Don’t Use Religion To Control
Others
January 4, 2016
|
Pete DeLisser Jamaica Gleaner
There have been a series of columns written in the
media recently by Helene Coley Nicholson, a member of the
Lawyers Christian Fellowship, who tried to argue that human rights
come from God and, therefore, it is okay to be intolerant of
gays.
In another article, she condemned the United States
Government (and Obama during his visit to Jamaica) for encouraging
Jamaica to be more tolerant, which, by the way, is the Christian
and moral response.
While Coley Nicholson is entitled to her opinion,
she must realise that not everyone is religious or believes in God.
She has to be, therefore, respectful of other views on these
topics. Some of the most religious states have the most atrocious
human rights laws. For example, Indonesia where Sharia law is
practiced. We read of recent reports of a young heterosexual couple
being whipped in public after being caught too close together
(intimate). The images of the public whipping making the rounds in
the global media were unbelievable and those who ordered the
beating are convinced they were morally and religiously
right.
Coley Nicholson also mentioned the case of the
Kentucky county clerk who refused to sign same sex marriage
licenses due to her religious belief as a Christian. What Coley
Nicholson omitted, however, was the fact that public records showed
this self-righteous clerk to be married four times, and having a
child during a period of overlap which suggests
adultery.
This clerk had the option of leaving the job due to
religious conflict and no one would've been bothered. Coley
Nicholson must remember that we live in a diverse society. There
are people who believe in God (theists) and there are atheists who
don't believe at all. There are also multiple variations in
between, which is why secularists believe religion has no place in
determining public policy and law. The latter, out of respect for
diverse religious beliefs, which often cause conflicts is,
therefore, more reasonable and plausible in a universal way. No one
should be able to force their religious views unto others and the
most successful countries in the world have found ways to exclude
or limit influence of religion.
FOCUS ON SELF
Regardless of what Coley Nicholson and her Christian
lawyers think, gays will continue to exist in large numbers. It
must be extremely difficult as a Christian lawyer to reconcile the
profession of law with one's religion. Prayer can take you only so
far. Mrs Coley Nicholson should use her religion to focus more on
herself and stop using it to criticise and judge others. There is a
well-known ancient Buddhist saying, "The purpose of religion is to
control yourself, not to criticise (or control) others.
Religion is a personal choice which can be used to
bring positive balance in one's life, ultimately enhancing
societies. But like everything else, you'll always find some who
are extremists, who are obsessive and problematic. There are so
many social issues the Christian Lawyers and the church could focus
on, but none seem to matter more than homosexuality.
Morality, I should point out, is not decided by a
particular religion; it just so happens that many religions are
also deeply moral. There are many persons who draft laws who are
not religious. Religion must be kept separate from the State and
public policy. There are too many conflicts and polarising
religious views.
If one must argue where does human rights come from,
I'd simply say, from the many facets that make up a society and a
culture. The right to live and love, and co-exist in peace and
harmony is a basic human right, which no religion of substance
could dare to deny.