In any event, why can’t it be a matter of personal conscious?
Exceptions for the religious should be extended to all people, or to
none. Just because someone does not attend religious services doesn’t
mean that his/her moral conviction is of a lesser personal imperative.
Schools Should Be Free of Religious Indoctrination – We all know about
the problems many schools have with educating students about
science and technology when it contradicts their parents’ preindustrial, primitive, religious beliefs about the physical world. We
allow this in public schools in many countries. In America it is allowed
in private schools that receive government support, and in charter
schools that take money from the government for parents to use at
the school of their choice. The US also allows it through home
schooling programs. As was recently shown in a case in Louisiana,
many American public schools still take an active role in promoting a
religion, despite this practice having been repeatedly shown to be at
odds with the US Constitution.
Your government, if it is committed to economic growth, has a vested
interest in having a well-educated workforce, capable of understanding
modern science and engaging in current technical exploitation of
processes in geology, biology, virology, DNA research, etc. They can
only do this if they have an understanding of the world and current
scientific processes that are acknowledged as the current standards.
Forcing the indoctrination of supernatural elements in place of tested
scientific understanding is tantamount to intellectual suicide for a
modern society and dooms generations of children to the dregs of the
job markets.
Restrict Religious Tax Exemptions – Exemption of religious orders from
government taxation has a long history. It may have been one of the
decisive factors in the creation of the Anglican Church in England. The
destruction of the Order of the Knights Templar may also have been
related to its economic strength.
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