Have you read the Jack Army blog?
Hello Jack Army (and readers),
I stumbled upon your blog by clicking the "NEXT BLOG" button, one of blogger's most entertaining features.
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine were deists--that is, they believed in one Supreme Being but rejected revelation and all the supernatural elements of the Christian Church; the word of the Creator, they believed, could best be read in Nature. John Adams was a professed liberal Unitarian, but he, too, in his private correspondence seems more deist than Christian. George Washington and James Madison also leaned toward deism, although neither took much interest in religious matters. The Founding Fathers were not religious men, and they fought hard to erect, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a wall of separation between church and state."
The US Constitution and Bill of Rights, which never mention God, are the great and crowning glories of the secular Enlightenment. I love America because it's a place where (ideally) people of all races, ethnicities and religions (or lack of religion) can live together and respect each others differences. Rather than telling fundamentalists to "piss off," I like to remind them of the beauty and diversity and freedom in this country. I like to point out facts from history such as "In God We Trust" did not appear on our coinage until the Civil War, and "under God" was introduced into the Pledge of Allegiance during the McCarthy hysteria in 1954. I agree with #3 of your predictions for the future, currency should be changed and the Bible should no longer be sworn on during trials. After all, Christianity is only one of the many religions that represent the faiths (or lack thereof) of Americans. Why should any one be more important than another?
The danger of Christianity, for example, being displayed and endorsed by the goverment (here's the leap you question)is that you run the risk of sending the message that the state has a favored religion and that people who do not share that faith are second-class citizens. Under certain conditions, private groups may have the right to display religious symbols on government property (as long as that right is extended to all), but it is not the job of government to promote or display religious iconography. The display of religious symbols and the spread of religious messages belongs to America’s clergy and their houses of worship.
I say, live and let live. Let's try to understand each other and appreciate living in a free society. Keep up the blogging! Cheers!
~UncleWendy
I stumbled upon your blog by clicking the "NEXT BLOG" button, one of blogger's most entertaining features.
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine were deists--that is, they believed in one Supreme Being but rejected revelation and all the supernatural elements of the Christian Church; the word of the Creator, they believed, could best be read in Nature. John Adams was a professed liberal Unitarian, but he, too, in his private correspondence seems more deist than Christian. George Washington and James Madison also leaned toward deism, although neither took much interest in religious matters. The Founding Fathers were not religious men, and they fought hard to erect, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a wall of separation between church and state."
The US Constitution and Bill of Rights, which never mention God, are the great and crowning glories of the secular Enlightenment. I love America because it's a place where (ideally) people of all races, ethnicities and religions (or lack of religion) can live together and respect each others differences. Rather than telling fundamentalists to "piss off," I like to remind them of the beauty and diversity and freedom in this country. I like to point out facts from history such as "In God We Trust" did not appear on our coinage until the Civil War, and "under God" was introduced into the Pledge of Allegiance during the McCarthy hysteria in 1954. I agree with #3 of your predictions for the future, currency should be changed and the Bible should no longer be sworn on during trials. After all, Christianity is only one of the many religions that represent the faiths (or lack thereof) of Americans. Why should any one be more important than another?
The danger of Christianity, for example, being displayed and endorsed by the goverment (here's the leap you question)is that you run the risk of sending the message that the state has a favored religion and that people who do not share that faith are second-class citizens. Under certain conditions, private groups may have the right to display religious symbols on government property (as long as that right is extended to all), but it is not the job of government to promote or display religious iconography. The display of religious symbols and the spread of religious messages belongs to America’s clergy and their houses of worship.
I say, live and let live. Let's try to understand each other and appreciate living in a free society. Keep up the blogging! Cheers!
~UncleWendy
posted by Freewendy @ 6:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home