This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. FDR in his first Inauguration Address, March 4, 1933 here
I get email all the time which has no purpose except to try and turn me against the present administration. The people who make these things up try to use fear to accomplish this. They say that the President is not a Christian, or that he is a Socialist, and now that we need to pray so we can elect a Christian President and legislators and return to our Christian roots. This one came from my brother. Here’s a quote: “This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced, and from the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values.”
This is my answer:
Dear Brother, our laws are not based on the Bible, they are based in English common law and the Hammurabi Code. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that one of the reasons for the rebellion against the King was “For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies: here
In the Declaration of Independence there is no mention of the God of Christianity, only the Creator, Divine Providence, and the Supreme Being. here Neither is the God of Christianity mentioned in the Constitution. We have freedom of religion for very good reasons. The men who wrote these awesome documents grew remembering a time when not belonging to the right church meant you could not hold office, own property, or live free and without persecution. They wanted no part of establishing a theocracy, or supporting any religious body.
Many of our Founding Fathers did not consider themselves Christians; they considered themselves Deists. In the United States, Enlightenment philosophy (which itself was heavily inspired by deist ideals) played a major role in creating the principle of religious freedom, expressed in Thomas Jefferson's letters, and the principle of religious freedom expressed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. American Founding Fathers, or Framers of the Constitution, who were especially noted for being influenced by such philosophy include Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Their political speeches show distinct deistic influence.
Other notable Founding Fathers may have been more directly deist. These include James Madison, possibly Alexander Hamilton, Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine (who published The Age of Reason, a treatise that helped to popularize deism throughout the USA and Europe). here
Thomas Jefferson cut all mention of miracles out of his Bible. While he was President he rarely attended church and he was never a communicant of any church. He stated many times in his letters and other papers that he believed in Nature’s God.
James Madison wrote, in 1785, A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments to the Virginia Legislature in response to a bill that was to be voted on called “A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion” because the bill would have made it mandatory for all citizens of Virginia pay for the upkeep of those teachers. I quote, “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? That the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever? here
We are not just a Christian nation; we are a nation of people of every religious belief found on this Earth. In praying for a 'nation based on Christianity' you are asking for a return of the Spanish Inquisition, Hitler's persecution of the Jews, the Conquistadors burning of all Aztec, Mayan, and Incan writings and the murder of these people when they resisted becoming Catholics. If you want only Christian's in office you are no better than they were, or than the Islamic radicals who don't allow any religion in their country other than Islam, and then only THEIR particular branch of Islam.
This election is NOT about religion in any way. NOT ONE person is in danger of losing his right to worship as he pleases. It is about getting a black man with a funny name out of the oval office. If you don't think so, ask yourself which white President has been asked to produce his birth Certificate, has done so TWICE, and it still wasn't good enough, even though he was born in Hawaii to a citizen of the US.
I am praying for someone who is as honest as a President can be; who loves the United States and all its citizens; who wants to represent all citizens, not just the rich. I am praying for a President who truly believes that ALL Americans should have a dry, clean, safe place to live; believes that NO American citizen goes to bed hungry; that NO American child is denied an education; believes that ALL Americans, each and every one of them, should receive the best medical care available; that EVERY American is entitled to make a living wage, not a subsistence wage; and who believes that EVERY American should pay taxes according to his ability, even if that means the rich have endure a 3% tax increase on anything more than $1 MILLION. If he meets those criteria, that's enough. It doesn't matter if he is Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, or Buddhist, or even Islamic.
Remember, Jesus said to give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's. Sounds like separation of Church and State to me.
I am praying that God will change the mindset I see in the United States and elsewhere. I am praying for peace in this world. I am praying that people will stop the violence against their fellow man. I am praying for people who respect their fellow man, regardless of his religious preference, his sexual orientation, or the color of his skin. I want to believe this mindset change is what the Mayan calendar predicts for December 2012.
Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513 as a treatise on government to Lorenzo de Medici. In it he states that the easiest way to take over the government of a country and take its wealth is to give the citizens something to fear, then promise to prevent it from happening. He states the danger you present to the people does not have to be real, just believable. He says you should throw in a war if possible. If you do these things the citizens will flock to your support, will willingly give you their money, and will give up their rights to freedom.
If you think this doesn't hold true after 600 years, think again. Because we were gullible enough to believe a President, we got involved in two illegal wars in the Middle East. The fear? Weapons of mass destruction, which didn't exist. What else did we do? We allowed that same President to spent untold trillions on these wars. We allowed him to take away almost all our rights under The Bill of Rights.
Eisenhower sent the first "Advisers" to Viet Nam in 1950. The richest Americans were being taxed at 91% of all income over $400K. The corporate tax rate was 47%, with a 30% penalty tax on excess profits. We were afraid of 'the Reds'' BTW, This was one of the booming times in our history, with inflation at 1.3% on average and unemployment at less than 3%.
Under Reagan we were afraid of the Communists, to the point we turned out backs while opium, heroin and cocaine were being exchanged for weapons in Central America. We trained Nicaraguan rebels in warfare techniques, which they took home and used against anyone who did not join the revolution. These rebels were Communists and have regained control of Nicaragua in recent elections
Under Bush I, we were afraid of Iran, and under Bush II as it was a previously stated. These wars, in my opinion were fought to gain factor with the Saudi government so that they would allow US Military bases in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen of the terrorists who attacked us in 2000 were Saudi Arabians.
Pray for the United States, it needs it. But it is not this President whom we need to fear. We need to be afraid of our willingness to give up our rights under the Constitution. We need to be afraid of the people who want to take these freedoms away from us. We need to be afraid of lawmakers who only care about corporations and the wealthiest people in our country.
I am a Christian. I was raised into a family of Christians who would not allow anything to interfere in attending church except a severe illness or death. Not even vacation. We had devotions every morning at 6:45. I say the Apostles Creed and the Catholic Declaration of Faith, The Nicene Creed, without qualms.
I also believe in the First Amendment where it says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
And that is Miss Pitty Pat's rant for today!
