I quote a paragraph from a book I just read:`Liberal democracies generally make a point of not interfering with freedom of belief, but their legal systems may still enshrine some religious values, for instance over abortion, or trading on holy days. Some Islamic states go further, applying sharia law which is based explicitly on religious doctrine. Out-and-out theocracy (rule by religious leaders, as in Iran) is rare in modern times, but religious radicals pose a potent threat to several governments, claiming as they do that they owe a higher allegiance to faith than state.`
This stimulates me to start thinking.
I believe USA is included as well. So I am thinking, if a country like USA wants freedom of belief, is it necessary to remove the religious values from their legal systems and rules and regulations? Would there be any contradiction if the religious values are not removed?
God set up government to look after the citizen. How does God really want the government system to be look? Can the `freedom of belief` motto be harmony with legal systems that include religious values?
You have raised some very interesting questions. I agree with the paragraph from the book you have quoted. I have to state before I answer the question that I am from the country of India which is also a democratic country like USA.
First of all, freedom of belief is a common constitutional right of all democratic countries. Even in India though majority are Hindus (85%of population) yet there is freedom of belief in our constituional statement. The fact that many times it is not practiced is another story.
Personally, I believe that freedom of belief can exist in harmony with the system of religious values embedded in the constitution. Of course we need to define what we mean by religious values. Sometimes in the Islamic context or even the Christian faith which considers itself to be exclusivistic, one cannot impose the religion through the constitution as it will be against the principle of freedom of belief. But I believe this is common in some Islamic countries where preaching of other religion is prohibited.
From the Christian perspective I believe biblical values have to be retained in our consitution. Any attempt to remove them will only result in more and more discord. The founding fathers of America were committed Christians and it is reflected in your legal system. While holding on to Christian values we can maintain freedom of belief. I believe this is true of the Bible itself. Our God Himelf gives us the choice to follow Jesus Christ and does not force the truths on anyones throat. The Bible presents the truth of God's way of salvation and places the responsibility on us to take that step of commitment. The Christian faith does not eliminate other beliefs from existence or try to annihilate people of other faiths. So a constituion that maintains Christian values and freedom of belief does not contradict itself. It does not mean that an individual can hold on to any set of beliefs in all matters and the line has to be drawn like in the case of Abortion or Homosexuality where the teachings of the Bible take precedence!
