Religious exemptions for the non-religious

[RJLipkin at aol.com]

Sure, one denies certain  propositions in physics, but as with any 
science--for that matter any field of  study--conceptual, paradigmatic propositions when 
denied eviscerate that field  either to replace it with another paradigm and 
field or to let it drift asunder  as in the case of alchemy.
 
        Suppose an Alien comes to  Earth and tells us that his/her/its/? 
founding story is that the universe came  into being spontaneously. The founding 
story ends there with regard to ethics,  personal salvation, the meaning of 
life, and all those things sometimes  associated with earthly religions. The 
Alien doesn't view his founding story as  a negative answer to the religious 
questions we ask.  It never occurred to  Alien civilization to ask these 
"religious" questions.  Impoverished  civilization, some might say. Others might argue 
it beats ours.
 
        I'm not sure why "negative"  answers must qualify as "answers" at 
all.  Indeed, it seems  question-begging to insist that they must. Common usage? 
Maybe some people use  "religion" this way, but others do not. 
 
        If you mean that any deeply  felt perspective answering certain kinds 
of question is a religion, then   what happens to the secular? Indeed, as I 
have argued before I don't believe the  religion-secular dichotomy captures the 
view that some perspectives occupy a  fundamental place in human imagination 
and some don't. I would replace this  dichotomy with the 
dedicated-deliberative dichotomy. Some  belief-systems--whether religious or secular--are virtually 
closed, answering  all (or most) questions we ask about society and its 
origins. Marx's materialism  seems a good candidate for this type of dedicated 
perspective as does orthodox  Judaism--I would argue--and, of course, 
fundamentalism generally. By  contrast, certain kinds of pragmatism require deliberative 
debate as do certain  Protestant religions that friends have described to me. 
But perhaps we're  getting to far from the List's raisin d'etre.
 
Bobby

Robert Justin Lipkin.
Professor of Law
Widener  University School of Law
Delaware

Ratio Juris
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