The Christian Tradition in American Founding Politics

[the_Baron]

I thought I'd share what was recently sent to my attention:
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Here is some hope that some remnant of Christianity remains in our
government.

I would watch very closely any appropriations from Congress to "renovate
& repair" our government infrastructure.

There is no such thing as "separation of church & state" in our
constitution. Congress is merely prohibited from creating a state
religion or forbidding the practice of religion of choice.


Did You Know?

As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the US Supreme Court
you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers
and each
one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full
frontal view ...
it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!


DID YOU KNOW?

As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors
have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.


DID YOU KNOW?

As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall,
right above where the Supreme Court judges sit,
a display of the Ten Commandments!


DID YOU KNOW?

There are Bible verses etched in stone all over
the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, DC


DID YOU KNOW?

James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our
Constitution" made the following statement:

"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the
capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and
all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain
ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."


DID YOU KNOW?

Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said:

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great
nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on
religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."


DID YOU KNOW?

Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher,
whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.


DID YOU KNOW?


Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members
of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.


DID YOU KNOW?

The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said:

"Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."


How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything
we have done for 220 years in this country is now
suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?

[qjakal]

I keep seeing many arguments regarding the constitutionality of things. While the document IS a great one, perhaps we can acknowledge that it was written in different times? Is it unconstitutional to exclude other religions and make them feel inferior or somehow "different"? Is it just plain wrong to say "this is the way it is going to in this country because the majority of people like this?"

Do we minimalize the rest of our citizens who reside and contribute here because we can...because it's not unconstitutional to do so, nor legally wrong?

I have no problem in theory with the principles of Christianity, but their execution throughout recorded history is a bit...spotty, even excluding the recent waves of revelations.

I think there's room for more or at least an obligation to present a level playing field. My 2 gold pieces...

Q

[Shem the Penman]

Did you know?

That message is mostly inaccurate bilge.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp

[venray]

Gotta check your sources Baron! Too much crap flows from the bowels of the internet.


Thanks for the heads up Shem. :D

Ray

[buggs]

"Seperation of Church and State" is not in the constitution. This is one of the bigest misnomers ever. It is actually taken from a quote that was in a letter of reply written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802.

declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State.

See here (http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html)

Here is the letter, as it appears, in the Library of Congress Site (Look directly before the red text):

http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpost.html

[venray]

A small point in regards to the rest of the thread. We must use caution when presenting things as fact. Every good reporter verifies his source and then gets another to corroborate it.


Ray

[Shem the Penman]

As for the above complaint, remember that this country was founded by Christians. At that time most people in Office where Christians. That is why there is so much of that in those structures. It was the major religion practiced in our country at the time. They were not trying to make a "religious" or "political" statement. It was just that "Chritianity" was the only religion being practiced around.

Did you even bother to read the link I provided, where the -actual people who designed the Supreme Court Building- were quoted as specifically disavowing a religious significance to the images?

[Knox The Hatter]

My great uncle sent me that email. I deleted it. Recently, he sent me something really hilarious...what he dreamed up to be Chapter 9 Verse 11 of the Qur'an. Some stupid hogwash about it being written that men in Arabia will harrass the Eagle, and the Eagle will cleanse Allah's lands of its enemies, something that could have been composed by, well...the guy who had his way with Ned Beatty in 'Deliverance'. I then looked up the real Q9:11, and low and behold, it didn't resemble anything that my uncle sent me. In fact, the verse talks about having your ducks lined up in a row when you try to get on the right side of God. Well, I can safely report that the lion's share of the Qur'an discusses that. Nothing about Eagles fighting men in Arabia. Nothing about seventy two virgins for blowing yourself up in a bus in Tel Aviv. Nothing about beheading people you've kidnapped on a street. Nothing about sending planes into buildings. It's only about God, God's word, and God's love.
I told my great uncle not to send me anything that can't be verified, especially something that I didn't have to leave my seat in front of my computer for.

Yes, verification is important. I mean, otherwise, you look kinda bad, you know?

[venray]

I think you will find a similar one to that on snopes as well knox. It's been circulating since 911 along with a lot of other crap supposedly pointing to the apocalypse.

Sigh...

People shouldn't believe everything posted on the internet....


Ray

[MrMacphisto]

Heh... Well, Baron, I wish you luck in creating the great American theocracy. It would be a fitting counterpart to the Islamic theocracies we currently oppose....

[Knox The Hatter]

Not long ago, I read an interview in 'Time' with an Egyptian immigrant who dreams of turning the US into an Islamic country...I was laughing at the likelihood of such a thing. I also figured that it wouldn't be any better or worse than such a theocracy Mac was aluding to here.