Govt. endorsement of religion/Dems and Christians

Govt. Can't endorse religion:

One thing I keep noticing is that some Christians seem to believe that their ability to worship their God is contingent on the government acknowledging that God.That simply isn't true.If God was removed from our currency, Pledge of Allegiance and the 10 Commandments from all public buildings and areas, it would not interfere in the least with the right and ability of Christians to practice their religion. They can still insert God when they say the Pledge, they still can obey the commandments in full. I fully honor their right to do so.The problem is when the government gets into the issue of God, it creates complications. It serves to further the belief that a certain God exists, especially to the young. Now that might be fine with certain Christian parents, but the parents of Jews, Hindus, atheists/agnostics and, indeed, certain Christian parents might not wish for the state/government to further a certain view of God or even Christianity. Of the 10 Commandments, only three have anything to do with modern law: prohibitions on murder, theft and bearing false witness (or in modern terms, perjury). The first four prohibit actually worship of a God other than the Judeo-Christian God. These prohibitions on worshiping other Gods or graven images or honoring the Sabbath or not taking God's name in vain aren't suggestions but commands.James Madison viewed it is imperative to keep religion and state separate: "The Civil government...functions with complete success...by the total separation of the Church from the State," in a letter to Gene Garman. The Treaty of Tripoli states, "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." This was a treaty ratified while John Adams was president, ratified by many of the same men who just a decade earlier supported the creation of the Constitution.What are the effects of the 10 Commandments in a public school? Well, it gives the impression to the child that they aren't free to worship another God; after all, isn't the school commanding them to worship this specific God, and how? Even if that impression is wrong, it still persists and will continue to do so along as it is on that wall.How can one possibly state that the 10 Commandments will leave a positive impression for children when it comes to the moral values it imparts, but it won't confuse the child by statements on the practice of worship? Yes, let us teach moral values in schools, but religion isn't necessary to do so.Theft, murder, etc., are wrong because they harm others. We don't need an ancient document to give that knowledge to our children. If some Christians - on their own, and not through the power of the state - want to put up a copy of the 10 Commandments in a courthouse, fine - do it during a time where the government allows all citizens to put in different documents, not just ones that are pro-Judeo-Christian.I, myself, would put a copy of Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason," which was a great inspiration for our concept of natural rights and liberty.



Democrats and Christians

Dave Southern is wrong; being a white Christian is not a bad thing. Indeed, most Democrats are white Christians and most Democratic politicians are white Christians.Harry Reid, John Kerry are all white Christians. Virtually every member of the Democratic congressional delegation is a Christian. So, the Democrats aren't anti-Christian.
The difference in the brand of Christianity between Democrats and Republicans on the whole is that the former is less literal and fundamentalist driven than the latter.Second, Mr. Southern is wrong, Christians aren't a minority religion. More than 80 percent of Americans view themselves as Christians, be they white, black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. Does Mr. Southern mean only fundamentalist Christians, who would then be a minority of Americans if considered solely?

If so, then his view of what is a Christian seems very limited. To compare the Democrats to the Nazis - anti-Semitism is over the top, indeed. One, being the fact that Christians aren't a minority and even if we consider only fundamentalist-type Christians, no one is arguing their churches should be broken into, their property confiscated or that it be mandated they wear crosses on their shirts as Jews had to wear Jewish stars on theirs.Now, does Howard Dean oppose the Christian right? Yes, he does. He opposes their opposition to allowing states to have same sex marriage or civil unions if they so choose. He opposes the essential view that the Bible should be the basis for the civil law that covers all Americans.
I urge the Republican Party to reach out to minority groups, non-whites and non-Christians. Heck, even atheists.The first President Bush stated "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." Is this still how the modern GOP still views atheists? I hope not.


I will not get into the rhetoric of comparing atheists as attacked and abused as was done to the German Jews in the 1930s, as Mr. Southern chooses to do so for his brand of Christianity. Lastly, I wonder if Bush I thinks that Ted Williams, baseball player, fighter pilot in two wars and an atheist, wasn't a patriot?