Comments on: Of Speeches and Sermons http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2008/10/01/of-speeches-and-sermons/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:27:59 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Will Butler http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2008/10/01/of-speeches-and-sermons/comment-page-1/#comment-403 Will Butler Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:27:36 +0000 http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/?p=932#comment-403 This seems to me to be exactly the type of reason that Jesus spoke in parables. If members of the organization just told stories about soldiers and tax collectors and evil brothers, there would be no problem, because this isn't an overtly religious discourse. Clearly, a secular organization could hold lectures with guest speakers, where there was no speaker-audience discourse. If you've ever heard a philosopher or theologian lecture, then you know it's almost impossible to separate discourse about real life and about religion. For some people, you can't talk about life without talking about God, even if the forum isn't ostensibly religious. People don't draw clear lines between what's religious and what isn't. (For example, try to find a broadly accepted definition of religion that includes non-theist Buddhism but doesn't include Packers fans.) This seems to me to be exactly the type of reason that Jesus spoke in parables. If members of the organization just told stories about soldiers and tax collectors and evil brothers, there would be no problem, because this isn’t an overtly religious discourse. Clearly, a secular organization could hold lectures with guest speakers, where there was no speaker-audience discourse.

If you’ve ever heard a philosopher or theologian lecture, then you know it’s almost impossible to separate discourse about real life and about religion. For some people, you can’t talk about life without talking about God, even if the forum isn’t ostensibly religious. People don’t draw clear lines between what’s religious and what isn’t. (For example, try to find a broadly accepted definition of religion that includes non-theist Buddhism but doesn’t include Packers fans.)

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