values being instilled into our laws?

Question

Can you honestly say that there is something wrong with Christian values? Is it so horrible to want to spare the lives of unborn children? Is it so terrible to want to protect the sanctity of marriage? Does it make us bad people that we want our kids to be able to pray in school?

Its not like we want to make Christianity the national religion. We just want basic ethical things to be considered in the legislation of our country. Is that REALLY such a bad thing?

Well, then where do we get our morals from? What made us decide that murder is wrong? What caused us to come to the conclusion that stealing should be a crime? What happens to the people who decide that they shouldn't live by these values? They get thrown in jail.

Answer 1

Very Good Question. (now see how many thumbs down you or I get) Maybe they don't want to be regulated by any rules, especially Christian rules and virtues. I wonder that if they knew a Christian was responsible for the rule not to steal things, they would not want to honor that rule either. I think Wal Mart, Sears, Old Navy, and all the rest would disagree with them. None of the values you point out are bad things. They just don't feel like they should have to honor them.

Answer 2

Kids can pray in school. Public schools, however, are not permitted to LEAD prayers. World of difference there.

The "sanctity of marriage" originated from the days when marriage was all about property and children. Love didn't enter into it at all. In real life, it isn't the "sanctity of marriage" that needs to be protected, it's people needing to be protected from a spouse.

I don't have a problem with protecting unborn children. Emphasis on "children". An embryo is only potential. Not a child.

And you're wrong about not wanting to make Christianity into a national religion. Many of the loudest spokespersons for your above causes have explicitly stated their goals of turning this land into a "Christian Nation". You have heard them, haven't you? Falwell? Dobson? Robertson? Swaggart? Popoff? etc...ad infinitum...

Then there's the problem with trying to shove your superstitions and religious dogma into science classroom, efforts to rewrite human history to conform with dogma and not facts, and your preferences for prayer over medical tretment. And that's just the tip of the iceburg.

Answer 3

A good look at history and at the demographics of world geography will demonstrate that the more religious a country claims to be and the more the laws of the land are legislated by the religious organizations, the less stable that country is. Countries that are run by theocracy have less economic stability, have HIGHER not less crime and violence, and have weaker education and health systems.

It is a falacy of reasoning to think that religion helps nations prosper. There is a great article in Free Inquiry August/September 2006 Issue entitled SECTS AND VIOLENCE: IS FAITH GOOD FOR US? by Phil Zuckerman

After refering to many government records from many countries, he states with proof, "In reality, the most secular countries--those with the highest proportion of atheists and agnostics--are among the most stable, peaceful, free, wealthy and healthy societies."

He quotes 2004 United Nations' Human DevelopmentReport , the 2003 Report on the World Social Situation, the 2004 CIA World Fact Book (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook) and scores of other reliable sources.

His conclusion: "Belief in God may provide comfort to the indiividual believer, but at the societal level, its results do not compare at all favorably with that of the more secular societies."

I am worried that religious people will become to dominate in trying to legislate and suppress the people...a suppressed people are not productive and happy. PLEASE, PLEASE leave all religion out of my government!!!

If you must have God in your life, make your relationship with him be personal, quiet and intimate. The people who scream their religious beliefs are real indications that they don't truly believe and are trying to bolster their beliefs by trying to get numbers of people to agree with them. If you really believe, don't worry if no one else believes like you. Your constant fear that the world doesn't hold your opinion is proof that your faith is weak and that is the biggest problem with religion in politics.

Answer 4

Because alot of fanatics are too quick to give up rights and freedoms we once had... i.e. you can no longer let kids ride in front seat of cars until age 12 in my state, passengers cannot ride in beds of trucks, children must wear bicycle helmets, smoking inside of your car is now illegal, cigarette tax has increased another dollar/pack... The list goes on and on and alot of people who this wont affect will say "good" all of those things are bad, but is it really necessary to impose fines? As a smoker, I have more than likely paid for and entire year worth of medical insurance that I don't even have in the amount of additional taxes I have paid. I am in perfect health compared to the fat asses that over eat and judge me based on a habit that is no worse than their own.

Now if you want to go to church, great, but stop trying to push your "values" into places like the government where there is none...

Answer 5

Christian 'values' supported slavery, bigotry, racism, and sexism. And still do today. The bible promotes violence, hatred, bigotry, and discrimination.

Fetuses are not children. They do not feel pain until the third trimester, by which time all abortions are done (unless giving birth would kill the mother - and who deserves to live more?). There's a reason we keep track of how old we are from when we are born.

Sorry, your ethics aren't my ethics. Your idea of marriage is a very narrow one that doesn't fit my idea of marriage. And you're not going to make MY kids pray to your god.

EDIT: What, you seriously think that no one decided killing people was a bad thing until the bible came along? That's ridiculous.

We don't need a god to tell us how to live our lives. Try treating other people how you want to be treated.

Answer 6

Why would we want to regress? We had laws against abortion, strict divorce guidelines and communities run by Puritans. It was horrid.

Women died in back alley abortions or by coat hanger abortions. Women were stuck in abusive marriages and lived terrible lives. Prayer was mandatory and subject to punishment for noncompliance in Puritan times.

If you want these values for yourself, no one is stopping you from practicing them at home. Stop trying to shove them down everyone else's throats. It really is a bad thing, you fascist!

PS: The writings in the bible were copied from other books. Many of the teachings had been taught in much older religions and were borrowed or incorporated into Xtianity like "Christmas" was the Pagan Winter Solstice or Yuletide and Easter is the pagan fertility goddess of spring.

Answer 7

If we can all be equal, that's great. If we all have to be Christians, that's not so great. Christianity doesn't have the right to take away our choices. You want your children to pray in school, but what about other children? It is a bad thing when you want things done your way. What is so bad about understanding that there are other people who don't share your beliefs? Do you just not care about them?

Morals do not come from religion or books. There are many, many immoral religious people. Most people do not need religion in order to have morals or values. Our jails are simply filled with Christians.

Answer 8

Not bad for you but who are you to tell me my husband is above me and GOD is above him. We are to live our life's by a book which other people wrote thousands of years ago.This book makes women so unimportant to men not to mention if we miss behave our husbands have the right to beat us. Is it fair to make your kids go to church if they don't want to.I hated going to church every Sunday when I was a kid so don't think just because your kids go to church with you means they like going they go because they are force to go. About praying in school I think our gov. went a little to far with that. You live your life and let me live mine the way I want to and we will get along just fine.

Answer 9

It's pretty bad that you have to lie so much to make your point. Look at what you wrote - you can't put a complete sentence together without lying, can you? Get it through your thick skull: when you lie this much, we cannot help but conclude that you're not moral enough to have a say in how society operates.

Christianity really seems to be mainly an excuse to misbehave, to avoid being held accountable.

Answer 10

The problem is that YES you do want to make Christianity the national religion.
Why should we have to abide by Christian laws if we do not believe in Christianity?

Answer 11

It is horrible to legislate to preserve unborn children on religious grounds. It's also horrible to make it illegal for some people to be married, when marriage is a legal contract without inherent religious significance.

Give me one reason, just one reason, why you wanting to legislate on Christian values is any different from Muslims who want Sharia law?

Where did we get our morals from? I hope you're not suggesting we got them from your imaginary friend. We decided that murder, stealing, et cetera are wrong using moral principles like the Golden Rule and social contract theory.