In his Thursday column, Bryan Griffin argues, “our country’s founding is inseparable from Judeo-Christian philosophies.” What Griffin fails to do is provide even one example of what a Judeo-Christian philosophy might look like, even though there are apparently several. As it stands, “Judeo-Christian philosophies” is simply a buzz-phrase.
Its popularity in ordinary discourse is undeserved; its vagueness allows it to mean anything while explaining nothing.
Griffin further argues to disassociate “civil rights” from Judeo-Christian philosophy —namely, “moral obligation” and “a higher power” — is to “devalue our liberty as Americans.”
What is missing from this claim is any kind of reason to believe it. Griffin attempts to sidestep this by claiming this disassociation could lead to “the reinstitution of slavery or discrimination at the behest of a majority,” apparently failing to recognize that throughout history, slavery and discrimination have been routinely justified with reference to the God and the “Judeo-Christian philosophies” that Griffin so admires.
Griffin apparently believes adherence to Judeo-Christian philosophy is necessary to fully appreciate the rights of man. I would argue, however, that the whims of a deity, and the divisiveness of religious doctrines (even within a given religion) are poor substitutes for rational, secular discourse about our rights in the public sphere — reason, not religion, being the universal faculty of man.
Editor's note: This letter refers to this column http://www.alligator.org/opinion/columns/article_86e73f18-b648-11df-b8af-001cc4c002e0.html
