There is a sentence in the classic work, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon which describes the use of spirituality and religion in preserving law and order.
The sentence is as follows:
The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.
Now I have had some bitter experiences and can testify to the shortcomings of the Indian Criminal Justice system. I think that the magistrate in a court of law in India would welcome a system of belief or worship which is useful to him in maintaining law and order in his jurisdiction. And I think that belief in the law of Karma would be useful to the magistrate and should be taught in schools.
The objections to this are largely due to the fear of not being politically correct. Gurcharan Dasin the book, The Difficulty in being Good, related an incident where he was invited to speak to the students of one of Delhi’s best schools. Mr. Das told the principal that he had been reading the Mahabharata and would like to speak about dharma.
The principal became defensive and finally blurted out, “Oh, don’t please! There are important secularists on our governing board and I don’t want controversy about teaching religion.”
Gurcharan Das goes on to say that if Italian children can proudly read Dante’s Divine Comedy in schools or English children can read Milton then why should Indians be ambivalent about the Mahabharata.
The Roman empire survived for more than a thousand years. According to a Google search:
The Roman Empire was founded when Augustus Caesar proclaimed himself the first emperor of Rome in 31BC and came to an end with the fall of Constantinople in 1453CE.
The political, financial and social system which ensured its survival for so long a duration must have had great merits and we would do well to imitate its strong points. And according to Gibbon, not only was this system useful in preventing petty crimes but it also led to mutual indulgence and religious concord. These are outcomes that would be welcomed by the magistrates, the police and the government.
I also remember reading Plato and he wrote (in The Republic) that education begins, in the nursery, with fables and fairy stories. These must be very carefully censored to ensure a suitable moral tone. I think that the law of karma would meet these requirements.
The philosophy and teachings of Plato have survived for more than 2,000 years and I think that there is not much chance of our being misled if we allow ourselves to be guided by it.
Lastly the law of karma is a concept that is common to almost all religious traditions. In the Bible it is written, As you sow so shall you reap. It is the same teaching in different words.
I think it should be possible for people of different religions to come to an agreement regarding teaching the law of karma to children in schools.
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