Team Ahimsa Blog Relay, Various Contests

Sole Soul - Rated 13+ - Week 4 Category 3 - 345 WORDS

No man is an island.

Humankind is a social species. By nature, we're geared to bond with each other (yes, even the introverts). We need our family, friends, community, tribe.

And we need our rules.

To live together in harmony, to survive, to grow, to prosper, we need shared values, shared visions and the balance of individual and group priorities. These occur in various ways, some more tangible and out there than others.

The most tangible and out there are the political and the religious.

Can the two be separated?

Long answer - yes and no.

Short answer - no.

It is the same brain that is thinking, the same heart that is beating, the same soul that is making its choices. Somewhere, somehow, these will connect no matter how hard you try.

Is there a solution?

Long answer - yes and no.

Short answer - yes.

The first step is to accept. Accept that all aspects of human life are inter-related. That there will be areas which overlap. Then, try to ensure that the overlap doesn't lead to conflict. Have a committee that chalks out which gets priority should there be a conflict, and have recognised 'arbiters' who decide individual occurrences when necessary.

It's a matter of spelling out priorities.

For example:
If the priority is HEALTH
and the State (politics) allows free health care
while certain sects (religion) does not allow intervention
and parents belonging to that sect have to decide what to do about a sick toddler

... the committee gets to decide which of the two is the better promoter of the priority HEALTH and the individual has to abide by that.
Thus, if the committee says the parents have to avail the free health care, the parents have to do that.

The committee is the Sole Soul, making the choice between one and the other.

It's not a perfect solution. The long answer to the question 'is there a solution' was yes and no.

But then, the reason we are human is that there aren't perfect solutions to all our problems. We'd be robots otherwise!

345 words

PROMPT ▼

Is there truly a way to keep separate church and state (i.e. religion and government) especially in law/rule making for society? Explain and how would you recommend that be done or not done?