Subj : Bush and the Separation of Church and State To : RACHEL L. AKERS From : TODD HENSON Date : Sun Feb 04 2001 09:47 pm > Gee & I wonder why this man scares me even with a whole planet between us. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=- > > From newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca.moderated > > [T]he Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded > on the Christian religion... Treaty with Tripoli, 1797, signed by President > John Adams Really? That statement is true only to the extent that we do not have an enforced state religion. Take a look at the words of JOHN ADAMS: Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectful members of society. - John Adams And, futhermore: 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! - Patrick Henry The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: that it connected in one indissoluble bond civil government with the principles of Christianity. - John Quincy Adams So while the constitution did not set up an enforced state religion, it is clear that Christianity was indeed the religion that dominated. Even among those who were Deists, etc, the principles of the Bible were still held in high esteem as a part of the culture that formed this nation. > Bush Starts Off by Defying the the Constitution I challenge anyone to show how Bush violated the Constution. > > By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ > > The very first act of the new Bush administration was to > have a Protestant Evangelist minister officially dedicate the > inauguration to Jesus Christ, who he declared to be "our > savior." Invoking "the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ" > and "the Holy Spirit," Billy Graham's son, the man selected > by President George W. Bush to bless his presidency, excluded > the tens of millions of Americans who are Muslims, Jews, > Buddhists, Shintoists, Unitarians, agnostics and atheists from > his blessing by his particularistic and parochial language. So what? These people demand that American culture sacrifice itself for their benefit. Nobody gets hurt if the above prayer is said, but if these special-interest groups DO kill a portion of our culture if they raslly to silence the expression of religious expression which has always been so central. > The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that > George W. Bush's America is a Christian nation, and that > non-Christians are welcome into the tent so long as they agree > to accept their status as a tolerated minority rather than as > fully equal citizens. In effect, Bush is saying: "This is our No, Dershowitz believes that "justice" is sacrificing out culture in an attempt to please everybody, which is impossible. That would be like me going to a Muslim country and expecting them to kiss my behind and stop being a Muslim country. It's asinine. > home, and in our home we pray to Jesus as our savior. If you > want to be a guest in our home, you must accept the way we > pray." > > But the United States is neither a Christian nation nor the > exclusive home of any particular religious group. > Non-Christians are not guests. We are as much hosts as any > Mayflower-descendant Protestant. It is our home as well as > theirs. And in a home with so many owners, there can be no > official sectarian prayer. That is what the 1st Amendment is > all about, and the first act by the new administration was in > defiance of our Constitution. The 1st amendment prevents govt from passing a law that establishes a religion. The prayer did not involve that activity. So this man, as well as anyone who agrees with him, is clueless. > This was surely not the first time in our long history that > Jesus has been invoked at an official governmental assembly. > But we are a different and more religiously diverse nation > than we were in years past. There are now many more Muslims, > Jews, Buddhists and others who do not accept Jesus as their > savior. It is permissible in the U.S. to reject any particular > theology. Indeed, that is part of our glorious diversity. > What is not acceptable is for a presidential inauguration to > exclude millions of citizens from its opening ceremony by > dedicating it to a particular religious "savior." The real evil are those vile people who seek to silence such a prayer, simply because they disagree with it. > > The inauguration ended with another Protestant minister > inviting all who agree that Jesus is "the Christ" to say, > "Amen" (ironically, a word that originated in Jewish prayer > or, alternatively, originally a Jewish acronym for "God, the > King, forever.") Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), along with > many others who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, was > put in the position of either denying his own faith or > remaining silent while others around him all said, "Amen." So what? If he didn't agree, then let him be silent. So what? Dershowitzs acts as if there's something with being in a position where you do not agree with the majority. Where is the constitutional violation? > This is precisely the position in which young public school > students are placed when "voluntary" prayer is conducted at > school events. If they join in prayer that is inconsistent > with their religious beliefs, they have been coerced into No, they didn't have the courage to stick to their own beliefs. A lack of courage is the individual's fault, not the crowd's. > violating their conscience. If they leave or refuse to join, > they stand out as different among their peers. No student Oh no! Heaven forbid they should be looked at as "different"! Why, that's a punishable crime! They might actually have to develop a little character! > should be put in that position by their public schools at > an assembly, just as no public official should be placed in > that situation by their government at an inauguration. > > If George W. Bush wants all Americans to accept him as their > president, he made an inauspicious beginning by sandwiching > his unity speech between two divisive, sectarian and > inappropriate prayers. Liberal tripe. --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5 * Origin: BBS Networks @ www.bbsnets.com 808-839-5016 (1:10/345) .