Editor AMANDALA
Sir,
America is not a Christian nation. This was reportedly declared recently by President Barack Obama.
I do not really know what the President meant, and so I am wondering if it was said to show Moslems how tolerant America is.
As far as I know, such an extremely radical idea that runs counter to accepted historical facts and their interpretation for the past three hundred and fifty years had never been expressed before by any of the predecessors of this high office.
Granting him goodwill and good faith, I believe Mr. Obama may have embarked on a movement to change American philosophy of public affairs to create a completely religiously neutral society based on purely secular values, where devotees of all the religions of the world may live peacefully and harmoniously.
However, this may be a very hazardous adventure that could threaten the very foundations of freedom, which by popular expression is heretofore the most cherished value of America.
Among other things, this will require that Americans erase all memory of their past history, forgetting one of the main reasons that their ancestors emigrated from Europe.
Pressured by religious wars after the Reformation, the kings and princes of Europe had accepted the principle “Cujus regio ejus religio” (You belong to the religion of the ruler). Not comfortable with this arrangement, many Europeans left their homes to pursue freedom of religion in other lands.
This is not to pretend that from the Age of Colonization to the present there has been full religious freedom for all. For instance, Roman Catholics up until the last five decades or so have not enjoyed the full benefits of religious freedom as have other Christian groups in America.
I suppose that Mr. Obama hopes that if a state dedicatedly upholding only secular values that are common to every human being could be developed, then all the other human values would flourish, especially true religious freedom.
However, this brings us to the very crux of the problem, for once you determine public policies based only on secular values, you run into the enigma of the very definition of freedom.
What is freedom?
The Preamble of the Belize Constitution speaks to the above more clearly than any other secular document that I know. It says under paragraph (d), “(The people of Belize) recognize that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and upon the rule of law.”
We Belizeans tend to admire and follow charming, smart people quickly and devotedly. However, while I wish Mr. Obama success, I believe we need to reflect carefully on some of his ideas.
I believe that the concept of freedom as we have understood it is meaningless outside of the Judaeo- Christian concept of man deriving his dignity because he is made in the image and likeness of God. This is why each person is unique and needs to be free. This idea is perhaps the greatest contribution that Judaism and Christianity have made to civilization.
(Signed) Paul Rodriguez