Music: Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Mood: Sinus-y
"Democracy demands that the religiously-motivated translate their concerns into universal rather than religion-specific values. What do I mean by this? It means that their proposals must be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. Now I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, to take one example, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I can't simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all. Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do; but in a pluralistic society we have no choice - politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of commonalities based on a common reality. It involves compromise... The best we can do is act in accordance with those things that we all see, and we all hear."
-Barack Obama
Mood: Sinus-y
"Democracy demands that the religiously-motivated translate their concerns into universal rather than religion-specific values. What do I mean by this? It means that their proposals must be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. Now I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, to take one example, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I can't simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all. Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do; but in a pluralistic society we have no choice - politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of commonalities based on a common reality. It involves compromise... The best we can do is act in accordance with those things that we all see, and we all hear."
-Barack Obama
"Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." -Ayn Rand