General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: To those bemoaning the presence of the divine in the inauguration [View all]Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)Obama can include whatever he wants in his inaugural address, but if he decides to include religion then there can and should be a discussion about it just like anything else he decides to include in his inaugural address. Citing that it should be there simply because it always has been is lazy reasoning. Tradition is used in many instances to justify bigotry. When you realize that a politician is better off coming out as gay as opposed to coming out as a non-believer you start to get the sense that tradition really isn't worth much. The reason the religious establishment is so effective in running people's lives is they DON'T pick their battles. They fight every one vehemently. It's sad to say that the last priminent politician to aggressively take on the religious establishment is Barry Goldwater. When the influence of organized religion is removed from politics, issues like civil rights, hate crimes, child abuse, holy wars, scientific progress, sexual health, and dozens of other issues become much more simple to solve.