p******e
发帖数: 897 | 1 For the second time in the past two weeks, a tea party Republican has
sparked a miniature media furor by questioning the separation of church and
state.
"I disagree strongly with the concept of separation of church and state,"
Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck said in a video publicized yesterday. "It
was not written into the Constitution."
Buck made the remark in 2009, but video footage of the event was posted on
liberal website ThinkProgress Tuesday-- just one week after tea party
Republican Christine O'Donnell made headlines for asking during a Delaware
Senate debate where in the Constitution that provision exists.
Many liberal commentators poked fun at both candidates--especially O'Donnell
, whom critics claimed was not looking to score a debate point but was
demonstrating her own deficient grasp of the Constitution. The same critics
derided both tea-party hopefuls as "extremists"--but the absence of any
constitutional basis for church-state separation has long been a bedrock
belief in conservative circles.
Indeed, a review of recent public statements from prominent conservatives
show how widespread the idea is--and how, in a movement conservative context
, provoking the derision of liberal commentators on the issue is far from a
liability.
* Sarah Palin in April stated: "Lest anyone try to convince you that God
should be separated from the state, our founding fathers, they were
believers. And George Washington, he saw faith in God as basic to life."
* Republican Sharron Angle, candidate for Nevada Senate has repeatedly
made clear her position that a separation of church and state is an "
unconstitutional doctrine."
* Dan Severson, Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state,
said last week: "Quite often you hear people say, 'What about separation of
church and state?' There is no such thing. I mean it just does not exist,
and it does not exist in America for a purpose, because we are a Christian
nation."
* Republican House candidate Glen Urquhart of Delaware also questioned
the separation of church and state--and gained extra media attention for
suggesting it was Adolf Hitler who coined the phrase.
* GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, whose insurgent 2008 presidential bid is
widely credited as one of the forerunners of the tea party movement, in 2003
wrote in an essay: "The notion of a rigid separation between church and
state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of
our Founding Fathers."
Such assertions obviously command little assent among liberal Democrats--but
for candidates such as O'Donnell, Buck and Angle, the refutation of a
constitutional basis for church-state separation alerts the powerful
evangelical conservative base that they are candidate keenly attuned to the
worldview of the evangelical right.
Buck spokesman Owen Loftus told the Denver Post that the left is just using
the video as a distraction in the closing days of the campaign.
The First Amendment to the Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof..." And the idea of a "wall of separation" demarcating the spheres
of church and state is credited to Thomas Jefferson, in an 1802 letter to
the Danbury Baptist Association.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1947 that the Establishment Clause of the
Constitution prescribes a "wall of separation" between religion and state,
but conservative legal thinkers contend that the ruling isn't grounded in
the original intent of the Founders or the Constitution's actual language. | a**e
发帖数: 8800 | 2 zz
Christians continue to insist that America was founded as a Christian Nation
. Thats not even close. America was founded, purposely as a secular nation.
It was founded without a National Church, Religion, or Faith based system.
It was founded on the principal that all faiths and beliefs would exist
equally. The founding fathers were most influenced by the Principals of
Enlightenment. These Principals as expressed by Locke, Jefferson, Franklin,
Adams, Washington, Madison and the majority of the founding fathers. The Age
of Enlightenment was sweeping the western world at that time and was
generally considered the culmination of thought and philosophy in Western
Civilization. The Bible had an influence but so did the Torah, Koran, Plato'
s Republic, Virgil, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Descartes, Robespierre and other
Western thought brought down through the ages. The concepts of the
individual rights, property rights, freedom, the common man all blossomed.
The United States of America is considered by most the crowning achievement
in this Age of Enlightenment, with the American Mason's being one of the
great supporting groups of the principals as expressed in the Declaration
and the Constitution. Our values from that Age of Enlightenment are what
make America great.
Don't forget that Christianity had supported all the Monarchy's in Europe.
Christianity strongly supported the Feudal System and the Aristocracy that
in turn supported the Royal Families. Christianity is a Religion, not a form
of Government, nor an economic system like Capitalism. It has proven that
it survived by supporting dictatorships, monarchies, fascism, communism, and
democracy. It also has thrived quite well under all economic systems. So to
say we were based on Christian principals is just very wrong. Hitler
thought he was founded on Christian Principals, as did Napoleon, Henry VII
and many more tyrants. We, the United States, are based upon the Principals
of Enlightenment.
and
It
【在 p******e 的大作中提到】
: For the second time in the past two weeks, a tea party Republican has
: sparked a miniature media furor by questioning the separation of church and
: state.
: "I disagree strongly with the concept of separation of church and state,"
: Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck said in a video publicized yesterday. "It
: was not written into the Constitution."
: Buck made the remark in 2009, but video footage of the event was posted on
: liberal website ThinkProgress Tuesday-- just one week after tea party
: Republican Christine O'Donnell made headlines for asking during a Delaware
: Senate debate where in the Constitution that provision exists.
| a**e
发帖数: 8800 | 3 zz
While I was having an argument in a restaurant a man, who was not involved,
asked if he could interrupt and said “Are you sure America was founded on
Christianity?” Without knowing who he was, I replied “Of course”. He
asked why I thought so. My reply “That is what I have been taught. It says
‘In God we Trust’ on Money, it says ‘Under God’ in the allegiance, and
all the founding fathers were Christians.” He laughed and told me he was a
Professor at Regent University, one of the most prestigious Christian
Colleges, and then he asked me to research this. I did and the information I
found was compelling. Here is some of it.
Many of the most important founding fathers were confirmed Masons. They
injected Masonic symbols and themes into many of the fledgling countries
emblems and institutions. They did this because they respected and cherished
this organization. Why did they not incorporate Christian symbols in the
same way? Why is there no mention of Jesus, God (Natures God is arguable at
best), Trinity, or the Bible in the most important documents of this nation?
Why did they not incorporate Christian symbols in emblems or standards of
this nation?
Money saying "In God We Trust" did not start until the 1950's and the
earliest mention of God on money was in 1861. George Washington ordered the
first coins to be pressed in 1781 under mandate not to include any modern
religious icon or sentiment. He did not pass a law prohibiting it.
A Christian Socialist wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892. He left out
the words United States of America (added in 1923), equality (he knew the
superintendents did not view women or blacks as equals), and the word “God
” is absent until Congress, pressured by the Knights of Columbus, added the
phrase "Under God" in the 1950’s.
In Conclusion, America is not a Christian Nation; it is a Nation with
Christian majority. It was not founded on Christianity, but the Laws of
Nature and ancient Greek democracies (we still use the symbols of Greek
mythology today in our national symbols and standards). Christianity may
have played a role, but to say it is entirely or mostly founded on Christian
principles is wrong. I believe the numerous quotes from the founding
fathers against organized religion prove this point.
and
It
【在 p******e 的大作中提到】
: For the second time in the past two weeks, a tea party Republican has
: sparked a miniature media furor by questioning the separation of church and
: state.
: "I disagree strongly with the concept of separation of church and state,"
: Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck said in a video publicized yesterday. "It
: was not written into the Constitution."
: Buck made the remark in 2009, but video footage of the event was posted on
: liberal website ThinkProgress Tuesday-- just one week after tea party
: Republican Christine O'Donnell made headlines for asking during a Delaware
: Senate debate where in the Constitution that provision exists.
| y****t
发帖数: 10233 | 4 11:30am
useful idiot wakes up...
lol..
,
says
a
I
【在 a**e 的大作中提到】
: zz
: While I was having an argument in a restaurant a man, who was not involved,
: asked if he could interrupt and said “Are you sure America was founded on
: Christianity?” Without knowing who he was, I replied “Of course”. He
: asked why I thought so. My reply “That is what I have been taught. It says
: ‘In God we Trust’ on Money, it says ‘Under God’ in the allegiance, and
: all the founding fathers were Christians.” He laughed and told me he was a
: Professor at Regent University, one of the most prestigious Christian
: Colleges, and then he asked me to research this. I did and the information I
: found was compelling. Here is some of it.
|
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