Today’s Sunday morning sermon is dedicated to to blowing apart the biggest lie and misconception we have going on in the U.S.A. today: America being a Christian Nation
The mouth runneth over again with Jerry Fallwell:
BZZZZT! Wrong again Jerry! Nice attempt at re-writing history, though.
My impression is that Jefferson allocated federal money to help the Kaskaskia Indians in all sorts of endeavors, but Mr. Moral Majority is just focusing on the “building a church” part.
Thomas Jefferson on Christianity:
FACT: Our Founding Fathers were mostly Deists, not Christians.
Theres a big difference.
Deists believe in God, but they don’t believe God interferes with the affairs of man (as a Fideist does), and looks upon “revealed religions” like Christianity and Islam with great skepticism.
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Ethan Allen were all NOTORIOUSLY critical of Christianity and its apparent nature to rob a man of his reason and freedom. They offered a well-reasoned argument that the religion was hijacked by a renegade, intolerant apostle, and 4th century followers building “larger than life” stories about their original and wise (yet often ignored) leader.
Jefferson on the Christian idea of “religious freedom”:
If one would understand the basic beliefs of a Deist, one can understand why “endowed by their Creator” would be on government documents, and “In God We Trust” would be on our currency.
But it would do well for liars like Jerry Falwell to lead you to belive that “Belief in God” is the same as “Being a Christian”. Deists believe in God. Muslims believe in God. Neo-Pagans believe in God. And even our original inhabitants of this country believed in a “Great Spirit”, who can reasonably be assumed to be the same Being.
A Christian nation will be much like the Puritans of the 1600’s. They fled England because of persecution, and when they set up shop in America, they proved to be no better toward people different from their religious beliefs. A history that we will NEVER repeat.
It was the foresight and wisdom of our Founding Fathers to keep a separation of Church and State to insure religious freedom for the sole purpose of attracting the “Best of the Best” to the United States. Much of our progress has been due to people of many ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Jefferson on Freedom of Religion:
Don’t buy into the lies of this EVER being a “Christian Nation”. It is a nation of all people.
If I were God, I’d create a hell just for charlatans like Jerry Fallwell.
Jesus did battle with Pharisees just like Falwell back in his day, and I have no reason to believe he’s had a recent change of heart with liars and hypocrites looking to twist the truth to suit their agenda.
It’s interesting, Eric, that Mr. Falwell uses the example of Government support of Christian missionaries to “educate” the native people under its dominion as supportive of his argument. The history of the BIA should have given the Good Reverend second thoughts. (But then history isn’t his strongpoint, is it? Except for the “revised” kind, that is.)
Government support and funding was indeed what kept the Protestant and often missionary-run Bureau of Indian Affairs in business (and bucks) for decades. It also helped the BIA to establish its rightfully hateful image as a culture-destroying behemoth that, with Washington’s blessing, rolled over many of America’s native tribes and smashed their people into broken little dolls through the simple expedient of crushing them into English-speaking, English-thinking White Protestant molds. Through the BIA, native languages were forbidden to children (and thus lost forever). Comforting customs and traditions were mocked and outlawed; even the ancestral religions of the native peoples were prohibited. At BIA (i.e., “mission”) schools, children were forbidden to wear their native dress, and had their hair forcibly cut to meet White Protestant images of proper “Christian” appearance. Children who rebelled or ran away from such degrading treatment were beaten, (re-)imprisoned and humiliated; those who spoke their native languages instead of English (which is, apparently, God’s own tongue after Hebrew) could have their mouths washed out with soap, taped shut or worse. All in all, a wonderful collusion of Government and Religion. The noxious effects of that ill-conceived marriage are still being experienced on and off reservations today, in fact.
If anything, this long-term historical example of Government support of religious “assistance” in the sociological sector — and its bitter legacy of forced conversion, arbitrary social engineering and persecution — should definitely put a “fear of God” into any citizen who respects human freedom and dignity, as well as the not inconsequential value of being able to treasure one’s own roots and heritage.
If past experience is any gauge of future performance, one might suggest that Government use of Religion has as insidious a purpose behind it as does that of Religion which seeks the support of “the secular arm.” In neither case does the picture bode well for those caught up between the ever-hungry six-headed Scylla of the State and the insatiable gullet of The Church’s Charybdis. (And those who have to pick up the tab for the dinner parties thrown by these two aren’t really too well off, either, come to think of it.)
The way I see it, American Politics are full of shit and yes, they truly are hypocrites. Tis not just religion they are two faced about… is everything. What pisses me off and am not racist…honest to god am not…if we are all EQUAL…than someone please tell me why someone of minority can’t run for Presidency or! A big OR! They say we all EQUAL rite? What bout if a woman wanna run for presidency? Someone tell me why that can’t happen if we are all so damn EQUAL in the Politicians eyes????
They way I see it…they all full of fuckin shit!!! They so far up their own asses they can’t see how two faced their standards are…I mean COME THE FUCK ON!!! America is run by big ass HYPOCRITES and if you ask me…we shouldn’t have such folks runnin our country who is two faced and contradictive…but what difference would it make? We get rid of them only to bring in another set of problems which will probaly make shit worst for us citizens!
America is FUCKED UP in the world of Politics!!! And how this country is runn!!! That is how I view it!!
Well, they can run, but their chances wont be all that good. The Democrats had Carole Mosely Braun in the primaries, but I think her biggest obstacle was being a woman, rather than being Black. It’s a shame, because I liked her better than a lot of the “professional politicians” running.
Then there was Al Sharpton, who seems to think we all forgotten his past of running scams, hoaxes and scalping tickets. *rolls eyes*
I have a feeling we’ll see a Black man as president long before we’ll ever see a woman of any color, though. True it’s fucked up, but that seems to be the typical American mindset.
For good reason — in the middle of the “all Schiavo all the time” coverage we’ve had on the news over the last few days, there’s a substory that didn’t really get much play (at least that I noticed). The fundies leaned on Judge Greer and his church — hard — resulting in him leaving his Baptist congregation over it. Basically, since he refused to rule religion from the bench, they ostracised him mercilessly. It goes back to the presidential debates when John Kerry said:
And der Dubyer rather snottily shot back with, “I’m trying to decipher that.” These people really don’t get the wall of separation between church and state, and that scares me.
More info here.
there’s a substory that didn’t really get much play (at least that I noticed). The fundies leaned on Judge Greer and his church – hard – resulting in him leaving his Baptist congregation over it.
Like Jesus said “By their fruits ye shall know them”.
What’s the difference between that an some mafia hoods threatening a judge so their buddy doesn’t go to jail?
Maybe that Church should have also read the part where he said “Give onto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render onto God the things that are God’s”… even Jesus was all for Separation of Church and State.