Friday 11 December 2015

Why Hanukkah is the perfect festival for religious freedom

From RRW

From The Washington Post
" More than half a century ago, the Oxford philosopher John Plamenatz noted that religious freedom was born in Europe in the 17th century after a devastating series of religious wars. All it took was a single shift, from the belief that “faith is the most important thing; therefore everyone should honor the one true faith,” to the belief that “faith is the most important thing; therefore everyone should be free to honor his or her own faith.”
This meant that people of all faiths were guaranteed that whichever religion was dominant, he or she would still be free to obey their own call of conscience. Plamenatz’s striking conclusion was that “Liberty of conscience was born, not of indifference, not of skepticism, not of mere open-mindedness, but of faith.” The very fact that my religion is important to me allows me to understand that your quite different religion is no less important to you."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/06/why-hanukkah-is-the-perfect-festival-for-religious-freedom/

1 comment:

Garnel Ironheart said...

The problems:
1) That shift shifted wars in Europe from religious to political in nature but there were still wars.
2) That shift has left Europe defenceless against an aggressive enemy that still believes in the older definition
3) Channukah is not about religious freedom. The Maccabees didn't believe in religious freedom.