Arkansas State Taxes are Going to Religious Pre-schools
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:19 am
http://5newsonline.com/2012/07/13/pre-s ... -religion/
This is the local news story. I think Harris is addressing an important problem for the christian community. Poorer families do not have the option to send their kids to the schools they want, but his point is a different issue than tax dollars going to religious classes. His point shows a disparity between classes and their education, which is an important issue, but if religious communities want to aid their poorer members, they need to obtain that money through donations (not government funds) in order to keep our government from being able to endorse a certain religion. Instead of looking at the separation of church and state as a war on Christianity or trying to make it a war on the poor, these lawmakers and churches need to realize that provision protects them as well. If the government decided to endorse Islam and provide for Mosques and used their tax dollars to promote the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad as absolute truth, they would be furious, and understandably so. But the same goes for an endorsement of any religious view. It is a little invasive into our personal lives for the government to treat certain religious groups as more deserving of funds and tax breaks than other religious groups. Religious beliefs and practices are very personal parts of human existence. Considering most of these people fighting to use government funds for private purposes claim to be conservative, it seems they would want to keep the government small and focused on public health and education and practical issues like roads and the economy instead of private personal beliefs that the government has no business in. Why these legislators do not understand the benefits of this separation is a mystery to me. Perhaps it is due to a deteriorating public education system. Diverting and cutting funds from that system is detrimental for a democracy.
This is the local news story. I think Harris is addressing an important problem for the christian community. Poorer families do not have the option to send their kids to the schools they want, but his point is a different issue than tax dollars going to religious classes. His point shows a disparity between classes and their education, which is an important issue, but if religious communities want to aid their poorer members, they need to obtain that money through donations (not government funds) in order to keep our government from being able to endorse a certain religion. Instead of looking at the separation of church and state as a war on Christianity or trying to make it a war on the poor, these lawmakers and churches need to realize that provision protects them as well. If the government decided to endorse Islam and provide for Mosques and used their tax dollars to promote the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad as absolute truth, they would be furious, and understandably so. But the same goes for an endorsement of any religious view. It is a little invasive into our personal lives for the government to treat certain religious groups as more deserving of funds and tax breaks than other religious groups. Religious beliefs and practices are very personal parts of human existence. Considering most of these people fighting to use government funds for private purposes claim to be conservative, it seems they would want to keep the government small and focused on public health and education and practical issues like roads and the economy instead of private personal beliefs that the government has no business in. Why these legislators do not understand the benefits of this separation is a mystery to me. Perhaps it is due to a deteriorating public education system. Diverting and cutting funds from that system is detrimental for a democracy.