Saturday, February 07, 2015

Something to think about

One of my daily reads is A Word A Day by Anu Garg.  There's always something to learn about words at this site.  Occasionally, Mr. Garg puts some thoughts of his own.  Of course, he has a wonderful way with words.  I've been thinking a lot about this piece from last Monday, and just had to share it.

The beginning of 2015 means the starting of engines in the US presidential race. The elections will be held in late 2016, but around here we like to start early.
POTUS, the President of the United States, is a potent title. Stakes are high. If you have your eyes on the big prize, it helps to have endorsements from powerful people. And if you can manage to get the nod from the ultimate power, things should be breezy.
In the last election for the US president, no fewer than three presidential hopefuls received the baking of god. Clearly god likes to hedge his bets. Not sure why he changed his mind later on and dumped all three endorsees.
All the religious posturing by these politicians to convey their goodness should be an obvious turn off. Unfortunately, many voters want the candidates to wear their religion on their sleeves. Contrary to what they believe, religiosity doesn't necessarily imply goodness.
Religion is a personal thing. People should be free to spend as much time as they want in their places of worship or in their homes, praying to a god of their choosing. Why get government involved in the business of god (or god in the business of government)?
Why not vote for the most capable candidate irrespective of whether she bows to a particular god, or how often, or how long? Mixing religion and state is like mixing water and petrol. It spoils both. And it creates a hazard.
At one time both the religious leader and the political leader was one and the same person. In some places that’s still the norm and the results are disastrous.

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