Dennis Kucinich on Religious Symbols in Public Areas
Wednesday January 21, 2004
One of the more liberal Democratic candidates for president, it doesn't seem as though Dennis Kucinich's chances of getting the nomination are all that great. Nevertheless, it is worth considering some of views on matters like the separation of church and state, at least as a point of comparison with the other candidates.
In response the a question about whether federal courts had gone too far in removing religious symbols from public areas, Dennis Kucinich wrote in The Boston Globe:
No, they have not. In fact, I’d suggest that they have not gone far enough. I think it’s important to remember that our Constitution protects all of us to worship as we choose in the faith of our choice. Our Founding Fathers recognized that for us to enjoy religious freedom there must be a complete separation of Church and State. This does not keep spirituality out of our public lives, nor should it. It does, however, ensure that our Government not favor any one religion or another.
By removing the trappings of religion from our public schools, courthouses, and other institutions of municipal, state and federal government we actually increase the freedom of everyone to freely and openly practice the beliefs of their choice; by not clothing our public institutions in words and symbols specific to any one religion, we uphold the Constitutional mandate requiring the separation of Church and State. That mandate is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. I believe it protects all of us.
This position is pretty much the same a that expressed by most atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and freethinkers. Kucinich agrees with us that public institutions should not be "clothed" in symbols or practices that favor a particular religion or particular religious beliefs - and that this is something that protects everyone, not just nonbelievers.
Read More:
Comments
Kucinich gets it! As an atheist, I think I would be comfortable voting for this man. Most christians could care less about the separation of church and state, because it’s their religion that dominates government. Not only are the selfish, but they are ignorant, because they do not understand that the freedom of/from religion is meant to protect everyone, including them. This man also respects the environment, unlike a lot of christians, who think it’s their right and duty to use and abuse the planet.