"Robert A. Heinlein - Take back your Government" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

happens to be cockeyed and results from mushy thinking. One should always
consider a candidate's religious beliefs; it is one of the most important things
about him. Whether a man is a Catholic, a Protestant, a Communist, a
Mormon, or a Jew has a very strong bearing on how he will perform his
duties in certain jobs. (Communism is, of course, classed with the religions-
more about that later.)12 The important thing to remember is to consider a
man's religion objectively, in relation to what you expect of him, and not in an
attitude of blind prejudice.
There is nothing discriminatory nor un-American in scrutinizing a man's
religious beliefs in connection with politics. A man's religion is a matter of free
choice, even though most people remain in the faiths to which they were
born. A Catholic can become a Jew; a Communist can become a Quaker.'3 A
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man's religious beliefs offer a strong clue to his attitudes, values, and
prejudices and you are entitled to consider them when he is in public life.
For example - let us suppose that you live in a mythical community where
the school board can, at its discretion, assign public funds to the support of
private schools which are open to the public - parochial schools, of course.
Let us suppose that you believe that public funds should be used only for
state-controlled schools. Two tickets of candidates are before you, one
Catholic, one non-Catholic, all equally well qualified, good men and true.
Should you vote for the ticket, which will support your own opinion, or
should you ignore what you know about the candidates and vote for the one
with the pretty blue eyes?
Or let us suppose - same election; same town - that you are a non-
Catholic who believes that tax money should support popular education but
that the government should not be allowed to determine the nature of that
education, except, perhaps, for the three R's. It is your belief that the
individual parents should control the training received by their children; you
fear state domination. Whom should you vote for?
Or suppose you are a Catholic but believe that public funds for support of
Catholic schools would be the first step toward state control of those schools.
Which way do you vote?
The problem can become still more complicated. Congress is considering
subsidizing scientific research; many of the best colleges and universities in
this country are controlled or dominated by members of a particular faith.
Would you refuse a research subsidy to Notre Dame but allow it to some
state-owned college in Tennessee, the state where biology is subject to the
vote of the state legislature? Or how about the great University of Southern
California? It was a Methodist college once; there has been a divorce of sorts
but the influence is still there. Can USC be trusted with a subsidy in
mechanical engineering, or does nothing less than outright atheism meet
your standards for freedom of thought?
In passing it might be added that private schools with church leanings
were an indispensable factor in the scientific research that won World War II.
What bearing does all this have on the problem of tax funds for parochial
schools? It obviously has some bearing and you yourself will have to
consider the factors when you decide whether to campaign for the ticket
made up of Catholics or the one made up of non-Catholics.
In my home state recently there were introduced in the legislature a group