Su Yeon Kim/ Interview First Draft/ Thurs 1-3pm

Separation of State and Religion

   Religion has been a controversial topic since it first became institutionalized. In many ways, religion has played a key role in shaping the world long before civilization. Some believe that religion is one of the pillars along with politics that supports society and others do not meet eye to eye with such ideologies. Society is pushing for democracy and freedom in all aspects of human life, however, the question whether religion facilitates these values or nor remains unanswered. For instance, Korea is currently under great political turmoil regarding religion. For such reasons, people are hesitant to talk about religion because it has become part of many people's lifestyles, but there is a necessity to openly discuss religion especially with our rapidly advancing society.

 

   I have recently become interested in this social issue and the first person that came to my mind was my brother. He has opinions on almost everything and I know he gets riled up when talking about controversial topics. Also, he is one of the few people that I enjoy talking to because of his philosophies and insight. Thus, I couldn't think of a better person for my interview other than him.

 

   I messaged him first to ask him if he could spare some time for a brief interview. I was expecting a late reply since his life has been so hectic lately. However, surprisingly, he called me right away.

 

   "Hey sis! So what is this interview you want to do?" he said with his usual excited tone. Without asking him where he was I knew that he was at the laboratory because I could hear machines whirring in the background. After a short explanation, he started to feel burdened.

 

   "Are you sure you want to interview me? I haven't talked about these things in a while," this time he spoke in a slightly more nervous voice. However, behind that veil of nervousness, I could hear the subtle eagerness.

 

   "What do you think about religion?" it was a general question dogged by controversies since almost the beginning of civilization.

 

   Before starting, he established his stance by saying that he does not believe religion should be eradicated completely but it should not become an all-consuming influence that seeps into every aspect of one's life.

 

   "I think religion is based on, what should I say, very outmoded traditions. They originate from mythologies or tribal cultures and a lot of their themes don't go with the way society rolls." He spoke hesitantly as though he didn't know where to begin. Then as he continued talking, his speech became more confident and fluent. This was a strong opinion from the start and I knew he was bursting with opinions so I let him speak without interrupting.

 

   He went on to talk about how religion does not fully address issues of equality, slavery, education, family and marriage in a way fit for modern society. He stated that culture as a country or as people evolve over time and we could clearly see this from simply studying history. Furthermore, it becomes almost impractical to build a society when religion comes into play. Particularly when decisions that are left to the state suddenly become influenced by religious views. Society will only progress if decision is left in the hands of the state because religious views and politics are incompatible.

 

   He must have talked for a solid 10 minutes without stopping. I was amazed at how well his thoughts were arranged and how eloquently he communicated them. I could not see him but I could imagine his expressions and mannerisms. His expressions would show composure with the occasional frowns when he was thinking and his excessive hand gestures. This was partly because he is my brother. Additionally, he always had the habit of getting carried away when he got too enthusiastic about something. This was clearly demonstrated during the interview when he moved on to talk about creation theories.

 

   "Regarding creation theories, we have evolution suggested by Charles Darwin and the Christian belief of creation beginning with Adam and Eve. The main evidence of Christian creation beliefs stem from the holy books but there is room to question its credibility in science. If indeed Christianity creation theories can be imbued into our science books, this causes conflicts." He did not stop there but followed it up with reasons.

 

   According to him, the main reason for the conflicts was that every religion comes with diverse creation theories but no credit is given to them. This was not only unfair to other religions but also in a way forcing one train of thought on people. If the Christian creation story was taught all around the world then so should other creation stories. He felt there was inequality in this too. After saying these, this is when he realized he was straying from the topic so he went back to talking about deep-seated dogmas within this institutionalized religion structure.

 

   The problem was that many wrongful acts are justified because holy doctrines state so. For instance, in the Christian holy books, it explicitly states ways to treat slaves. This shows that not only is slavery an accepted practice but goes against the very morals that society has so long been fighting for. Not to mention, even in the holy books of religions, not many advocated for equality between men and women. There were always strict guidelines on the roles of both genders and in many ways, it was disadvantageous for women. People hide behind holy doctrines to defend their immoral actions and it becomes a circular argument. He believed that there are parts of religion that really go against progress in human culture.

 

   While conducting the interview, I became curious about the moment he began to have such thoughts. We did not come from an extremely religious background but there was a time when we used to be religious.

 

   When I asked about this he answered, "I was always sceptic and one day, I stood back and looked at religion objectively. I thought about all the wars and the root of it. Religion has been the main inciter of wars in human history. Millions have suffered to fight for something that does not bring happiness in the big picture."

 

  Then I realized religion alone is not the problem and told him this. My brother agreed to this and said that the way people treat and interpret religion was also an issue. Of course people are free to have a religion because freedom of choice, and also certain principles such as loving and caring were correct. The problem was that these principles were correct but it did not hold the general definition of loving and caring. An example would be the discrimination against the LGBTQ community. This community is comprised of human beings but under the doctrine of the holy books, LGBTQ people do not deserve to be loved. If not written out in the holy books then people have interpreted the idea of love wrong and led to inequality in society.

 

   His words made me think objectively as well and there was some truth to it. Over the centuries, differences in religious views have led to very manic acts, for instance, the Islamic State. The ground for the justice of religions was because the holy books state that it ok. Our judgment of ethics that we have cultivated over time could easily be turned against by certain religious views.

 

   Based on the interview with my brother, I could see why he adamantly believed segregation of the state and religion is vital for societal progress particularly in terms of eradication of wars and establishment of equality. I learned that perhaps ultimately, on a big scale, religion does not achieve the happiness for everyone. Of course, the definition of what a good society is constantly changes over time but currently, religion does not reflect contemporary values. Thus, religion shouldn't take part in state affairs and should be segregated for the progress of society.