Today in class, we read an article titled "The Burial at Thebes". The article is basically an analysis of "Antigone" and the culture in ancient Greece. The first paragraph talks about how the separation of church and state we think we have now, isn't as strong as we think it is. We have issues with our religion just like they did in ancient Greece with religious battles. They may have been more violent and uncivilized, but it's the same idea. We have battles all of the time about putting the ten commandments in certain places. We don't realize it, but things haven't changed that much. There have been many cases more extreme than that, but that is a very prominent issue.
For example, a man claimed he had the right to end his wife's life by taking her off life support. The reason he thought he had this right had to do with religion and the law; he thought it was moral and apparently lots of people in the country did too. What happened was the court ruled on the side of the woman's family, who wanted to keep her alive. Apparently the ruling was very unconstitutional, which goes to show that religion and morals are still a big deal in today's society. The highest court in our nation ruled something unconstitutional based on morals and convictions. This event tells me that our separation of church and state aren't as strong as we think they are. The constitution points them out. This just goes to show that this is a very important issue. The most powerful document in the nation points it out, and yet we still have an issue following it and keeping it out of our affairs.
This piece is very powerful to me because it speaks to how much certain things matter to us. Our core values can interfere with us in the workplace, even when we try to not let them. It makes me wonder how much of politics is affected by what happens in people's personal lives. It makes me think that maybe a lot of people's views depend on events in their upbringing. I think that tragedy occurs sometimes because people aren't willing to compromise their opinions and it can get in the way of other important things.