Religion and Politics

Before I get too deep into this blog I should start by stating that this blog in no way is a reflection of the policy of this site.  Though I admit a recent topic brought up in the Off Topic forum was the reason the wheels in my head started spinning, this isn't really about that.  If the site's policy is No Religion, No Politics on the general boards, then live with it or get out.  And just as an aside...if that is the policy I would ask the mods to enforce it evenly.  There's times where such a discussion is allowed to go on because "it's been polite so far".  That's no excuse.  Either the policy exists and is enforced or there's no policy.  But I digress..

There's an oft stated rule that one should not discuss religion and politics (R & P) in polite society.  When exactly did that come to be and really, if we were a polite society wouldn't it be easier to discuss R & P?  It seems like the Greeks among others often discussed these topics often and at length openly.  Of course they called it philosophy but let's face it, that's what philosophy is. 

So we go about our lives telling or at the very least demonstrating to our kids, friends and co-workers that these issues are taboo and best left kept to oneself.  Is that really the best way to progress as a society though?  If I just keep my views to myself, how will my views ever be challenged?  How will I learn where my shortcomings in thought are?  How will I learn to reinforce those areas of thought were I know that I'm right?  It seems like keeping all this bottled up inside stagnates growth for the sake of politeness instead of teaching us to be polite for the sake of growth.

That's the real problem.  We are no longer a polite society.  The internet, email and other forms of distant and anonymous communication has allowed us to devolve into our most base natures because we know that there are little to no consequences for doing so.  Let's face it, our base natures aren't so pretty.  Spend an hour on XBL with strangers and you know that's true.

Instead of railing against this trend though, we either celebrate it or promote it via our silence.  "Don't talk R & P cause you're just gonna stir up trouble and make enemies."  So instead of creating supposed enemies by our discussion we create loneliness and/or polarization by our silence.  Would it not be better to teach our kids early on that we can and should discuss these topics on semi-regular basis but that we must do so with politeness and kindness?  And by teach I mean actually work at it.  Not just say "Be nice about it when you're in class" but actually discipline kids for being harsh when they are rude and set the example for them by having the discussions civilly ourselves. 

Ultimately, we all know that we will never come to full agreement about, virtually any topic.  Is that a reason to just shut up?  I guess the point that I'm making poorly and with rambling effort is this... The problem isn't Religion and Politics, the problem is you.  And yes, sometimes the problem is me.  I guess I'd rather tackle the real problem of our own civility rather than stifle debate and discussion.  Doing so only treats symptoms and not the disease.