remove phrases "Under God," "In God We Trust"
Why do we bother including the phrase "Under God" in our pledge of allegiance, and "In God We Trust" to our money? We added these phrases during the Cold War only to further distance ourselves from the godless communists, during a time when more than half of those calling themselves Christians were unable to name one of the four Gospels.
It seems to ( Read more... )
It seems to ( Read more... )
"Separation of church and state" is NOT the same as "Congress chall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion." Congess won't establish a church-- what does that have to do with banning all forms of Christian religion from everywhere but a church? But a lot of people seem to think they mean the same thing. I don't really see the connection.
Secondly, we say "I pledge allegiance," not, "I have pledged my allegiance" or even "I will always pledge my allegiance." At this moment in time, I pledge my allegiance. And besides, we're not pledging to a bit of earth; we're pledging to the flag that represents a nation-- a nation is not the same as a state. A nation is a body of people sharing similar (or the same) ideals. Palestinian nation, e.g.
(And actually, thanks to the douchebags who tried to build a tower to Heaven, we do have designated countries; God split them up when he split up the languages.)
Thirdly, "A good government remains religiously neutral, allowing its citizens to do as they wish, as it is not the place of an earthly system to govern spiritual affairs, any more than a schoolteacher has the responsibility to buy students groceries."
What is that nonsense? Religiously neutral in government? Have you read the Bible? God didn't even want us to have kings (which other pagan nations had), but the Israelites whined so much he was like, "Fine, but I'm going to give you kings that will do what I say." He never once said, "Okay, here're some ballots and a system of checks and balances; have at it." We got it all wrong, in my opinion, but since we're probably not going to revert to a theocracy, the very LEAST we can do is elect people who serve God and hope that our country doesn't completely fall apart. Why not post the Ten Commandments? The essential theme is the golden rule; what's the problem?
Finally, EVERYONE is a hypocrite. Americans are no more or less hypocritical than every other people in the whole world. It's a human thing, not an American thing. All countries have vices, and I'm not offering this as an excuse for us to keep being excessive and hypocritical; I'm merely pointing out that you seem to have a lot of bitterness against America considering it's not the only country that's messed up.
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Deism is a religious philosophy and movement that derives the existence and nature of God from reason and personal experience. (The mention of God in this article is meant more as a Creator than as the Abrahamic God) This is in contrast to fideism which is found in many forms of Christianity.[1] Islamic and Judaic teachings hold that religion relies on revelation in sacred scriptures or the testimony of other people as well as reasoning.
The Founding Fathers weren't Christians (in fact, I believe Thomas Paine was rather forcefully against the Christian god), although if they were it wouldn't make a lick of difference.
"Separation of church and state" is NOT the same as "Congress chall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion." Congess won't establish a church-- what does that have to do with banning all forms of Christian religion from everywhere but a church? But a lot of people seem to think they mean the same thing. I don't really see the connection.
Church and other private establishments, yes. Your Christ is a lovely man but he needs to stay in his house.
As regards the Ten Commandments, let's look at them by number.
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;--Not everyone's God, can't have that one.
3 Do not have any other gods before me.--Free country, mate. Can have all the gods I please.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.--See above.
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.--Freedom of speech. Can say as much as I goddamn please.
8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work.
10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work-you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.--Also a religious edict that isn't even enforced in most countries.
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.--Finally we get to the laws free of religion. This one's basic respect, nothing actually illegal.
13 You shall not murder.--One of the oldest laws in existance, hardly a Judeo-Christian idea.
14 You shall not commit adultery.--Not illegal, I believe, but its immorality is also not a Judeo-Christian idea.
15 You shall not steal.--See murder.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.--See theft.
17 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.--Falls under freedom of thought, which is about like freedom of speech.
So tell me, exactly what part of this has any value to a religiously diverse society which bloody well knows that stealing is bad?
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I don't even know you.
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?(Except if I'm a Christian, right? In which case I'd better shut up!)
Say whatnow?
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What do you mean by that? D'you believe Christians suffer some special persecution that those of other religions don't? (If so, why?)
Interesting comment about the founders of our country being Deists. But isn't it wrong to try to force someone to believe in a god? (It also tends to have the opposite effect.) Our money says: "In God We Trust" = "In God United States Citizens Trust" = "If you are a U.S. citizen, then you are a Deist." Clearly that's not true; not every U.S. citizen is a deist. So why are we letting our money lie?
Also, http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pledge - a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something: a pledge of aid; a pledge not to wage war.
You are making a promise about the future. Making it once is sufficient; simply not renewing the promise doesn't make it go away.
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