Isn't that curious, since he condemns Muslims for saying the same thing about their religion. What happened to separation of church and state? Meanwhile, Donald Trump says he will make this a Christian country when he is elected. Anything for a vote?
http://news.yahoo.com/ted-cruz-tells-reporters-im-201000179.html
What if Kennedy had said "I'm a Catholic first and an American second."?
ReplyDeleteSince we are talking about 60's radicals today, maybe we should revisit Dylan's
ReplyDelete"With God on Our Side" https://vimeo.com/97672176
It kills you that the entire American construct is based on faith.
ReplyDeleteInalienable rights.
I'm not sure what that's really supposed to mean. I understand the America is predominantly a Christian country, and that faith in God is an important thing to a lot of people. There is nothing wrong with that at all. My problem with organized religion is the slaughter of innocents and trampling of those inalienable rights you mentioned. Hell, just within the history of this country we've seen people put to death due to fanatical religious views.
DeleteFaith is voluntary, inalienable rights are not, but just about all religions have at one time or another used the former to suppress the latter. Believe it or not, I was in church on Christmas eve because my sister asked me to go. The people there seemed very nice and welcoming and I think a lot of churches are like that.
This is an interesting topic William, how do you believe faith and Christianity should fit into our political system? Should it be overtly included, or would individual liberty be better served by keeping religion away from being able to get powerful enough to drive legislation.
It doesn't kill me at all. I just agree with Republican hero Barry Goldwater that radical religion has no place in politics. Furthermore I believe the American construct is based on the Bill Of Rights, not on faith. The rule of ISIS, Iran and Saudi Arabia are based on faith.
DeleteHow does one define "radical?" The Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are the most "radical" political documents ever produced. All based on faith between men.
DeleteSorry, I thought you meant faith in the religious sense. Faith between men? Is that the same as faith in your fellow men, or faith in government? "Radical" means outside the main stream.
DeleteI'm not sure what you are getting at William. Our founding documents, to me, represent a rejection of the belief that man made institutions, such as monarchies and the church contained intrinsic power over the individual. Both of those power bases relied on faith from the individual that these institutions really did have the right to tell everyone what to do.
DeleteWhile the FF's may indeed have been men who had faith in a Christian God, the subsequent documents they created seem more to me to be in the spirit of, "Trust everyone, but count the silverware before they leave". The philosophical elevation of the individual in those documents, to me, seems to be in stark contrast to the teachings of the church which states a clear subservience to a higher being, but in practice tacitly implies that man should also have to answer a man made institution in the church.
Although orthodox Christians participated at every stage of the new republic, Deism influenced a majority of the Founders. The movement opposed barriers to moral improvement and to social justice. It stood for rational inquiry, for skepticism about dogma and mystery, and for religious toleration. Many of its adherents advocated universal education, freedom of the press, and separation of church and state. If the nation owes much to the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is also indebted to Deism, a movement of reason and equality that influenced the Founding Fathers to embrace liberal political ideals remarkable for their time.
DeleteDavid L. Holmes
"Proposed following the often times bitter 1787–1788 battle over ratification of the Constitution, and crafted to address the objections raised by Anti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights amendments add certain safeguards of democracy—specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights; clear limitations on the government's power in judicial and other proceedings; and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people—to the Constitution."
DeleteReserved for the states or the people. Not from a king, not from the government, not from rules originated by man but from natural law, faithfully followed between men as a rule of law.
If he is a Christian first an American 2nd then he needs to run for the ministry at some church in Texas instead of running for president. trump will make this a Christian nation. How. Another unconstitutional idea to get votes. Clearly these two are fighting over the evangelical vote because they both think they are already the nominee. We are not or ever have been a Christian nation. We are a nation of Christians and other religions. William lets settle this once and for all. Show us the passage in the constitution that says that this is a Christian nation.
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