Post by nathanael on Mar 6, 2008 15:34:06 GMT -7
Some years ago, we have learned with sadness that freedom of speech does not include crying "Fire" in a crowded theater. Now the media report that the U.S. Secret Service has limitted the freedom of religion in case of the Sikh representatives, who will not be allowed to wear their mandatory kirpan during Pope Benedict's visit to Washington on April 17. In other words, the Sikhs cannot attend this important inter-faith meeting because of their religion! The case is interesting for the Sikhs insist that the kirpan represents "commitment to resist oppression and injustice" - that it has only peaceful purpose. Who in the world would want to deprive a religion of such commitment and such freedom? Yet it has happened! But let's explore this even further. What if some Moslems will say that their explosive belts are also "symbols of resistence to oppression and injustice"? Or even more scary scenario: What if a religious delegation insists in carrying an atomic bomb suitcase to the meeting claiming it to be "a religious symbol of self-defense," the exact rational put forward by the Sikhs? The conclusion is inescapable: as with all things human, freedom of religion has limits, and indeed, has to have limits, just as the freedom of speech has to have, limits!