Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Pros? and Cons of a Theocratic Government.

Wow, what a topic for discussion. Unfortunately, nobody on this blog seems to discuss anything. We all merely state our own opinion and ideas. To the best of my knowledge I have yet to receive any type of feedback from my fellow students. This illustrates a point quite well. In the United States we are all allowed to have our own thoughts and belief systems. We agree to disagree. We learn to live and let live. Yes we are influenced greatly by how and what we are taught in our public or private schools. We are influenced by media, music, religion, friends and family members. But in the end we are free to choose our own beliefs. We are free to live our life in the way that we choose, as long as we follow some basic laws and structure of society. People of similar belief systems tend to congregate together to further their own agenda or better understand they're meaning of life. We are all a product of our upbringing, environment and education. There are those in our great Country who feel compelled to force their belief system on the rest of the world. With a theocratic government we would all be forced to think and believe the exact same thing. We would be taught and influenced from a very early age to think alike.

After reading most of the postings on this topic I see great diversity. I'm not sure everyone really gets the concept of theocracy. Maybe I don't understand it either. It is a matter of opinion. A theocratic government believes in one God or deity. That doesn't always mean a Christian God folks. It could mean that our government wants us to believe and follow Satan. Yes I know it's extreme. But I urge us all think twice before supporting the theocratic concept. I personally see more disadvantages to theocracy than advantages. Theocracy limits the freedom of expression, creativity, learning, and self realization. I can't imagine living in another country that forces me to "be" like them and believe in their God. If we limited creativity then world would become a very boring and depressing place. Limit expression and people tend to bottle up their extreme emotions that can lead to outbursts of violence. Limit learning and our mind becomes numb. Limit self realization and people lose hope, lack love and live a hollow existence. We'd lose all sense of motivation and enlightenment. Another negative of a theocratic government is the strict laws and enforcement policies that go with them. People can be forced, tortured, imprisoned and even killed if accused of merely questioning and/or challenging the structure and beliefs put in place. People could be persecuted for being a woman, or even a man, if the government decided. Basic human rights could be denied to elderly, handicapped, minority races or differing religious heritage. The only advantages that I can think of would merely be illusions. A theocratic government might appear to have higher morality or even higher social welfare. But this would only be the case if that is what the government led by "the chosen" people had decided for their citizens. I strongly believe that I prefer a rational and fair democracy over a life of anger, hate and never ending war brought on by theocracy. Another con of a theocratic government is that is is a con job.

1 comment:

Stephanie Lewis said...

My husband calls the isolation of opinion in America, "balkanization," and attributes it to our technological advances and they way the media presents information to us. These journals are technically just that, and not necessarily discussions. I also don't think in this situation that opinion is "balkanized." What I've found, sadly, that unless you give points for students (say to comment on another's posts), they won't do it. They have to have points on an assignment to do it. It's usually not for curiosity's sake, or to build community, or even because it's edifying or the right thing to do. It has to have points.