I received an email recently regarding a bill that is working its way through Congress. You can find it here - http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hr110-888
Anyways, I was reviewing this obvious attempt by Christians to assert their religion into American views and I came across a paragraph that kind of bothered me. Remember that the the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence and most laws in this country are created and then left for interpretation. They don't necessarily "dictate" us, as we are supposedly a free country. Either way, the paragraph is below:
"Whereas in 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its 4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator (`All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'), the Lawgiver (`the laws of nature and nature's God'), the Judge (`appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world'), and the Protector (`with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence');"
First, the Congressmen and woman who sponsor this state, "4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator. Then in parenthesis, "All people are endowed by their Creator....." Now I don't see any direct reference to any particular God in that statement. I read that as, no matter who you believe your creator is, you are still endowed with the same certain unalienable rights. I could worship Nick and believe that he created me, and that would still be the same as someone believing that the Christian God created them.
Second, regarding the "Lawgiver" it states, "the laws of nature and nature's God." Again, no direct correlation to the Christian God. The bunny rabbit might worship the carrot God, and if I believe in the same God.... well then I still am allowed the same rights.
Third, regarding the "Judge". It states, "appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world." Not even the word or noun God is in that sentence. It could be Judge John G. Roberts Jr. He's a Supreme Judge, or at least a Supreme Court Judge.
And fourth, for the "Protector" it states "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence." Again, no God mention. Divinity is found in many religions, not just the Christian religion. I feel very protected by my Gods and Goddesses. They're divine, aren't they?
I think this bill is just another Extreme Christian Lobbyist attempt to push their religion upon me. I wonder if those same people would take millions of dollars from me to make a resolution to have a Pagan/Wiccan/Druid Acceptance Week or History Week? Anyone any good at lobbying and have a few extra dollars to spend? These Congress people need to stop wasting our tax dollars on such nonsense. I would like to be the Religion Czar and stop the war on religion!
Well, My understanding is that you are essentially correct.
The founders (although there were strenuous arguments) came up with our form of government under a mindset of natural law deism. That is, a watchmaker type God that is far removed from human affairs. At the same time however they believed in the natural law, that certain moral goods are known & knowable by the people.
They never credited (in public life) a specific denomination of Christianity or even Christianity a a whole. In public events and language (as you point out) they often fell back into what is referred to as “ceremonial deism”.
They did see religion as a public good, one that formed the character of the citizens & delivered for community & the public welfare. Hence their protection of religious liberty while not prescribing a national religion for all. Interestingly enough – at the time of the Constitutions drafting, multiple States had their own established religion.
Excellent comment! I wish everyone would understand that.
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Respectfully,
Adam
Well, I'm not sure what their intention is of having an 'American Religious History Week', but I don't see the harm in it either, since it's based on historical religious "applications", for lack of better word. I think it's better than being completely ignorant of our past, and suppose it would help people be more aware of the constitution..
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Life is short. Eternity isn't.
I have to disagree with you. We are already quite ignorant of our past and those who wish to promote a certain view will undoubtedly use such a week or such a bill to take that argument one step further. "Look! Even Congress admits that we're a Christian nation!" "Look! Even Congress admits that our founding documents talked about our god!" It's a never ending cycle. If we really want to educate, I would suggest leaving religion out of it because as we have seen time and again, every time religion is brought into it, things become unnecessarily muddied and people are left more clueless about what it all means than they were when they began. Instead of educating, the misinformation begins to spread and people begin tossing out half truths or outright lies in an effort to convince everyone else that they are correct. Acknowledging religious history is great... it's just something the American people tend to fail to do in some way that make sense and doesn't make things even worse.
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~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
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"Acknowledging religious history is great... it's just something the American people tend to fail to do in some way that make sense and doesn't make things even worse."
^ true. i stand corrected...
By "make things even worse" do you mean, stirr up religious arguments and battles?
I'm kind of curious to know what you think about religion, and "god" in general.What you stand for, and all that stuff... :)
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Life is short. Eternity isn't.
By making things worse, I mean more that we tend to not be able to even agree on what role religion has played in our history, let alone how to acknowledge it or which religions should be acknowledged. Instead of simply recognizing that religion has played a role, we try to prove that our view of that role is the correct view and everyone else is wrong... and quite a few on every side aren't above twisting things around so history fits perfectly within their views. All we serve to do in such instances is cause more conflict and more confusion and we never are really able to work beyond that to a point were we can say, you know, religion did play some part, we may not agree what role that is, but we should be able to recognize and appreciate it regardless. We get too caught up in trying to prove everyone else wrong that the point gets lost.
and I'm Pagan. My general view is that it's not what you believe, but that you believe because it feels right to you... and that you respect the beliefs of others. There are many different paths one can take.. in the end I think they all lead to the same place, so getting caught up in who is right is just a waste of time and shouldn't be as big a deal as it is. In truth, I'd much prefer to see personal growth and exploration and a willingness to help others as they make their own journeys through life, and an appreciation for the things every religion has to teach than see everyone getting so caught up in whose religion is the right religion.
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~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
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the whole pont of america is religious freedom. We offer religions in this country that dont exist in others . We have the most religions while most other countries only have one or 2. Another point of america is to be different. it shouldnt matter what religion we are.