As people leave organized religion and its attendant moral teachings, they are flocking to politics to fill the void. But this is proving socially destructive.
No question about it, government has largely supplanted traditional religion. And government grants itself the right to use force to compel adherence to its demands, something not every religion does. I don't think much of belief systems that rest on invisible sky creatues, but I think even less of those that rest on government as Provider, the place to turn for relief from all of life's challenges.
The best any of us can do is lead by example: carrry the best spirit we can summon and let it radiate out and be reflected by others. Also we each need to figure out where our line in the sand is, beyond which any illegitimate intrusions by jumped-up thugs will be met by resolute opposition beyond mere words.
Solzhenitsyn addressed this in his famous quotation, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/34738 . I think such an approach could fairly be applied to, for example, instances where cops stop a driver and confiscate any cash he may be carrying without any evidence of a crime (the cash "might be" drug related, is the rationale). As you probably know, when this happens, the innocent citizen has to sue the government to get his own money back, and pay for any lawyer(s) out of his own pocket. Any cops who participate in this kind of activity, and many others involving things which are none of the government's legitimate business, deserve, I think, the "Solzhenitsyn treatment" in response.
The moral position is, I believe, not to go looking for trouble, but if someone else forces it, respond accordingly. I would much prefer if words would get the job done, but it's more than clear today that they haven't, and won't.
No question about it, government has largely supplanted traditional religion. And government grants itself the right to use force to compel adherence to its demands, something not every religion does. I don't think much of belief systems that rest on invisible sky creatues, but I think even less of those that rest on government as Provider, the place to turn for relief from all of life's challenges.
The best any of us can do is lead by example: carrry the best spirit we can summon and let it radiate out and be reflected by others. Also we each need to figure out where our line in the sand is, beyond which any illegitimate intrusions by jumped-up thugs will be met by resolute opposition beyond mere words.
This last part has been on my mind lately. How do we raise the cost of predation?
Solzhenitsyn addressed this in his famous quotation, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/34738 . I think such an approach could fairly be applied to, for example, instances where cops stop a driver and confiscate any cash he may be carrying without any evidence of a crime (the cash "might be" drug related, is the rationale). As you probably know, when this happens, the innocent citizen has to sue the government to get his own money back, and pay for any lawyer(s) out of his own pocket. Any cops who participate in this kind of activity, and many others involving things which are none of the government's legitimate business, deserve, I think, the "Solzhenitsyn treatment" in response.
The moral position is, I believe, not to go looking for trouble, but if someone else forces it, respond accordingly. I would much prefer if words would get the job done, but it's more than clear today that they haven't, and won't.