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by sepositus 451 days ago
I suppose this will surprise you, but I'm strictly against religion and government mixing. When Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not of this world," I take that very seriously. It's why I've never associated with the Republican party, which has increasingly high-jacked the evangelical vote.

I'm not sure why you're accusing me of trivializing anything. I'm simply commenting on the religious discussions on HN and how I usually find them sorely lacking. But I wouldn't expect any different, considering most "hackers" tend to be secular in my experience, which is fine.
1 comments
autoexec 451 days ago
Out of curiosity, would you support things like removing "in God we trust" from currency and abandoning the motto, removing the words "under God" from the pledge of allegiance, banning religious requirements to hold public office, removing tax exemptions for churches, the removal of "blue laws" that ban or restrict certain things (like sales of cars or alcohol) on Sundays, and the banning of the 10 commandments or nativity scenes from public schools, court houses, and other government buildings?

I've known a few Christians to support some of those things, but I haven't met one so far who would have religion removed across the board.

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sepositus 450 days ago
In general, I prefer not to impose my views on people via the government. If the majority of people feel having "in God we trust" on the currency is beneficial, then so be it. If they don't, I won't stand in their way.

The only place I will push back is removing tax exemptions from churches, as this breaks the fundamental separation of church and state the other way. It gives states power over churches via taxation.

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VincentEvans 450 days ago
Being treated from tax perspective the same way as every other legal entity without extraordinary privilege is “breaking separation of church and state”?
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sepositus 450 days ago
You might be interested in reading Walz vs New York [1] for some background on this subject. As with most things, it's nuanced, but you essentially have two choices here: tax the churches or don't. Most have agreed that the former has a much greater risk of violating separation of church vs state (excessive government entanglement) than the latter. You're free to disagree, of course.

[1]: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/397/664/

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