seperation from both church and state
Considering the topic this week, at some point, we're obviously going to discuss the separation of church and state in America.
Tom Peters' Separation of Church and State Homepage is a pretty solid resource.
And now there's an even more in depth project:
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State contains this useful page: Study Guide for Separation of Church and State They also maintain an extensive links page
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here are some other resources not listed in the previously mentioned links page...
Here's the Bush Times concerning Church & State.
Perhaps you're interested in the Catholic Church's position on Church & State?
And one of my favorite sites, ReligiousTolerance.org, provides this page, on Laws related to Religion: Church-state separation, Human rights, etc. This piece is particularly interesting: Excerpts of Laws Guaranteeing Religious Freedom
If you can get past the annoying pop-up windows, even atheism@about.com has some decent info: What is the Separation of Church and State?
The American Atheists have a section on their website called The Courthouse which explains much about how they were successful in enforcing the seperation of church & state throguh the American legal system.
Humanism By Joe has some clever Quotes on Separation of Church and State.
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Of course, anarchism would be opposed to domination by both church & state:
Anarchism, from The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910. Written by Peter Kropotkin
Anarchism and Religion
The Commune, The Church, and the State, (From: Bakunin's Writings, Guy A. Aldred Modern Publishers, Indore Kraus Reprint co. New York 1947) "The abolition of Church and State must be the first and essential condition for the true liberation of society."
The Department of Redundancy Department
"Of course there's a difference between church and state! The state is a ruling body! The churches are just religious organizations!" ...complete with a comparison table listing the similarities between The Cult of Legislation (statism) and the Cult of a Dead Jew That Got Nailed to a Cross (Christianity).
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These words of Hakim Bey are from, The Temporary Autonomous Zone ...Ontological Anarchy ...& Poetic Terrorism: "Here we are crawling the cracks between walls of church state school & factory, all the paranoid monoliths. Cut off from the tribe by feral nostalgia we tunnel after lost words, imaginary bombs."
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and here's an inspirational bit from the situationalist international text library... The Revolution of Everyday Life: The Reversal of Perspective, by Raoul Vaneigem -- Chapter 21 "Masters Without Slaves"
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somehow this brings me back to my perspective on why wars are fought:
they aren't about nationalism, religion, or even ideology, anymore (if they ever were)...
wars are about thugs with guns taking resources from people who can't stop them.
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i will end this meandering with, "Promenade The Puzzle," which may raise more questions than it answers about the relationships between church & state...
KING CRIMSON AND FREDERICK II
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041014 @ 08:12:08 afterthoughts from the mojo meeting on church & state:
Many people have not moved beyond the idea of divine right, whether it is vested in Emperors, Kings, or Capital (Presidents are just puppets dancing for blocks of interest groups pulling the strings).
In "The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy" the authoress, Marjorie Kelly points out, "We have democratized only government, not economics."
Here's a poignant excerpt: "The Corporation as Feudal Estate."
As our concept of Legitimation of Authority evolves a little further, perhaps we will soon be prepared for other ideas that were progressive in the seventeenth century... like the English Diggers, or the Areopagus of John Milton (which inspired me in part to create areopagus), or the Abbey of Thelema, and if we can't have a completely Direct Democracy, then we could at least have Proportional Representation!
Also... contrast The Mandate of Heaven with The Divine Right of Kings... does the latter remind you of the attitude Republicans keep harping about, "not changing course in midstream (even if the boat is sinking)?" Yeah, I suppose there are too many people out there who haven't given up on ideas like, The City on A Hill, Divine Providence, and Manifest Destiny.
"When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget that a precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it's too late."
- Bene Gesserit Proverb
Many of the spiritually based ideas of government were useful vessels at one time; but we have long since reached the far shore, and it is simply absurd for us to drag these antequated boats about anymore... crossing the new frontiers will take us far beyond the surfaces of these terrestrial oceans, upon which we once sailed. Or maybe we shouldn't go anywhere until we figure out "where we are comin' from?"
If you're familiar with Philip K. Dick's Gnostic Revelations (whether through VALIS, or by selections from his exegesis), then you'll know why I think that he would have enjoyed this piece about Gnostics, Manichaeans, Cathars, Protestant/Mystics, Rosicrucians, Anthroposophy, etc.... Rome and Freemasony: The Greatest Irony
Oh, and speaking of conspiracies, if you're curious about what "Skull and Bones" is actually like, here's an expose: Inside the world's most infamous secret society," by Alexandra Robbins, author, Secrets of the Tomb, November 5, 2002
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x-posted to aethyrflux & mojo_meeting... please comment in our new community!