Respect your Neighbor. Is that so hard?
From the US Constitution: "Article VI: …This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land;..."
Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..."
From the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797: "As the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,--as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Messelmen, --and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mohammedan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever interupt the harmony existing betweenthe two countries"
Does the 1796-97 Treaty with Tripoli Matter to Church/State Separation? Speech given to the Humanists of Georgia on June 22, 1997 and at the 1997 Lake Hypatia Independance Day Celebration.
By Ed Buckner, Ph.D.
It doesn't matter how many times the fundamentalist Christians try to change the United States from a sectarian nation to a Christian theocracy, it has always been and remains a sectarian nation with citizens of many religions and of no religion. Once again this week the US Supreme Court had to remind elected officials in some small towns that they can not adopt the religious laws and commandments of any one religion, even the most popular religion, as the established law in their community. According to CNN.com, some County officials in Kentucky bemoan religious liberty being forced on them by the federal courts. For years they have tried by various means to adopt Christian religious law as the law of their county or town, but the United States is not a Christian nation, nor a Jewish nation, nor a Muslim nation, nor a Buddhist nation, nor a nation founded on any other religion.
George Washington learned the art of war as a young officer in the Protestant British Army fighting Catholic French troops. In one battle Washington was the only officer to survive uninjured. By the time of the American Revolution, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and the rest of the American patriots had had enough of wars fought over religious differences. When America was created their vision was freedom for men of all religions and of no religion. A few years later in 1797 when the United States negotiated it's first international treaty with the Muslim nation of Tripoli, now called Libya, it clearly stated that the US was not a Christian nation. Yet here we are 200 years later and there are still religious zealots who would change the United States into a Christian theocracy, who frequently attempt to rewrite history and claim that the US was founded as a Christian nation.
Once again this week the US Supreme Court had to remind them that posting religious law in their government building in a manner that attempts to establish that religion as the legal religion in their county is plainly illegal under the Constitution.
Why does the court have to keep reminding government officials that Americans are not all Christian, and even the Christians come in many different denominations and variations. We have citizens who are Buddhist, Muslim, Protestant, Hindu, Yaruba, Shinto, Wiccan, Native American Traditionalist, Atheist, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Druid, Baptist, and a thousand more variations. All citizens are to be welcome and respected at every government building all across our land. Why is that so hard to comprehend for these backwoods sheriffs? It's not about cramming your religion down everyone else's throats no matter how "right" you believe that your religion is. It's about respecting your neighbors, folks. It's about being neighborly and equal with your neighbor. It's about respect. He respects you and you respect him. Neither of us makes the other follow our version of religion. George Washington got it. Thomas Jefferson got it. John Adams got it. Why couldn't Paul Worthington, of the American Legion get it when he hung the Christian commandments in the Kentucky court house in 2000?
It's about respecting your neighbors. Is that so hard to do in Kentucky?
Bob
Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..."
From the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797: "As the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,--as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Messelmen, --and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mohammedan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever interupt the harmony existing betweenthe two countries"
Does the 1796-97 Treaty with Tripoli Matter to Church/State Separation? Speech given to the Humanists of Georgia on June 22, 1997 and at the 1997 Lake Hypatia Independance Day Celebration.
By Ed Buckner, Ph.D.
It doesn't matter how many times the fundamentalist Christians try to change the United States from a sectarian nation to a Christian theocracy, it has always been and remains a sectarian nation with citizens of many religions and of no religion. Once again this week the US Supreme Court had to remind elected officials in some small towns that they can not adopt the religious laws and commandments of any one religion, even the most popular religion, as the established law in their community. According to CNN.com, some County officials in Kentucky bemoan religious liberty being forced on them by the federal courts. For years they have tried by various means to adopt Christian religious law as the law of their county or town, but the United States is not a Christian nation, nor a Jewish nation, nor a Muslim nation, nor a Buddhist nation, nor a nation founded on any other religion.
George Washington learned the art of war as a young officer in the Protestant British Army fighting Catholic French troops. In one battle Washington was the only officer to survive uninjured. By the time of the American Revolution, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and the rest of the American patriots had had enough of wars fought over religious differences. When America was created their vision was freedom for men of all religions and of no religion. A few years later in 1797 when the United States negotiated it's first international treaty with the Muslim nation of Tripoli, now called Libya, it clearly stated that the US was not a Christian nation. Yet here we are 200 years later and there are still religious zealots who would change the United States into a Christian theocracy, who frequently attempt to rewrite history and claim that the US was founded as a Christian nation.
Once again this week the US Supreme Court had to remind them that posting religious law in their government building in a manner that attempts to establish that religion as the legal religion in their county is plainly illegal under the Constitution.
Why does the court have to keep reminding government officials that Americans are not all Christian, and even the Christians come in many different denominations and variations. We have citizens who are Buddhist, Muslim, Protestant, Hindu, Yaruba, Shinto, Wiccan, Native American Traditionalist, Atheist, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Druid, Baptist, and a thousand more variations. All citizens are to be welcome and respected at every government building all across our land. Why is that so hard to comprehend for these backwoods sheriffs? It's not about cramming your religion down everyone else's throats no matter how "right" you believe that your religion is. It's about respecting your neighbors, folks. It's about being neighborly and equal with your neighbor. It's about respect. He respects you and you respect him. Neither of us makes the other follow our version of religion. George Washington got it. Thomas Jefferson got it. John Adams got it. Why couldn't Paul Worthington, of the American Legion get it when he hung the Christian commandments in the Kentucky court house in 2000?
It's about respecting your neighbors. Is that so hard to do in Kentucky?
Bob
posted by Bob | Tuesday, June 28, 2005
1 Comments:
What then is the meaning of :
" In god we trust "
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