Justin Goetz

Our government, above all else, is a Western democracy. In our country, a person may believe in God, many gods, or no divinity at all, but those sentiments do not keep them from participating in politics. Again, true Western democracy is value neutral in that matter. Why? By allowing government-local, state, or federal-to plant the monument of a particular creed or officially recognize the values of any one religious sect, government injects the seeds of democracy’s destruction. Fundamentally, the inalterable Word of God does not lend itself to compromise. But so many people have so many different inalterable Words of God. Whose is superior? That of the one packing the most heat? Religious dogma in public discourse cannot be challenged by the non-believer. Only secular-rational arguments-something both believer and non-believer can understand-are able to bridge the gap between them. Without rationality, political discourse breaks down, as seen on campus with the labeling, vandalism, and hate-speech. In short, compromise and rationality are the keys to our heterogeneous democracy.

The Democratic Party defaults to the US Supreme Court, which holds that convictions should be held and cherished, as they do form the basis of people’s morality, but they can only be presented overtly in official settings as “historical symbols,” honoring official traditions. We believe our religious beliefs can and should lead to secular rationale in our secular political system. We believe that individuals of any creed, or no creed, should be allowed to openly express their personal beliefs in all settings outside areas of government officialdom, where such words can be used to oppress the spirit of those who believe differently. Our democracy relies upon ideas winning out over others based upon their rationality and common sense, not the coercion embodied in government sanction. Religious ideals should be treated no differently.

#1.884029:1661942133.jpg:Goetz, Justin.jpg:Justin Goetz, From the Left: