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Bill: Secular State
Details
Submitted by[?]: Telamon Social Democratic Party
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: April 2198
Description[?]:
| The current legislation does not follow, to a sufficient degree, the public opinion that sees the state as a secular organisation that should have nothing to do with religious organisation and should not take a stand on the matter. The current legislation simultaneously limits religios freedoms and allows the state to take sides in religious matters by eg. not limiting the use of religious clothing and wearing of religious symbols by public officials performing their duties. Same religious bias can be seen in demanding missionaries to register while allowing the founding of religious schools that are publicly funded. As the legislation explicitly states that no private schools are allowed, the religious schools would have to be public (not in the british sense) schools and religious public schools do not sound a good idea in a secular state. To both safeguard the rights of religious minorities, further strenghten our commitment to a secular state and remove current contradictions in the legislation the legislation needs to be reformed so as to allow full rights to all citizens despite their religious affiliations while not granting any religious group privileges over other religious or secular groups. Thus we propose a bill that would remove the limitations to promoting religion (ie. the necessity to register missionaries) and limit the powers of the government to promote any religion (by banning the use of religious clothing by public officials and thus associating religion with the state, and banning state funded religious schools and teacher-led prayer). |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Government policy concerning the visitation of foreign missionaries.
Old value:: The government requires foreign missionaries to register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Current: The government requires foreign missionaries to register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Proposed: The government has no policy concerning the visitation of foreign missionaries.
Article 2
Proposal[?] to change The state's policy concerning religious clothing.
Old value:: There are no laws regulating the wearing of religious clothing and the wearing of religious symbols.
Current: There are no laws regulating the wearing of religious clothing and the wearing of religious symbols.
Proposed: Public officials are not allowed to wear religious symbols while exercising their duties.
Article 3
Proposal[?] to change The governments stance on religious schools.
Old value:: Any religion may set up a school, but they are strictly regulated.
Current: Religious schools are not allowed.
Proposed: Religious schools are not allowed.
Article 4
Proposal[?] to change The government's policy with respect to prayer in schools.
Old value:: Teacher-led prayers in schools are forbidden, except in religious schools.
Current: Teacher-led prayers in schools are forbidden.
Proposed: Teacher-led prayers in schools are forbidden.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 19:06:30, March 09, 2006 CET | From |  Federation Under Crazy Killers -- United | To | Debating the Secular State |
| Message | You are contradicting yourself. You allow foreign missionaries to pollute the people's minds with no regulation, but you dont allow religious schools. You can allow religious schools and be secular. Hell, Im Atheist, and I dont have a problem with it as long as it is regulated. I dont see whats wrong with a religious school leading prayers. #2 is the only one that makes any sense. |
| Date | 10:08:11, March 10, 2006 CET | From | Telamon Social Democratic Party | To | Debating the Secular State |
| Message | We do not want limitations to religions rights to promote themselves to capable adults, but wish to dissociate them from the secular state. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes | Total Seats: 30 | ||||
| no | Total Seats: 209 | ||||
| abstain |
Total Seats: 94 |
| Random fact: The voters enjoy active parties who take upon themselves the initiative to create laws. |
| Random quote: "Capitalism and communism stand at opposite poles. Their essential difference is this: the communist, seeing the rich man and his fine home, says: 'No man should have so much.' The capitalist, seeing the same thing, says: 'All men should have as much.'" - Phelps Adams |