The US Constitution is not a sacred document

Submitted by Garry Prior (United States), Sep 23, 2004 at 14:33

This is where I have trouble with your logic.

If members of any religion or indeed non-religious grouping set out to change the minds of any community by legal means and without compulsion, that should be OK with the law and the spirit of that society. That such a goal may take a century is a detail, but a testament also to the faith and conviction of the group. The Russian Orthodox Church apparently prayed for 70 years for the collapse of Communism in Russia. Do you see any inconsistency with that?

I may not agree with the aims of the brotherhood under discussion, but as long as they stay legal and non-coercive, then I cannot see anything wrong with their approach, which is consistent with what we hope to observe in civilised societies.

If the Christian Church were to take the same approach and try to Christianise the apparently un-Godly in America or elsewhere, no one would give it a second thought.

The Boers achieved political control of South Africa by the democratic method of out-breeding the incumbents, and they did this deliberately and in accordance with the law at that time. Their electoral victory was legitimate. Just because we do not like the use that they put their victory to does not mean that we can de-legitimise their achievements.

I believe that your arguement would be much more effective if the implications of a sharia government were more widely known, but that is an electoral issue for its proper time, not now.

Who was it who said " I despise your opinions but I would fight to the death for your right to express them"? That is the real issue, and one that more people should be considering, regardless of the outcome. The question and the principle must of course stay enshrined after the transition.

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